EIGHTEEN - Esmarine

Esmarine begins an investigation of her own.

Esmarine hadn’t slept.  She spent the night alternating between worrying about Atherton, feeling concerned for Saxon and Sephora, and wondering whether the entire city was about to come crumbling to the ground.  Riordan’s words kept repeating in her mind, “Things are about to get very, very bad around here.  I’m sorry for everything you’re going to have to go through.”

How could he know what’s coming?  Things are bad, but people are working hard to make sure everything gets better, not worse.  If they are getting worse… there has to be a way that I can help stop it.  Riordan said if anyone finds out about Saxon and Sephora, the city would fall into chaos.  So I just have to make sure that everybody who knows about them keeps the secret.

With that thought in mind, Esmarine rolled out of bed and headed for the front door.  She stopped to make sure her father wasn’t awake and wouldn’t notice her leave�"but he was snoring loudly from his bedroom.  She quietly opened the front door and snuck outside.  So who knows about them?  Who might not know that this is important?  The Guard at the front gate.  The answer came almost immediately.  He had the most power to accidentally start the rumor that would bring Xantom down.

She turned and made her way to the gate.  He’s probably asleep in the gatehouse, or is just now waking up.  This is the perfect time to speak to him.

She knocked on the door beside the gate.  She waited only a split second before knocking again.  Just wake up already, this is important!

Then she began knocking on the door and didn’t stop until the guard opened it, looking extremely confused.  “What do you want?” he asked.  “Curfew isn’t over yet.  You can’t�"”

“I actually wanted to talk to you,” she said.

His face contorted into an expression signaling his complete loss for words.  Finally he just said “I think I’m too tired for this.  Give me an hour and come back.”

“There’s no time for that.  Curfew will be over by then.  It won’t take long, I promise.”

He sighed.  “Fine.”

“Do you remember me from yesterday?”  Esmarine asked sweetly.

“I know who you are.  You’re Silvan’s daughter.  I would have known you anyway.”

“Okay, well do you remember when I came into the city with Zultan and Castiel yesterday?”

“Yes.  Why?”

“It’s about the children.  The thing is… you can’t tell anyone about them.”

“Doesn’t everyone already know?  They came right through the middle of the city.  I don’t think it’s a big secret.”

“Nobody knows why they were brought in.  If anyone finds out… I don’t know exactly what will happen, but it will be bad!”

“Look, I understand this is important to you, but I don’t think you’re really in any position to be giving out orders.  I don’t care if your father is on the King’s Guard.”

I’m going to have to try a different tactic.  Riordan knows what he’s talking about, he can’t possibly be wrong about this.  “What’s your name?” she asked.

He paused for a moment before answering.  When he finally spoke his name it came out warily, “Hoyt.”  He thinks I’m trying to trick him.

“Hoyt, please just trust me on this.  You can’t tell anyone about those children.”

“I wasn’t planning on telling anyone.  I don’t understand why this is such a big deal.”

“Please.”

He studied her for a long time.  Please, just know that I’m being serious.  I know you have it in you.  She put on her best “innocent” face and tried to summon a few tears.  Her eyes started welling up.  Perfect!  There’s no way he can turn me down now.  He threw up his arms in defeat.

“Okay!  I’ll keep it a secret.  Maybe one day you can explain what the point of all this was.”

“Thank you, thank you!”

She turned to go, which is when she heard the sound of the castle drum echo out over the city.  A single beat.  Curfew was over.  That means my dad is in the castle…  Soon the King will leave with the hunt, and I’ll be able to talk to the rest of the guards.

She stopped and turned back to Hoyt.  “Oh, and if you see my dad at any point… there’s no need to tell him about this conversation.”  She smiled brightly and whirled around.  She could feel his confused gaze watching her disappear into the city, but she didn’t care.  Until the King leaves, I should go see Riordan.  I can tell him that I’m taking care of everything and he doesn’t have to worry about the word spreading about Saxon and Sephora.

With each step she took, she felt her pride growing stronger.  Things aren’t out of my control anymore… I actually have some influence on what happens in the future!  She felt excitement welling up inside her chest.  This is what I was meant to do.  While Xanthus is in the Outskirts finding food and supplies, I’ll be the secret hero from inside Xantom.  And when they find out, maybe they’ll let me raise Saxon and Sephora as my brother and sister.

She reached Riordan’s house, which was dark and quiet.  She pushed through the front door.  Apparently Riordan hadn’t woken up yet, because there weren’t any candles lit, and the fireplace looked cold.  That’s odd.  Normally he’s up right when the drum beats.

“Riordan!” she called.  “Wake up!”  There was no response.  I hope he’s okay.  She walked back to his bedroom and knocked gently on the door.  “Riordan?”  She pushed the door open slowly.  She could barely see through the darkness but she could tell Riordan wasn’t here.  Where did he go?  He never leaves except after a Hunt when there’s a Giving.

Something was wrong.  She felt a tingle creep up her spine.  She made her way to the front door and made her way back out into the city as quickly as she could.  Could this have anything to do with the conversation I overheard last night?  Something about the passage?

A voice cut through the darkness from behind her.  “You again.”

She whirled around in horror to see the face of Tadghan standing before her.  “Tadghan?  What are you doing here?”

“Apparently the same thing you are.  Looking for Riordan.  You don’t know where he went?”

“How would I know?  You know him better than I do.”

“Don’t be sassy.  As far as I can tell, we’re on the same side here.”

“There are sides?  Which side are we on?”

“The side where we survive another hundred years.  What did you need to talk with Riordan about?”

She looked deep into his eyes.  Can I trust him?  Should I tell him the truth?  “I wanted to tell him that I’m helping.  I’m talking to everyone who knows about Xanthus’s new children and warning them not to tell anyone.”

“How do you know who knows?”

“What?”

“How do you know who knows about the babies?  For all you know, you’re spreading the word faster than it would have.  You have to stop what you’re doing.”

“No, if they don’t know not to talk�"”

“But they have no reason to talk, especially if they don’t know about the babies.  No, leave it alone.  Let the adults handle this.”

“I am an adult.”

“You’re a child.  And if you really want to help, you’ll go home and let this pass.”

“I’m not doing that.  I’m going to help save the city.”

“If you go and tell the guards that they aren’t supposed to talk about the new children, they’re going to want to know why.  And when you don’t have a good enough answer, they’re going to talk.  Right now they may not even think to talk about what happened, but as soon as a little girl tells them not to do something, it’s going to raise even bigger questions.  Who have you told so far?”

“Just Hoyt at the front gate.  And my father.”

Tadghan exhaled loudly.  She could tell he was trying to hold in his frustration.  “No more.  Stop this.  You have no idea what you’re doing.”

“I know more than you think I do.  I’m smart.  And I’m helpful.”

“Just… please, do me a favor and go home.  I’m handling this.”

“You don’t know where Riordan went either, so you aren’t handling things any better than I am.”

This seemed to strike a nerve with him.  His face turned to rage.  When he turned to look at her, she recoiled.  Why did I say that?  I don’t even know this man, or what he’s capable of.  She took a step backwards.

“I’ll go home.  I promise.  I’m sorry.”  She felt the panic growing inside her.  But then the look on Tadghan’s face was gone, and it was as if it never happened.  Esmarine took a deep breath.  The fear was gone.

“Thank you.  And I’m sorry.  Sometimes I just… I didn’t mean to scare you.”  He seemed sincere.  And the pain in his eyes made her want to forgive him.  It wasn’t like he even did anything wrong.  “Please do go home.  I’m headed to the front gate to make sure you didn’t cause any trouble.  And then I’m going to find Riordan.”

He disappeared into the darkness, heading in the direction Esmarine had just come from.  At this point, Xanthus and the King’s Guard had already passed through the gate.  She could hear the sounds of the hunters coming from over the wall.  They were getting ready to leave.

If I can’t talk to the guards directly, I can at least try to find out what they know, and if they’ve told anyone.  That way when I see Riordan again, I can tell him with confidence that everything is okay.  I should wait in the castle until they get back.  And with that thought, she turned towards the castle and started off.