Folding the Sky

-30-

They offered the travel-weary guard a cup of bitter coffee, and he lingered at the front of the room, holding the ceramic cup in his hands but never actually drinking from it.

    The site of the sergeant jarred Kalindi, his glaring white uniform like a too-bright camera flash. He was a harsh shard of reality encapsulated in this dream Kalindi had created for herself—that she could really be free, that there was really more to see besides the thick, impenetrable walls of the castle.

    Enzi endured the tense stares of the Celestials for a few long moments, before he cleared his throat, glancing at Aldric where he still lay confined to his bed. "Mr...Finck, is it?"

    "Yes," Aldric allowed, "but don't say that too loud around here."

    Enzi nodded. "Your injuries aren't troubling you too much, I hope?"

    "The guy the Queen sent us looking for blew a hole through my side. It's a miracle that it missed any vital organs," said Aldric, leaning his head back against the pillows, the pale slope of his neck turned towards the sky. "I would say that's very troubling."

    Kalindi exhaled, nudging Chike over so she could lean against the arm of his chair. "Save the small talk, Enzi," she said, worrying at one of her earrings. "Tell us why you're here."

    "He said why he's here, more or less," Jem interrupted. She'd grown tired of standing, it seemed, and had claimed a spot on the floor in the very center of the rug, legs crossed underneath her. "The Queen sent him. She's keeping an eye on us."

    Enzi coughed, finally sipping from the coffee with a maddening amount of caution.

    Jem's intense eyes settled on him, giving the poor man no breaks. "I'm right, aren't I?"

    Enzi hesitated, but nodded his head, bending to set the cup down atop the dresser with a gentle clink. "Her Majesty has not heard word of any progress from you regarding the search for Vernon Schmitt, so she sent me here to ensure everything was alright."

    "It's far from alright," Jem scoffed, tearing a hand back through her hair, the strands of which, Kalindi noticed, were a lighter brown in the sunlight, the same hue as warm black tea.

    "Jem," Zuri warned.

    "It's true," Jem said. "The Queen's given us a basically impossible mission; I've already come close to death at least two times now which is two times too many—"

    "What she means to say," Zuri interrupted, offering the sergeant a strained but polite smile, "is that we have certainly had our struggles, but we ensure you we will complete the mission as requested."

    "Struggles?" Enzi's brows twitched with interest. "Like what?"

    Zuri started to reply, but Aldric cut her off. "Vernon Schmitt is the one who shot me," he answered, and though it was the truth, only the truth, Kalindi still jolted as if bracing for a blow. She couldn't pinpoint where the fear came from, and that somehow made it all the more terrifying. "We thought we had him cornered, but it seems he has other plans. He made it clear he has no intention of working for the Queen."

    "He got away, then," Enzi asked, adjusting his posture, his shoulders a straight line. "That's what you're telling me?"

    "Yes," Kalindi agreed, sharing a worried glance with Chike. "I'm afraid so."

    "We far underestimated him," Chike added. "As well as how far he'll go to get what he wants."

    Enzi's dark eyes were curious, but what Kalindi couldn't quite gauge was whether that curiosity was benevolent, or something far more sinister. "What is it he wants?"