Free Daughter of Dusk by Livia Blackburne Page B

broke
Kyra’s heart, and she wrapped her arms around Lettie, wishing she could tell her that Idalee would be just fine. But she couldn’t bring herself to lie.
    Footsteps sounded in the hall, and Malikel swept through the door. “Kyra, what is this?”
    Kyra hadn’t expected to see Malikel so soon. Ilona must have dispatched some servants. “Sir, my sister was beaten by Lord Agan’s three sons.”
    Malikel came to a stop at the head of Idalee’s bed, looking far too much like Death’s messenger looming over Idalee in his flowing red robes. “How is she, Ilona?”
    “Not good, sir,” Ilona answered quietly.
    Malikel turned to Kyra again. “Tell me what happened.”
    The Councilman didn’t interrupt Kyra as she told him what she’d pieced together. “They could have killed her,” she said. “The magistrate should know about
this.”
    “You say there were witnesses?” Malikel asked.
    “A crowd had gathered to watch, but nobody interfered. Two of them were Red Shields,” Kyra said.
And they’d stood by while Idalee choked on mud.
    Idalee whimpered again, and Ilona apologized, though Kyra wasn’t sure if Ilona was speaking to Idalee, Malikel, or Kyra.
    Malikel took one last look at the girl. “I’ll speak to the magistrate on her behalf. We’ll see what we can do.”
    Kyra was afraid to hope for justice, not with everything she’d seen on the streets. But if Malikel were behind Idalee…“Thank you, sir.”
    “Don’t thank me yet.”
    After Malikel left, Lettie started to nod with fatigue. Kyra took a blanket from a shelf next to Idalee’s bed and coaxed Lettie to lie down. Lettie resisted at first, but she finally gave
in, and Kyra rubbed her back. The floor was hard stone, and the blanket was a closely woven wool that didn’t offer much padding, but the girl nonetheless fell quickly asleep. Kyra left her
there and found a servant boy to carry a message to Flick. Then she sat in the corridor outside Ilona’s door and sifted through the guilt-laden questions whirling through her head. Should she
have tried harder to get Idalee to listen to her warnings? Anger flared through her at the thought. A child shouldn’t have to fear for her life every time she misspoke, no matter whom she was
talking to.
    She’d been there a while when Tristam came hurrying around the corner, still in uniform. Though their argument was still fresh in her mind, Kyra’s spirits lifted to see him. She
began to stand, but he motioned for her to sit back down.
    “I heard,” he said softly, those two words heavy with concern. He peered carefully into Ilona’s room. “How is she?” Under these circumstances, their fight seemed
sadly trivial.
    “Ilona’s been working on her a long time,” said Kyra. Her voice sounded hollow.
    Tristam’s face grew shadowed as he watched Ilona’s movements. Finally, he backed away and sank down onto the floor opposite her. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
    “Malikel’s reporting to the magistrate. Ilona’s doing what she can.”
    “Ilona’s one of our best,” Tristam said.
    Kyra nodded, staring at the empty space in front of her. The cold of the walls and floor seeped through her tunic, and she hugged her knees closer to keep warm.
    “Lord Agan has three sons,” said Tristam. “Santon’s the oldest, then Douglass. Dalton, the youngest, was in my cohort when we were squires. They’ve always had a
reputation for causing trouble, getting into fights when the commanders weren’t looking.”
    “Ever been punished?” asked Kyra.
    “A few times.”
    Not enough to dissuade them from beating a child to near death.
“I’ve been beaten before,” said Kyra. “Once a couple Red Shields wanted to take my coin for a
fake bridge toll. I tried to run away, but I wasn’t fast enough. Things like that aren’t uncommon in the city.”
    Tristam shook his head in disgust. “Now that I spend more time in the Red Shield ranks, I see things. Soldiers abusing their power,