The Power and the Glory

Book 3 Chapter III: Boy Meets Ghoul

I've learnt to live in shadows
Even without the light
I've learnt to love the battles
Only the strong survive
-- Citizen Soldier, Hallelujah (I'm Not Dead)

The Silver Palace's cells were never meant to be a permanent prison. They were just temporary holding cells for important criminals until arrangements could be made to transfer them to an actual prison.

Haliran waited impatiently for the guards to take her out of here. She couldn't escape from this cell, but there was a chance she could from wherever she was going. All she had to do was wait for an opportunity. If only the guards would hurry up and make the arrangements!

She waited. And waited. And waited. From time to time she wondered if this was part of Siarvin and Ilaran's revenge plan. Were they trying to drive her insane through sheer boredom?

A day passed. Then another. Soon a full week had passed. The only way of measuring time was in how often the guards brought her food and the doctor came to examine her arm. No one came to visit her. Haliran didn't know if she'd been completely forgotten or if this was another way for Siarvin to get revenge. If she had been in his place she would have come every day to gloat over her enemy's downfall. But he had only visited once, and Ilaran never came at all. That grated on her. Was she so unimportant that she wasn't even worth the trouble of coming to see?

When she was finally moved she got no advance warning. She woke up at some ungodly hour to find a group of guards standing over her.

"Come with us," the leader ordered.

None of them said another word. They marched her out of the palace, into a carriage, and took her to another prison without opening their mouths. No one even told her where she'd been brought. She was locked into her new cell and left to make sense of the situation on her own.

~~~~

Improbable though it seemed, everything went back to normal after Irímé stopped being a dragon. No one said any more about the fiasco at the festival. Abi's parents continued making arrangements for the wedding. Their previous arrangements had been thrown into disarray by Irímé's new job and move to Tananerl. Irímé continued to stay with his mother, but he spent almost every day wandering around the shops. Judging by his luggage, he was buying enough clothes to set up a small shop.

"Why do you need so many clothes?" Abi asked when they met for one of their weekly -- and rather awkward -- trips to a coffee shop. (Arranged by their parents, of course, who were firmly convinced they needed to spend more time together. Neither Abi nor Irímé would have found having coffee together half so awkward if they weren't forced into it.)

Irímé blushed faintly. "I don't actually need them. It's just... I've never been able to buy anything of my own. My mother used to choose all my clothes for me. So when Ilaran gave me my first month's wages in advance I decided to buy my own clothes without letting my mother interfere."

That seemed like a silly reason to buy clothes. But what do I know? Abi thought. I'm able to buy whatever I want.

After the dragon incident Abi had left Gihimayel Palace to find Kiriyuki waiting for her. She'd been questioned to within an inch of her life before she could convince her sister this wasn't her fault for once. Abi had been avoiding Kiriyuki ever since. She was also trying to avoid Kitri, who had left before the assassin and the dragon. Explaining what had happened after she left was more than Abi could bear. So far she'd only seen Kitri in passing or at social events, when no one could ask awkward questions. She'd like to keep it that way for as long as possible. She was trying her best to blot the entire sorry business out of her mind.