Quill of Thieves

Chapter 21

Astrid grinned at the reflection smirking back at her.

Technically, she wore the same gown her mother had picked out for the Saviour's Toast. It was the same color, at least. The dark blue velvet draped from her shoulders to her booted feet (it was snowing, after all, so her mother could hardly get upset with the changed footwear). Astrid swished her hips from side to side, watching the small silver studs woven into the fabric sparkle in the low torchlight like a hundred constellations. Her copper cuff gleamed from her elbow like a blood moon.

The girl staring at her from the mirror appeared celestial, other-worldly, like one of Earth's siblings from a forgotten fable. Astrid had always felt a kinship to Darkness—one of the thievery twins from The Tale of Earth's Deceit—so she'd refused the billowy skirts that had widened out the dress at her hips. Those had been the first to go. She had picked at the sewn seams all of that first night until the heavy skirts had fallen away. Now, the velvety material hugged her short, muscular form, allowing her freedom to move amongst shadows. The extra fabric had been fashioned into a dark cloak, fastened around her throat by a short dagger.

And because Darkness had a twin named Light, Astrid didn't feel at all guilty for attaching a solar flare to the sheath around her left thigh.

Her hair would be harder to get away with under her mother's scrutiny. Where Davina had wished for her to look young and harmless, Astrid now looked every part a conqueror. Her blonde hair lay atop her head, twisted and braided into its crown, but there were no loose pieces out of place now. Thin, iron spikes kept it all in place, standing up around her head like a barbed fence.

Gone also were the pink powders and rosy lip stains from the coronation. The only cosmetics she had allowed were a small glittering of golden powder around her eyes and a dark plum color outlining her lips.

She had just bowed to the saviour in the glass when Matthias slipped through the door.

"If you take any longer, I'll—"

Matthias's words startled to a stop. He blinked at her through the mirror. His mouth shut and reopened into a wordless, Oh. 

He looked her over once more and then huffed. "Why must you always go looking for trouble?"

Astrid's smirk flickered into a scowl. "I'll accept that as a compliment." Her velvet cape brushed against his arms as she strode past him. "Let's get on with this, then."

She felt his eyes on her. "Are those knives in your hair?"

It was difficult not to grin to herself.

Matthias didn't speak to her again even as they both silently fought each other for the lead through the fortress and into the Halorian Square. The frosty air attempted to penetrate the thick fabric of her gown, and Astrid swirled to a stop beneath an alcove to observe the decorated courtyard, Matthias at her elbow. Her mother had spared no expense for this Saviour's Toast. Large bonfires sparked within pewter basins set along the perimeter of the square, the heat from the flames beating back the cold from the snowflakes that fell from the star-studded sky. The stars themselves were reflected in the icy cobblestones of the dance floor; the ground had been frozen into a large block of sheer ice on which no one would slip.

It was like walking on glass.

Astrid loathed to admit it looked rather beautiful.

She remembered the last time she had been in this courtyard, the day she had blown up that pedestrian cart. When all of this mess had somehow started. It felt like decades ago, but the memory held a poetic symmetry to it as she subtly patted the solar flare hidden underneath her dress.