The Steel Princess

Chapter 11: Worlds Of Life And Death

Skye didn't need words to know Auda was itching to tell her to go home. The night was growing older, the streets around the Copper Pot quieter, yet still Skye lounged outside with the cup of cider she'd had Auda buy her. High summer in Eskeleth was the perfect time to be outside, taking advantage of the warm, muggy nights that would be so soon swallowed by autumn. She could almost have relaxed, breathing in the smell of damp stone and night-blooming flowers, if Auda hadn't been so tense.

"Will you at least stop pacing if you're not going to sit down?" Skye asked, sipping again at her cider. It was bloody awful, cloudy and sour and the colour of horse piss, but she was determined to enjoy herself, at least a little bit. She might have wished for better company, but just being out of the castle for a few hours was a relief.

"They'll be looking for you," Auda growled.

"At the castle? No, they won't. Everyone thinks I've gone to bed."

"As well you should have."

Skye raised an eyebrow. "You're my guardian, not my nursemaid. Besides, don't you get fed up of being cooped up in there, too? Maybe we could visit your lady. Felise, wasn't it?"

Just for a moment, she thought she might actually have a proper conversation with Auda, not filled with 'Your Highness' or 'princess', but the Shenlander seemed distracted. She was looking off across the square, watching a cloaked figure pass by.

"All these bloody hoods," Skye said, aware she might already be a touch drunk. "Anyone would think it's midwinter."

"Or that they've something to hide." Auda sounded thoughtful. "I'd swear that was Ambassador Helida."

Skye squinted, putting down her cup. The figure was just turning a corner into a narrow side-street, cloak billowing out behind. If it was Helida, she was without her crowd of guards and doing her best to stay unseen; what could she possibly be doing out here, alone, at this hour?

She exchanged a glance with Auda, expecting to be told they should go home, but Auda only nodded. There was no time to summon someone else from the castle to find out what Helida was doing, and they'd already proved the pair of them could move more swiftly and quietly than any guards. For once, there was logic in the Crown Princess and her guardian being the ones doing the dirty work, even if Skye would have taken just about any job to spend a few more hours out in the cool night air.

They skirted the plaza carefully, only to see Helida come striding back into the square, looking around hesitantly, as though lost. Skye ducked into the shadows, Auda behind her, and they crouched in silence as the ambassador passed within a few feet of them, and turned south. In that direction lay only a blank expanse of city wall - punctuated by the open southern gates.

The gates themselves hadn't been closed in all Skye's lifetime, and they were never guarded; the walls were symbolic only, these days, Celiande having long since spilt past them. Helida stopped just before entering the archway, head tilted back as though to study it... And that was it. She didn't move, just stood there, as if all she wanted to see were the gates themselves.

"Maybe she's examining the defences," Skye said dubiously.

Auda gave a soft snort. "Or maybe she's a closet fan of architecture. She's moved bloody fast, though - how many hours has she been in Celiande? If all she wanted was to look at the walls, she could have come during the day."

That was true enough. There was nothing to stop any citizen or visitor climbing on the walls in daylight; the guards had more important things to worry about than a few sightseers cracking their heads on the cobbles if they fell. So what was Helida doing out here in the dead of night, so soon after her arrival?