7 Days Left

Minul didn’t rush up the stairs, there were too many eyes on her. She didn’t run down the hallway stretching out before her, even though her steps felt like they barely made a dent on the distance.

An emergency? She wondered. He’s never called anything an emergency before hand. What could it mean? Minul tried to ignore her mind as it came up with doomsday scenarios, including but not limited to, Ankiria was invading, the flesh-torn were invading, Inaaya had outmaneuvered her and the capital had fallen.

Taking a deep breath trying to settle her nerves, she turned towards the guardsmen flanking her door. “Anybody come through here?” She asked.

“Just Master Saif and his guests.”

Guests, multiple? Minul shook her head and opened the door.

Saif and Pashar sat on a couch in the parlor postures attentive as Saleema spoke in kisi. Minul froze in the doorway, her yellow eyes meeting Saleema’s. She’d seen how those eyes cracked when Saleema channeled power or was upset, however, if Minul didn’t know any better she would’ve said the woman looked just like any other ankirian princess.

“Saif,” Minul said closing the door behind her. “You called.”

“Your Majesty,” Saif said gently extricating his hand from Saleema’s and got to his feet approaching her. “You wouldn’t believe who I found lazing about in Leif’s rooms,” he gestured to the unstable triplet-master.

“Saleema,” Minul greeted shaking the woman’s hand. “An unexpected pleasure to meet you,” she moved to withdraw her hand but the other woman didn’t let go. Her fingers—two hand long nails that were dirty and unkempt but the others were all well maintained—biting into Minul.

“You’re the Queen,” the tethered whispered looking around. “I’m not supposed to be talking to you.”

“And yet here you are, in my personal suite,” Minul said politely, her hand still held tight in the woman’s grasp. “If you don’t mind, could you tell us what you were doing in Leif’s room?”

“I was staying there.”

“With him?” Pashar inquired.

Saleema scoffed, “Of course not. I wouldn’t sleep with that him, not a for pile of gold the size of a dune.”

Minul relaxed slightly, “Then would you mind telling us what you’re doing here?”

“I’m not supposed to talk with you. You aren’t supposed to know,” she chided Minul like she was reminding a child not to be naughty.

The Queen swallowed and gently rubbed her thumb against the back of Saleema’s hand, “Then maybe you can tell me what you’re getting for staying here? Instead of back at the palace.”

Saleema chuckled, “You’re a clever little one, aren’t you?” she cocked her head as if something just occurred to her, “You remind me of someone… My daughter? I did have a daughter, right?” Minul heart stuttered in its beat as she was trapped within the triplet master’s grasp, but she didn’t turn violent like how Ranvir made her.

Pashar cleared her throat, “Two of them, I believe,” she shot a questioning glance at Saif who nodded.

“Two…” Saleema whispered, “But you’re not her, are you? Even though you have the eyes…” Saleema frowned at Minul. “You’re the Queen of Elir, no?”

Minul startled, Elir?

“Alright Saleema,” Saif muttered sitting down next to her and gently prying Minul’s fingers free. Saleema frowned at him as he took her hands into his palm. “What did you get for coming here, will you tell me?”

Elir, Minul remembered the name, though it hadn’t been in regular use since Ankiria original usurpation of the country. She couldn’t even begin to guess how long ago that was. Long, long, before her time, that was certain.

“What did—“ But Minul’s words were interrupted by Saleema.

“Well, I get to be a teacher,” she said, “at the academy. I get to teach all the space tethered,” she seemed proud as she said it.

“All the space tethered?” Pashar asked. “But you won’t tell us why you’re here?” she’d gone white, despite her ankirian complexion. “Who promised you that?”

“The man,” Saleema said, gently stroking Saif’s hands with her two overlong nails. As if gently stroking a pet or a trying to calm a child. “You remind me of my son. So many reminders in here,” she sounded wistful.

“He reminds you of Umair?” Minul couldn’t help herself.

“No, no, Umair’s such a gentle soul,” she tapped Saif on the nose. “Ziyaad took after his grandfather,” she grinned at Saif, though, he didn’t seem to find it funny.

“You were brought here to do something,” Pashar said pushing the conversation onward.

“Yes, and I can’t tell you what!” Saleema hissed at her, purple lines flaring throughout her irises. Her scowl almost looked like she was in pain.

“What if I make you a different deal?” Minul asked. “A better one?”

Saleema pursed her lips and pulled her hands from Saif, “Such as?”

Minul hid her hands behind her back to not reveal their shaking. She needed to get some measure of control over Saleema, “I might have need of you in the coming days. If I send for you, I’ll have my guards give you a specific signal,” Minul searched the room, sticking on a red tablecloth on the table next to them. She gently pulled it loose. “If my guards show up at your apartment with this, then you know it is time.”

They talked through a few more details before Saleema broke off, seemingly remembering something. “Why? Why would I do any of this?”

Minul licked her lips, “I will let you pick any one student from my academy and you can train him as you please. His future will lay completely in your hands, you can take him wherever.”

Saleema jerked forwards at the same time Pashar did, an unhealthy gleam in her purple glowing eyes, “Deal.”

Pashar’s hand grabbed Minul’s arm, but the Queen offered the other to the sick tethered and they shook on it. Pashar didn’t let go of Minul until the princess had left the suite. “Saif, give us silence.”

Smoke poured around them in a dome, “You’re going to sell Ranvir to her?” Pashar hissed.

Minul swallowed feeling faint at the deal she’d just made. Deal with the night itself, a pact of the Downway. “If she is who I’m starting to think she is. We need her on our side, do we not? If for no other reason that she then isn’t on theirs,” she turned to Saif, “Could you stop her? Could you kill her?”

Saif remained seated on the couch, smoke pouring from, tiny flickers of embers occasionally showing within the hazy dark. “No,” he finally admitted. “I can’t do it.”

“You sold Ranvir!” Pashar turned to Saif, “Tell her that he isn’t the most precious student she has.”

“This is about the country,” Minul said straightening her back, even though she felt nauseous to her core. “It’s not about the life of a single person, not even a gifted tethered,” she considered, she was playing on the glaciers. One mistake and she would freeze to death. “But if you’re so against it, I give you the same right. You can go to the academy and remove a single student to take under your personal tutelage.”

Minul straightened as well, bringing her full might as tethered to bear on Minul. The impact rocked her native presence and it nearly crumpled on the first assault. She barely held herself together as she stared at the administrator before her. Most masters Minul knew weren’t strong enough to just crumple a second-stage tethered’s native presence like that.

Now that Pashar revealed herself, Minul finally got the full view of her power. Piercer was immediately obvious, it was her Lance that struck Minul’s native presence after all, but the presence of both Wings and Body surprised her. Pashar had in all the time she’d been in Elusria claimed to just be another second-stage tethered, Minul had suspected more of her for quite a while, but…

This went beyond anything, she could’ve suspected. Pashar had spent more than half a decade in Elusria hiding her power, not growing it. She was as great a talent as Ayvir, if not more so. The strength of her Disciplines was well beyond her advancement.

Even when a tethered took control of another tethered’s material, it was usually a conflict between the two, trying to maintain control. Even a second-stage could put up a little fight against a master. Pashar could’ve crumpled any second-stage that tried to oppose her.

Smoke began rising from Pashar’s body, “I guess I’ll be taking me leave if I’m to reach the academy before Saleema,” she turned from Minul turning to look at Saif for a long moment. “Master,” then she moved in a rush of wind through a cracked window. There shouldn’t have been space for her, but she still slipped outside without the window shifting.

Minul turned to Saif who was still sitting on the couch, looking in the direction of Pashar and fiddling with the embroidery on the cushions, “Are you okay?” she asked, worried by the look on the older man’s face.

Slowly, he shook his face. “I don’t like where this is headed.”

She felt like she was going to vomit, and turned away from him, “Me neither.”