CoS10

## Chapter 10

**Chapter 10** of **City of Spells** follows **Karam**.

## **Full Version**

KARAM APPROACHED THE CABIN where Saxony and her grandma were having dinner together. It was the first time they had properly spoken since Saxony went behind her back to summon the Lieges, and Karam knew that she should probably leave them alone to eat, but she had to speak to Saxony before it was too late.

She knocked on the cabin door.

Karam had been putting this choice off for too long, because she was scared to leave Saxony alone in a place where she seemed primed to lose that fire inside of herself. Karam wanted to help Saxony become the leader she knew that she could be, but Saxony was there now. All that was left was Tavia, who Karam had thought needed someone to watch her back, but Nolan’s initial capture—and the look on Tavia’s face as she held Wesley’s gun to his head—told her that Tavia didn’t need protecting anymore. She needed an escape from the role she had been forced into.

She needed Wesley.

They all did.

The door opened and Saxony’s face brightened when she saw Karam.

When Saxony smiled, even the leaves rustled, like they were giggling alongside her, perfectly synchronized to her happiness.

Saxony’s grandma sat at the table behind her, every bit the warrior Karam hoped she would remain when she reached her age. Her hair, braided down to the very edges of her fingertips, was the color of Arjun’s sword and gleamed in the same way when the sun hit it just right. Her dark skin matched Saxony’s perfectly, though her eyes were not the same guarded brown, but instead shone in the color of stars and fresh clouds.

“Karam,” Saxony said.”Did you come to join us for dinner?”

She opened the door wider for Karam to come in and sat back at the table, opposite her grandma.

“Help yourself,” Saxony said. “Amja cooked enough for the whole army.”

It truly was a feast, with nearly a dozen plates on the table, some sticky with sauce and sweet steam that Karam could smell even from the doorway. It made her mouth water, especially since she had skipped lunch to train with Tavia.

“No, thank you,” Karam said.

She was here to talk, not get distracted with such a delicious spread.

“You’re quite the dedicated warrior.” Saxony’s grandma nodded in approval. “Always focused on the task at hand.”

Karam smiled, because she didn’t trust herself not to say something stupid. A war ground was not the ideal place to meet Saxony’s family, and Karam hadn’t had nearly enough time to practice small talk and the right way to make them deem her truly worthy.

“I am glad you are both here,” Karam said, lingering by the door. “I have to talk to you and I am not sure if it is something you are going to like.”

Though the sad truth was, whether Saxony liked it or not, Karam had to go.

The Loj was spreading, Nolan had escaped, and despite Karam sending their best scouts after him, he’d disappeared into the woods. Even with the Lieges coming from across the four realms to help, and with Tavia’s deal with Casim bringing them buskers, they still needed one thing.

They still needed Wesley.

Saxony stopped eating and turned to look up at Karam. “Do I need to stay sitting down for this?” she asked.

“I have been thinking and I have decided that it is time I went to look for Wesley,” Karam said.

“Wesley can wait.” Saxony waved her spoon, dismissing the idea.

Karam sighed. “He cannot. And it is important that I find him.”

“Why?”

“Creije will fall soon if we do nothing,” Karam said. “And now that we know that the Loj is spreading to the other cities, the time for delaying the inevitable is over. You know the Crafters and Tavia knows the buskers, but I know how to fight, and to do that properly, we need Wesley. He is the one with the ideas and he will help us in this battle. If Ashwood turns him, then I fear our fight will be lost.”

Saxony slammed her spoon suddenly onto the table, sending grains of rice across the floor. She stood and all signs of the smile she’d had just moments ago quickly dispersed.

“Damn it,” she said. “Why *you*? I get that Wesley is important, but I’m not trading your safety for his.”

“And yet you may need to,” her grandma said.”We must not let him be under Dante Ashwood’s thrall.”

Her voice was stern but gentle, and when she looked to her granddaughter, Saxony brought her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose, as though just the thought of having Wesley back gave her a headache.

“Since when do you like underbosses?” Saxony asked her. “Amja, I would have thought that you of all people wouldn’t want to trust Wesley Thornton Walcott.”

“There is a lot you don’t know about what I want or what is best,” her grandma said. “Which is why you summoned the other Lieges behind my back instead of heeding my warnings.”

Saxony thrust her hands into the air. “Will you ever stop being angry about that? I won’t apologize for trying to help our people.”

“I’m not asking you to apologize. I’m pointing out that you went against the wishes of someone you love to do what is necessary, because you felt it was right. Karam clearly feels the same.”

A smile found its way onto Karam’s face. If Saxony’s grandma thought she was making the right decision, then that must have meant that she’d made a good impression.

“If I do not go, Tavia will,” Karam said. “And she will get herself killed doing it. You know how reckless she has become. You have seen how much she has changed. It is as if she is trying to be Wesley because he cannot be here.”

Saxony couldn’t deny it, because they all had watched Tavia as she tried to wear shoes that never should have been hers to begin with. She wasn’t an underboss and she wasn’t even really a criminal. Tavia had wanted to save the world, and more and more each day, Karam could see her forgetting that.

“Where will you go?” Saxony asked.

“Tisvgen,” Karam said. “Nolan told Tavia he heard something about Wesley being there. And even if he is not, that city lies between us and Creije and the mountains will give me a good vantage point to see Ashwood’s hold in the capital.”

“You can’t go alone,” Saxony said. “It’s dangerous. Maybe I could—”

“You are needed here,” Karam said. “And I will not be alone. I plan to ask Arjun and a few of his Kin to come with me. I will be okay.”

“You can’t promise that,” Saxony said. “I don’t want you to leave me.”

Those words alone almost broke Karam.

She hadn’t told Saxony what she was thinking sooner because of that reason: She didn’t want to leave her and she was afraid something would happen to Saxony in her absence. All Karam wanted was to be with her and for them—and their friends and the world—to be safe.

“She is right to leave,” her grandma said. “We need the Creijen underboss safe and here with us, ready to do battle.”

“*I* need *her*,” Saxony said, turning back to Karam. “I need you here, by my side.”

Karam wanted very strongly to kiss her in that moment, but it seemed an odd thing to do with Saxony’s grandma watching them.

“I owe Wesley my life,” Karam said. “Just as you do. We cannot leave him with the Kingpin any longer. His guidance is what we need to win this war.”

Saxony still didn’t look convinced, and Karam thought that sometimes Saxony forgot that Karam had made her name in the underrealm fighting rings.

“Do not worry so much,” Karam said. “I will return and I will bring Wesley back. He might know how to stop the buskers from selling the Loj.”

“Tisvgen is dangerous,” Saxony said.

“I have lived in this realm for many years and I know what to expect. I can easily navigate across the Shores of the Dead and to the mountains,” Karam said.

Saxony sighed in resignation, though Karam could see the doubt still flicker in her eyes. Saxony reached out for Karam’s hands.

“You better come back in one piece,” she said.

“You know I will.”

“And try not to kill the underboss if he isn’t in a good mood when you save him,” Saxony’s grandma said. “He probably hasn’t slept much.”

They both turned to her, a little surprised.

“You really do want us to save Wesley, don’t you?” Saxony asked.

Her grandma nodded. “He is necessary,” she said. “And it’s time he came back to where he belongs.”

“Well, Karam can still punch him if he gets mouthy,” Saxony said.”Don’t kill him, but make sure to kick his ass if he doesn’t at least say thank you.”

Karam had no doubt that once Wesley was back, he and Saxony would settle into the same routine of rolling their eyes at anything the other said, while secretly valuing each other’s stance on things. They had a lot of forgiving to do, but Wesley had saved Saxony’s life and sacrificed himself so she could escape, and that should have earned him absolution.

WHEN THE sun rose the next morning, Karam, Arjun, and Asees had already been training for hours. Karam was glad to finally have a fighting session that didn’t end with Tavia trying to teach her all kinds of shifty magic tricks, with a busker’s gleam in her eyes as Karam failed to master any one of them.

This was familiar.

This she knew.

She would miss it when she left.

“Time for a break,” Asees said in Wrenyi. “I may faint if we continue.”

Karam nodded in agreement, wiping the sweat from her brow. She swallowed a gulp of breath that made her chest sting.

“Agreed,” she said. “There’s only so many times I can beat Arjun to a pulp before it gets boring.”

Arjun pointed at her with his sword. “Don’t get cocky. I’m only letting you win so you feel good about yourself. We can’t have your bruised ego costing us this war.”

“You’re bleeding,” Karam said.

“You threw a rock at my face!” Arjun protested.

Karam shrugged. “Expect the unexpected.”

She slumped onto the log beside Asees.

“You’re getting better,” she said to the Liege. “Fighting without magic.”

“I’m not sure why I need to know how to do that,” Asees said.

“You can’t rely on one thing to win a battle,” Karam said. “Who knows what kind of spells Zekia and Ashwood have created? Perhaps there’s one to strip you of your powers or disorient you. Or maybe you just won’t have enough time to conjure your gifts.”

“You’ve really thought a lot about people trying to kill me,” Asees said, with an amused smile.

“It’s mostly about people trying to kill Arjun,” Karam said.

He laughed and squeezed himself into the small space between Karam and Asees. “We would’ve made a great team back in Wrenyal. The three of us against the world.”

“You act like we can’t still do that.” Asees rested her head on his shoulder. “When we go back home, we definitely need to kidnap Karam and take her with us.”

“Good luck with that,” Karam said.”The way you two punch, I won’t even need to try.”

Asees let out a loud laugh and Karam closed her eyes and leaned back onto her palms. These rare moments of peace in all the dire things the realms were trying to throw at them needed to be savored. The sound of her friends’ laughter and the feel of Arjun’s disgusting sweat-slicked arm brushing up against hers, like they were truly inseparable. The sound of his blade picking at the dirt while the trees sang them a lullaby.

“I’m leaving tomorrow,” Karam said.

Quick, like snapping a bone back into place.

“Leaving to go where?” Arjun asked.

“Tisvgen,” Karam said. “And then maybe Creije.”

“You mean you’re going to find Wesley, then,” Arjun said.

Karam stood and dusted off her palms, soil scattering back to the forest.

“I want you to come with me,” she said to her old friend. “I know that together we can bring him back and give our armies the last missing piece they need to win this war.”

“It isn’t even a question,” Arjun said. And then, quickly— perhaps a little too quickly: “And not because I care about the underboss. I just know you’ll definitely need my help.”

Karam was tempted to start sparring again, if only to knock some sense into him.

“You could at least pretend to ask for my permission,” Asees said.

She looked between them both with raised eyebrows, and Karam almost felt guilty for not considering that. She was Arjun’s Liege, after all.

“Come with us,” Karam said. “Arjun wasn’t wrong when he spoke about us making a great team. The three of us against the world? We could do this.”

Asees tried to hold back her smile, but Karam could see it. If there was a chance to hurt Ashwood—the man who’d nearly destroyed her Kin—then Karam knew that she would take it.

“I have been working with Saxony and the other Lieges to keep peace and strategize,” Asees said. “But I think she has that under control herself now. She is strong.”

Karam had always known that.

“I would be honored for you to join me in this,” Karam said. “With some of your Kin, too, if possible.”

“Ah.” A knowing smile dawned on Asees’s face. “So you were going to take my second in command and my Crafters, but not me?”

Karam only shrugged. “A few Crafters on my team couldn’t hurt.”

“It would be nice to stretch our legs,” Asees said. “I’m sure the rest of the Kin have been feeling a little trapped in this place.”

“We wouldn’t need many,” Karam said. “And since you and Arjun are Spiritcrafters, the rest we bring should be Energy-crafters and Intuitcrafters. A good mix of gifts will be invaluable for seeing the course ahead and staving off the weather if the mountains in Tisvgen prove unstable.”

“Agreed,” Asees said. She stood and pulled Arjun to his feet. “We must pick the best of our warriors for this. When did you want to leave?”

“First thing tomorrow morning. The train from Rishiyat station will take us straight to the Shores of the Dead in Tisvgen. From there, we can head to the mountains on foot.”

“Wait a moment,” Arjun said. “What are the Shores of the Dead?”

“It is a burial ground covering the entire seafront of Tisvgen,” Karam explained. “And it will be the quickest way in.”

“There better not be spirits roaming the place,” Arjun said. He sheathed his sword. “Do you think half a dozen of us should do it?”

Karam nodded. “A small group is better to go unnoticed.”

The last thing they needed was to march half their army into Tisvgen and alert the Kingpin to where they were and what they were doing.

“And the mountains?” Arjun asked. “How perilous are they?”

“The Uskhanyans call the mountain pass the Looming Valley,” Karam said. “So take from that what you will.”

Arjun sighed, as though he regretted agreeing to the mission already.

“We’ll need to amass the most powerful of us,” Asees said. “If it’s a small group, then we will need the best of us in case we are attacked. Come, let’s speak to the Kin.”

When Karam next let out a breath, it felt like she was pushing all of the frustrations she had been feeling over the last few weeks out of her. It would be good to finally do something of her own. Tavia had brought the buskers to them, Saxony had brought the Crafters, and now Karam could bring them something too.

Wesley was an asset that, once lost, had been a serious blow to their armies. The buskers were restless without him and Tavia wasn’t herself. Even Karam found herself missing Wesley’s insights. He had been the one to help shape her into a warrior, after all.

She owed him a lot, and a rescue from Ashwood’s clutches seemed like the perfect repayment.

“WAKE UP,” a voice said. “You should probably get going if you want to catch the morning train to Tisvgen.”

Karam opened her eyes to see Saxony hovering above her, the sun casting a halo through her wonderfully wild hair. Curls flowed in every direction, large ringlets to tight coils.

By the spirits, she was so beautiful.

“Good morning,” Karam said.

“Bad morning,” Saxony corrected. “You’re leaving me. For a *man*.”

Karam snorted and stretched out in a yawn among the bedsheets.

“Enjoy this bed while you can,” Saxony said, tapping the pillow. “You’ll be sleeping on the ground for most of your trip, I bet.”

Karam reached up and cupped her face. “The best thing I can do for this war is to bring Wesley back,” she said.”We have been over this.”

“For once I’m not actually thinking about the best thing for the war,” Saxony said. “I’m thinking about the best thing for me, and that’s having you by my side.”

She picked at the fabric of the bedsheets, biting the corner of her lip like she always did when she was frustrated.

“I know that you have to leave,” Saxony said. “But I don’t have to like it.”

“I would be insulted if you did,” Karam said.

“Just don’t try to be too much of a hero,” Saxony told her. “Make sure you don’t put yourselves in danger for Wesley. If he’s there, then Ashwood won’t be far behind, and you can’t engage with the Kingpin or Zekia. It’s too risky.”

Karam wasn’t about to argue with that.

She pulled Saxony toward her and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

“I promise,” she said. “Stop worrying so much.”

Saxony only sighed, and Karam felt that in her bones. The sun was rising, but part of her didn’t want to get out of this bed. This mission would be the longest time Karam had been away from Saxony since they had first met all those years ago, and she wasn’t quite looking forward to the distance.

Still, they could be back within a couple of weeks if they took the floating railway all the way to the Shores of the Dead and then walked through the Looming Valley to Creije. And Karam was fairly certain that it would be worth the missed moments and empty nights.

“Here,” Saxony said, pulling off her ring and placing it in Karam’s hand.

It was the one she had always worn, since Karam had first met her. A serpent that twisted from her fingers and around her palm, its eyes green as the forest that surrounded them.

“It’ll help you find your way home,” Saxony said. “Back to me.”

Though the two were strangely the same.

“No matter what happens, swear to me that you’ll come back okay.”

“There is not a person in the four realms who could stop me from returning to you,” Karam said. “I swear it.”

She pressed her head against Saxony’s. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said. “Remember not to die.”

“Remember not to kill Tavia while I’m gone,” Karam said back.

Saxony laughed against her and Karam closed her eyes, making sure to memorize the sound. When they parted, she pushed a coil of hair from Saxony’s forehead.

“Remember that Tavia does not hate you,” Karam said. “Remember that you are friends.”

Saxony smiled and placed a hand on Karam’s cheek. “I’m supposed to be the one worrying about you,” she said. “Not the other way around. We’ll be okay. *I’ll* be okay.”

But her voice didn’t sound so sure. Even as she pressed her lips against Karam’s once more, there was a shakiness there. The uncertainty in her breath and the way she grabbed on to Karam made her feel like it was for some kind of life support. As though Saxony were trying to keep herself from tumbling away.