Free Green Wild (Thrones of the Firstborn Book 2) by Chrysoula Tzavelas Page B

slept much in the last day and night, less even than Jerya and the others, and she looked it. She’d been furious when Yithiere brought Shanasee to her, irrationally angry at how Shanasee had been used and hurt. Now, she just seemed exhausted. She waved at her throat and said something inaudible. A mug steamed in one hand, fragrant with the scent of lemon and honey.
    Yevonne lifted her head from Gisen’s knee and yawned. “Cara’s lost her voice. She’s been talking and talking to Shan. But nah, they’re both still sleeping safe. It’s all right.”
    Jerya looked at the two still forms, thinking about love and loss. After a moment she turned away and went to one of the inn’s parlours, where Cathay’s mother and Jant’s wife both sat sewing. The Royal Family and its Regents and spouses and parents had been spread out all through the Palace; before the disaster, Jerya would go occasionally go days without seeing Lady Siana or Lady Julina. That was another reason to hold as much business as possible at the Tabernacle. It was too crowded here. The Chancellor had already spoken of moving his own staff to another building but he wanted to identify an appropriately empty one first.
    Lady Siana looked up and put her sewing down. “Do you need this chamber?” Jerya had heard that once Siana had been a vivacious woman, but now she was a pale, willowy creature whose laughter was quiet and her disapproval even quieter.
    As a child, Jerya had sometimes pretended Lady Siana was her own mother: a mother who stayed with her child despite the sadness. But that hadn’t lasted long; extended flights of fancy were Tiana’s domain and so Jerya had put them away. And it was too easy to see the marks grief had left on Lady Siana. She and Lady Julina were noble-born, but when they’d married Royal princes, they’d become part of the Regency Court. They had some of the training and counseling Regents relied on, but it hadn’t helped Siana. No training prepared you for your husband’s suicide.
    Jerya slanted a glance at Twist. “Did Cathay go with her?”
    Twist yawned again. “I’ve always thought it was remarkable how single-gender the Citadel appears to be. There are female students, but the Citadel believes the path to avoiding distraction is for the girls to pretend to be boys.” He shrugged. “It works, I suppose. If, like Cathay, you’re not looking for romantic adventures because you’ve already found one and she’s leaving the Citadel.”
    Grimacing, Jerya said to Lady Siana, “You might as well stay, if you can bear the crowd.” She moved further into the parlour. Her uncles and Alanah moved in behind her, while the guards clogged the hall outside. Lady Julina stood, held out her hand to Jant, and bent down and kissed his head when he stood beside her.
    Jerya walked over to the window, glanced outside, and then closed the curtains, casting the room into shadow. “What has my sister done now?”
    From across the room, Twist stared at her for a long moment, as if he wasn’t quite sure where to start. Dread churned in Jerya’s stomach. “Is she well? You would have told me immediately if she wasn’t, yes?”
    Relaxing, Twist said, “She’s mostly fine. During the Antecession ceremony an altercation with the sword Jinriki triggered an odd,” he hesitated, as if looking for the right word. “An odd event. All the Logos-workings vanished, and Tiana had a direct encounter with the spirit of Niyhan. Now she’s on a quest, at his command.”
    It was Jerya’s turn to stare at Twist. “How much of this is verifiable?” She’d spent her life protecting her baby sister, sometimes from Tiana’s own dangerous, irresistible whims.
    “Most of it,” Twist assured her. “The Magister agrees that Niyhan did manifest, and did give Tiana something special. A weapon to be used against the Blighter, if she can acquire the rest of it. Oh, and she reconciled with the sword. Which will probably come in handy... Though