The rain woke me, but not quickly. Mud squelched around my nose and clung to my hand as I wiped my face in an attempt to clean it. My throat ached and my limbs shook as I shoved to my hands and knees. With water dripping from my face and my breath coming in harsh pants, I searched for a clue.
Around me lay a tilled field, turned to muck in the downpour. A few scraggly weeds clung to a split-rail fence that enclosed the field. A thick line of evergreen trees formed a wind barrier outside the fence, obscuring the world beyond. As for the world within, it was wet and rapidly losing light beneath the oppressive clouds.
'An empty field, a wooden fence, and a cold rainstorm aren't much to go on.' I crawled to the fence and used it to get to my feet.
'You were at the EMBG — backstage, with Erebus.' I swiped a hand across my mouth and promptly spat out the mud that seeped in. 'Genius. You fought, then left.' Confusing images of repeating halls and a male face didn't clarify the how, but covered the what.
'Then you… took a nap? In the muck?' I gnawed my lip, ignoring the grit. 'You're missing something.'
Lightning flashed, followed by thunder that made me jump. Still, the light caught a silver figure, bright against the growing dark, and I frowned as Kit stumbled across the field. Shaking my head, I tested my legs, found them solid enough, and trudged across the furrows. Thick brown mud clung to my boots and denims.
When I got closer, I noticed the dark bundle Kit carried, balled up in her arms as she hunched over, trying to shelter it from the rain. Her hair dripped and her silver near-dress clung, accentuating a too-thin torso.
"Kit, you're soaked!"
"Yes." She extended the bundle as soon as she was within reach. "Here."
"I can't," I said, holding my hands up. "I'm all over with mud."
"It'll wash. Here," she repeated and thrust it into my hands, leaving me to grab it or drop it.
"What is it?" It was soft and mostly dry, though quickly soaking up water as the rain continued, and if it wasn't made of fabric, it was at least well-wrapped in it.
"It's a blanket. You have to be cold."
I gaped at her, stunned. Shifting my grip, I thumped a palm against my forehead, hoping to jar some sense into one of us.
'Didn't work. This is still insane.'
"Look — get over here." I shook out the blanket, but Kit remained outside of arms' reach. "Come on. I don't bite."
Kit edged closer, face blank but body wary. I stepped closer, swung the blanket so it covered us both, and held it over our heads. With a nudge, I prompted Kit to grab her side, allowing the space between us to widen.
"No reason not to share." I looked back the way Kit had come. "Is the EMBG that way? And how did you know to come find me?"
"Hmm." Kit nodded, looking at the tracks she'd left. "Not too far."
After a few missteps, we settled into a rhythm that allowed us to remain covered and cross the mucky terrain.
"Seriously, I owe you."
Kit didn't meet my eyes when I looked at her.
"You don't owe me anything." Her tone was flat and very much not what I was used to hearing from her.
"Kit?" I stopped, and she did, too, rather than pull the blanket away. "How did you know I was here?"
"She came back, right?" Kit started walking again, and I hurried to fall into step as we entered the trees. Though the greenery shielded us from some of the rain, each branch we touched set off another shower. "You didn't."
"She, who?" 'There wasn't anyone with you when you left the tent, right?'
"She… She said I couldn't tell. And I wasn't supposed to go anywhere." Kit glanced at me, then her words flowed faster. "And I didn't, see? Not until Mikhail came and asked me what I was doing. He said to 'get on with it', like he does, so I grabbed the blanket, and, well, here you are."
"Okay…" I tugged the blanket higher over our heads as we emerged from the trees into another mucky field and the renewed force of the rain. The distraction gave me time to piece together what Kit had said — and more importantly, what she hadn't said.
'Female, but that eliminates, what, two people? A bit more if you count the visitors, maybe. But a visitor couldn't order Kit around, could they?' Erebus's words — too malleable — bounced around my skull. 'It's odd that she either can't or won't say who it was, unless… Is she covering for someone?'
My mind drifted to the nasty rumors surrounding her brother. 'Still, what motive would he have?' Something niggled in the back of my mind — an echo of something I'd heard. Not deep-deep. My frown grew as the EMBG appeared in the next flash of lightning. 'Kit knows something about the Trade Routes. Could she have followed you? Triggered Mergen's seal, then left? Wouldn't you remember something? And why would she have come back if she'd gotten away clean?'
Tabling the idea, since I had nothing to fine-tune my speculations, I turned my attention to the line snaking up to the EMBG's door. It wasn't as long as yesterday's, but it still trailed over half the new plank walkway that marked a path from the field's edge to the entrance. Though lacking an awning, the would-be guests seemed to have planned ahead and brought their own cover; multicolored umbrellas festooned the walkway. Lightning rods — also new — towered at each corner of the field, doing their part to protect the crowd.
"Does this place always have a line?"
"Hmm." Kit pursed her lips. "If we're open, yes? I mean, there's a certain cachet to getting in, but there's no reservations. So you stand in line or… don't?" She shrugged. "And line jumping is a real no-no." She laughed — a bright tinkle. "Security almost had to step in when you fainted yesterday. The first time, anyway."
"The first time?" I stared at her. "How many times have I fainted?"
"Counting today? Three." Kit's even tone made it sound normal.
"Not possible." I shook my head and ignored the glares as we bypassed the queue. "I could not have fainted three times."
"Okay."
I blinked, struggling to place what was off about that statement. 'Her tone — it's so matter-of-fact.'
"Okay?" I tested the word myself. "That's not usually how teasing works."
"Teasing." Kit stopped, and I nearly locked my knees, trying not to yank the blanket away. "The act of persistently annoying someone. Bullying?"
"Bones!" I jerked back. "I guess, technically. But I didn't mean it like that." The rain pattered against the blanket harder and began dripping through.
"How did you mean it? If there's another definition, I can note it down." Kit smiled while droplets traced down her face.
"No, it's just—" I stopped and sighed; a headache blossomed behind my left eye. 'Maybe you hit your head? It would explain so much.' "Nevermind. If I fainted three times, I fainted three times. Let's get out of the rain before I go down again, right?" I started walking again, slowly at first as I made sure Kit moved with me, then faster.
"That's teasing again?" Kit frowned at me. "You're not actually going to faint?"
Laughing, I shook my head. 'Malleable, right? So she was told not to say who she saw, and won't.'
A scowling, black-clad woman huddled under the kiosk's tiny awning. She glared at me, as if I'd insulted her, though I'd swear I hadn't seen her before. Kit jogged ahead, dropping the blanket to trail in the mud.
"Oh, no! Didn't you have a chance to get your cloak? I can watch the door while you get dried off."
"You're joking, right?" The woman's grin transformed her face. "You're wetter than I am, little kitten. Your brother's gonna pitch a royal fit."
Kit folded her arms across her chest and ducked her head.
"It's not that bad — I'm just a little damp. Oh, but did you see Jack? I need to talk to him."
"You're dripping," I said. "We all are." I threw the blanket over her shoulders, stepping well-clear at the renewed scowl the woman sent my way. "Maybe you two could go get cleaned up and I could watch the door?" 'How hard could it be? '
"Yeah, no." The woman's quick drawl was accented by an eye roll and crossed arms. "You're not even EMBG-adjunct. You're not in charge of who gets in."
"Oh." I rubbed the back of my head. 'Makes sense.'
"Well, I can take Cairn to get cleaned up, then come back?" Kit glanced between us, the motion making the blanket slip. She grabbed it and folded it over her arm.
I eyed the tent flap. The canvas was darker than the increasing storm, and my stomach pinched just looking at it. I took a step back.
'You've delivered the message — your test is over. You're rested, so there's no reason not to return to your Post. There is literally nothing you need inside that tent.' A wave of relief washed over me at that realization, and I forced myself not to step back again.
"Cairn?" Worry creased Kit's face, and she'd turned to face me.
"I'm good." My voice shook, and I dragged my eyes away from the canvas to meet hers for longer than a heartbeat. "I think it's time for me to go."
"Boy, you're soaked to the skin, covered in mud, and shaking in your boots. What on the Routes makes you think this is a good time to leave?" The woman's scorn hardened my resolve.
"Thank you for your hospitality," I said in the same formal mode Kit had used when she first spoke with me. The same mode I'd used before I flew away from Erebus. Guilt pinched.
'Mergen wanted to talk, and you're still sealed. That almost made me change my mind. Almost.'
Then I remembered being trapped so far from the sky, and that someone here was, if not my enemy, then at least not an ally.
'Flits don't fight for a place. We fly before the storm, ride it out, and our crystals keep the memory of what was lost.'
"But—" Kit started after me, then stopped. "You'll stay safe, right?"
"Huh?" I blinked, startled from my dark thoughts.
"Don't go deep, Cairn. They're not stable, and once they get a taste of you…" Kit shook her head.
I wanted — needed — to ask what she meant, but my quartz burned, and I knew that pushing wouldn't snare me any answers. 'No need to up the tally from three to four, right?'
"As Milady commands." I swept a bow as low as anything Kit had offered before shifting and flying into the storm.