Equinox (Book One of the Firebird Chronicles) WATTY AWARD HIDDEN GEM WINNER 2015

Chapter Thirty Eight: Diamonds and Dust

'I'll find somewhere to stay for the night. I have some coins in my bag that will see us through.'

Sakura had given up her polite, deferential tone she might once have used towards me. After a day of long crowds and being on constant watch for pickpockets, we were finally arriving in the capital late afternoon. Though we'd passed the border patrols around an hour ago, the small lane became two lanes wide, then three, and more, as lines joined together to form the large thoroughfare into the capital. Angels were walking on foot and by horse, though we soon found the latter became difficult as the crowds grew bigger. Children, women, men, elderly-- all were convening upon the Diamond City in celebration of an event I hadn't known to be this large. 

We still hadn't passed through the watch towers at the walled boundary of the city, manned by dozens of guards on watch. They were watching for signs of trouble, not inspecting anyone passing unless they caused a scene, or looked particularly uncleanly. Sakura warned me that if someone looked diseased, drugged, thieving or another such offence, they would not be granted entry. Whilst the festival was a tradition, it was not above the King's scrutiny.

Beyond the open gates, a distant spire rose high into the clouds, covered at its tip by mist. I'd seen it before, on a flight that first brought me to this island, and I'd seen the houses with white walls and blue roofs, and a spiral tower made of crystal glass. 

Not for the first time, I doubted my rash decision to scramble to the capital. The Equinox Ball idea had been discussed, but never at length-- like the prison break plan had. And that had cost Clae.

The brown-haired girl's gentle way popped into my head. This is for her, I promised.

And there was another I had to think of. Kaelan had been found among the rubble, injured but otherwise alive, and was still back at the caravans, recovering. His leg was broken badly, and not likely to heal for a while. 

Valkyrie was another matter. The frazzled ginger-haired girl had vanished, and I had a sour feeling it was to do with the Commander, Daedoran. Either he'd taken her with him by force, for he too had vanished-- or she had followed him, we weren't sure. Kitty, who had been waiting for us to escape through the tunnels, had waited in the darkness for a signal that never came. But she did claim to hear running, echoing off the walls. She'd thought it sounded like several people running, but it was hard to tell.

Which meant one thing: Daedoran knew about the tunnels too. And there was more than one person; Valkyrie could be the other.

Either way, I dreaded that I now needed to find Reia, Arianna and Val. My luck so far had been nil, and more missing people were piling up. 

I wondered how many others were entering the Diamond City with an odd wish like mine. 

We joined the hub of people, and were ordered to dismount. Progress slowed, Sakura and I were pushed together and jostled as our horses grew uncomfortable. 

Sakura's head was damp with sweat from the sunlight streaming onto us, an unusual hint of the last embers of summer before the winter arrived. She saw my awe mixed with my fear, and gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze.

The gesture made me pause--then frown. I glanced up at her, remembering the time when I'd been struggling to use Clae's power, and yet Sakura had made it easy...

'What did you do?' I asked out of the blue. The girl looked confused, and almost hurt, when I murmured, 'The battlements.'

Recognition flickered into her eyes. 'Amplifier,' was her reply, before she moved in front of me to make room for me to pass.