Folding the Sky

-7-

Beside Zuri, Jem let out an amusing squawk of disbelief. Zuri didn't blame her.

The Crown Princess of Naino, a Celestial? Zuri quickly mulled it over. It wasn't impossible, all things considered. No one truly knew why the meteor gave some people these strange powers while sparing the majority, but that also meant that there was no reason a royal couldn't have been affected. Even still, the realization was like a shock of electricity through Zuri's body.

Princess Kalindi gave a polite curtsy, and straightened again. "Pleased to meet you all."

The four other Celestials ducked their heads, murmuring their greetings. Only Jem was brave enough to ask: "Is it true? You're really one of us?"

Kalindi's face was calm, nearly expressionless, as she plucked one of the many rings from her fingers and rested it in her palm. As they watched, a low hum rang in the air, as if a tuning fork had just been struck, and the ring began to levitate, as if supported by an invisible wind.

Kalindi grinned, and the ring dropped back into her palm with the smallest of clinks. The Queen clapped her hands.

"See now why I could not have made an order to have you all killed?" said the Queen. "It would have meant committing my own child to the same fate."

"I suppose we don't have to tell you that you can't speak a word about this outside the castle," said Kalindi, slipping the ring back on her finger as she approached. Even the way she walked was weightless, the tap of her shoes on the marble faint, her strides so graceful it was almost impossible to look away. "To those that aren't so fond of Celestials, learning their princess is one would create turmoil."

"Sure," Jem said, turning her gaze from Kalindi, and towards the Queen instead. "Speaking of turmoil. What is it you want this weaver to do, exactly? Fight your war for you?"

"The opposite," said the Queen. "He'll stop any war before it starts. If he weaves into his tapestry that Naino and Sinje become peaceful neighbors, then that's what will happen. It's quite simple. This is the best way to keep my people safe."

Zuri's heart still thrummed with unease. She couldn't fight the idea that this was all a dangerous wager. If it was true that this man could sew with the fibers of the future, couldn't it be that it was a terrible idea to get close to him? As easily as he could weave prosperity, Zuri thought, he could weave a world of destruction.

Zuri sighed and stepped forward, knotting one hand in her skirt to keep it from shaking. "Even if that's true," she began carefully, "you still understand that this would be quite the undertaking for us. A lot of us have lives here. Loved ones we'd be leaving behind."

The Queen tilted her head. "That's true."

"I guess what I'm trying to ask, Your Majesty," said Zuri, hesitating a beat before she continued, "is if we get anything in return, should we succeed?"

"Should we succeed?" Kalindi interrupted, before her mother could answer. She laughed, but it was humorless. "There's no option for failure. If we fail, many people will die. Is that not enough of a reward?"

"A war isn't guaranteed," Aldric pointed out, his voice as calm and cool as a spring stream. "Sounds to me like you're just preparing for the worst possible outcome, though it might not happen. So I think Zuri's asking a fair question."

Kalindi scoffed. "And what do you know about fairness, assassin?"

Aldric blanched and looked away, his shoulders going stiff. Zuri wanted to comfort him in some way, but she didn't know how.

"Kalindi, that's enough," said the Queen. She exhaled and pivoted gracefully on her toes, as if performing a dance, and strode back to her throne. Once she was settled once again, the guards standing impassively at her side, she went on, "I'm aware of your situation, Mr. Finck. Yours as well, Mr. Lee. For as many lives as Mr. Finck's taken, and a prison break on top of that, he should be executed. And Mr. Lee should be spending at least a few years behind bars."

Chike sighed in dismay. Jem pat him on the shoulder.

"But if you do this for me, I'll have you both acquitted," the Queen said, nodding her head. "I promise you that. Matter of fact, I swear on Kiro."

Chike let out a small gasp, his dark eyes flying wide. "Are you sure about that?"

The Queen rose an eyebrow. "I did just swear, did I not? You have my word."

Zuri glanced sideways at Aldric, but he'd gone completely still, his eyes locked on the swirls of painted marble beneath him. The only part of him that moved was his hands, faintly trembling at his sides.

She wasn't sure how she knew, but she did. It didn't matter what else the Queen had to say; Aldric was already convinced.

"Miss Ayim," the Queen said, and Zuri snapped her gaze back towards the front of the room. "I suppose you're inquiring after your father's...financial situation?"

Chike, Jem, and Kalindi all looked at Zuri expectantly. Their gazes weren't exactly disrespectful, but she still had to fight the urge to squirm. She refused to be embarrassed of her father. All he'd ever done wrong was give everything to try to nurse his wife back to health. Even when the bills piled up, even when they were faced with the indisputable fact that all the money in the world couldn't save someone long past the point of no return, Zuri was not embarrassed. There was honor, rather, in her father's selflessness.

Zuri cleared her throat. "Yes, Your Majesty. I was wondering if you'd consider clearing him of his debts."

Silence settled like a dense fog within Celandine's throne room; Zuri could hear herself swallow.

The Queen's face was eerily calm. Zuri wasn't sure if it was the sort of calm that accompanied a peaceful morning, however, or the kind that prophesied a growing storm.

Finally, the Queen said, "Very well. If that's arranged, do you agree to find Vernon Schmitt?"

She needed no time to consider.

"Yes," said Zuri. "I'll do whatever you ask."

"Same here," said Aldric, sharing a quiet smile with Zuri before he lifted his gaze towards the Queen. "I'm at your service."

Chike dipped his head. "I guess I don't have a choice."

Everyone's eyes fell to Jem, who was standing with her arms crossed, her mouth screwed in a frown. "I have a bad feeling about this," she said, but before Zuri could intervene, she tossed up her arms with a theatrical sigh. "But I'm feeling generous, since you didn't kill us after all. So I'm in."

The Queen clapped her hands with a bit too much excitement for someone sending a group of people off on a potentially perilous mission. She clapped her hands, and one of the guards started forward, ambling past them and towards the exit. "Please, follow Kanya here to the cabinet room. Kalindi will fill you in on what we know as of now, won't you, love?"

Kalindi curtsied again, this time with a subtler bend to her knee. "Yes, Mother."

"And I'll have letter writing materials brought to you," said the Queen. "You may want to tell your loved ones goodbye, because tomorrow, you'll be leaving Naino."