I’ve worked for to some other nameless competitor is never far from my thoughts.
Kendara scratches at the bottom of her handkerchief. For all that she’s taught me, she’s revealed almost nothing about her past. I don’t know if she has family, where she grew up, if Kendara is her real name, or even what the upper half of her face looks like.
But I’ve come to know her in other ways. Although she demands the respect and honor owed to her as my elder, she loathes mindless obedience. She encourages my curiosity even as she insults my intelligence. She constantly challenges my limits, but only ever within the parameters of her rules.
Her fierce independence and abrasive honesty are what first convinced me to trust her those years ago, qualities that would have offended others but to me were admirable. Something to aspire toward.
In the four years I’ve been her pupil, her training has been harsh and unforgiving. I’ve stolen fruit from the queen’s orchards. I’ve been shackled and dropped into a flooded well. I’ve crept through a den of sleeping rock scorpions with bells woven in my hair.
Every assignment tested my skill and my resolve. After all, a Shadow is tasked with whispering to the queen the secrets of allies and enemies alike, and with quietly extinguishing any powerful opponents. Kendara has never underestimated me. She is one of the few people who do not equate my upbringing with my worth. And when I am the queen’s Shadow, who I was will matter less than nothing compared to who I will become.
“I heard you’re to accompany the hatchlets to the Valley of Cranes today.” Her lip curls. It isn’t the first time she’s expressed disgust with the prison. While I agree with her, I’m not bold enough to say so. It would mean criticizing the queen, and no one except Kendara would dare.
So I only say, “I am.”
She makes a shooing gesture. “Get going. They’ve already gathered in the Company yard.”
The disappointment strikes swift and brutal, as all her blows do. I’ve less than a month in the Company before graduation, before the Royal Army ships me off to who-knows-where. Less than a month to prove to Kendara that I deserve to remain here and to study as her official apprentice. Every day that passes without her decision is a kick to the gut.
Swallowing back the protests that crowd my throat, I push to my feet, my braid swinging against my back. I tug the sleeve of my gray uniform over the bracelet and ask, “Where did you even get this?”
Kendara retrieves her dagger and whetstone from the floor, but rather than reclaim her seat by the balcony doors, she settles into a rocking chair before the fireplace. “A Shadow must keep her secrets.”
“Only some.”
“But all of them today. Now get out, witless child.” She sits so close to the hearth that I worry she’ll catch fire. But she seems to cow even the flames, which don’t dare do more than lick at her toes.
My steps are silent as I cross the room. A single creak of the floorboards, and she won’t call me back for days. In her presence, to be anything less than what she has made me would be an insult.
“Thank you for the gift.” I reach for the door, scratched and marred by the heavy locks. Before leaving, I grin and toss over my shoulder, “Ill-tempered crone.”
TWO
Saengo is waiting for me. She sits astride her drake, beside where I left my own mount. When she sees me, her dark brows crash together in a scowl.
“Do you know what time it is?” she snaps, already turning for the gates. “They’re about to leave. Do you want to be punished?”
“Sisters, save me. Not you, too,” I mutter. I greet Yandor, my drake, with a firm pat to his neck.
The huge lizard gives a pleased shake, the motion rippling through his dark-green scales. Gripping his saddle, I pull myself onto his back. The old leather groans. I brush hair from my face, inky strands that have come loose from my braid. My fingers trace the thin scars that line the top curves of my ears, a mindless action born of repetition.
With a flick of my reins, Yandor’s powerful legs take off running after Saengo’s drake, who’s already halfway down the path.
“I only have enough patience for one relentless grouch today,” I say. Despite Kendara’s nature, I’m always reluctant to leave her.
“And I’ve used up all my patience waiting for you,”