He motioned to Marlis, and she rose and took my arm. Holding me steady, we limped away as the Magician crouched beside Gideon and muttered something unintelligible. “Is she dead?” I asked as we shuffled past Vanessa.
“I didn’t ask,” Marlis said. “I’m not sure I want to know.”
We made our way to our rooms, and I sank into a chair before the empty fireplace. I stripped off my gloves, removed my beaded necklace, and wriggled out of my slippers. Marlis poured a goblet of water and passed it to me. I drained it, and she filled it twice again before my throat no longer felt like a burning desert. With my thirst quenched, I stood and strode to my bedchamber.
“Where are you going?” Marlis asked.
“I’m going to wash off this soot and get out of this ridiculous dress. Help me with the buttons, will you?”
Her nimble fingers flittered up my spine until the dress pooled at my feet. After she unlaced my corset, I gasped a huge breath and sighed. She tossed me a robe, and I shrugged it on while kicking away underskirts and petticoats. “Ridiculous,” I muttered.
She followed me into the lavatory. “What’s ridiculous?”
“All those layers. The stays, the bindings—it’s unnecessary. Who decides what’s fashionable anyway? I’d like to give them a taste of my lightning.”
Having found a rag in the lavatory, I poured water into a washbowl and scrubbed away soot and whatever tatters of my makeup remained. “Help me take down my hair. Would you braid it for me? Make it tight.”
Marlis nodded and followed me into the bedchamber. I plopped into the vanity chair, and she picked pins from my hair until impatience nearly boiled my blood. She brushed my hair, separated the strands, and wove them into a braid. The moment she knotted the ribbon in place, I leapt from my seat, retrieved my favorite trousers and a plain cotton blouse, and tugged them on.
Her eyes went wide. “What are you doing?”
“Getting dressed.”
“Why? You should be going to bed.”
“Didn’t you hear what I said?” I stepped to the wardrobe and opened a drawer. After selecting a clean pair of short stockings, I dropped to the floor and tugged them on, followed by my boots. “I’m not safe here. Maybe I’m not safe anywhere, but I’ll be damned if I’ll sit here and let them come for me.” An image of Gideon’s scalded face flashed before my eyes. “Or let them hurt you trying to get to me.”
She grabbed my arm. “We’ve tried running, remember? That didn’t work either.”
“Yes, it did.” I rolled to my feet, stood, and met her wide-eyed gaze. She looked like a frightened rabbit who had caught scent of a wolf. “It’s only when we stopped that they found us.”
“Evie, listen to yourself. You’re panicking and not thinking clearly.”
I tossed up my hands and growled an ineffable expression of frustration and fear. “Did you not see your brother tonight? He nearly died trying to protect me. So, don’t tell me I can’t run, Marlis.” I snatched a sheathed knife from my bedside table and shoved it into the top of my boot. “I’ll do whatever it takes to keep the people I love and care for safe.”
“Gideon chose to protect you, to be your guardian. He knows the risks. He made his own decisions. He wouldn’t blame you for that. No one blames you.”
My gaze flickered around the room as I searched for my Thunder Cloak. After spotting it lying over the chair in the sitting room, I jerked free from Marlis and hurried toward it. She followed me. “You can’t go alone, Evie.”
“Of course I can. It’s not the first time I’ve survived on my own. I have to find my thunder, and I can’t risk losing you and Gideon while I do it.”
“Maybe Otokar can help you. Did you ever ask him?”
I paused as her suggestion triggered a thought. Vanessa had said Le Poing Fermé was using its power to inhibit my connection to the thunder, but perhaps another Magician could reverse whatever they had done.
Speaking of Otokar worked like a spell because he threw open the door and strode into our sitting room, followed by two sturdy groomsmen carrying Gideon’s limp body between them. Tears burned in my throat, but I swallowed them and hurried to his side. “How is he?” I asked.
“Well enough, considering.” Otokar pointed to Gideon’s dark doorway. “Put him in there. Remove his weapons and strip his clothes.” The groomsmen nodded and trundled Gideon into his bedroom. “He has several bad burns I must treat to prevent infection. I do not know the state of his internal injuries, but I will do my best for him.” The Magician squeezed my arm. “Fear not, my lady. Your guardian shall be restored to you as good as new.”
I met the Magician’s dark eyes. “He’s more than my guardian.”
He nodded. “That is obvious to anyone who has seen the two of you together.”
“As long as I’m powerless, I’m a danger to him—to all of you. Vanessa said Le Poing Fermé was the source of my problems. They’ve done something to weaken my connections to the storms. If they’re using Magic, is that something you can counteract?”
A muscle flinched beneath Otokar’s eye. Tight lines formed around his mouth. “Le Poing Fermé is the most powerful Magical cabal in all of the Continent. Perhaps in all the world. What you are asking of me, of one lone man, is highly unlikely.” He narrowed his gaze and stared into me the way he had the day I first met him—as if he could see my soul. “I am strong, yes? I am powerful. But I am one man, and I do not wish to bring the wrath of Le Poing Fermé upon me or my lady. I can do many things, but defeating their Magic is beyond me. The only ones who might have the strength and numbers to do what you ask is the Council of Magic.”
“Council of Magic? I don’t know what you mean.”
“The governing body over all Magicians.”
I hadn’t been aware that such a thing existed. “Where do I find them?”
He shook his head. “You only find them if they want you to find them. To request an audience, you must ask a Magician to intercede on your behalf, and even then, they still might refuse. I am sorry I cannot do more for you, Evie. I can heal Gideon, though. And that is what you should let me do.”
“You could contact the Council on my behalf.”
Otokar shook his head. “Evie, you do not understand what you ask. A cabal as powerful as Le Poing Fermé does not exist without strong support in the Council—likely Thibodaux’s influence runs deep and wide. Even if I made introductions for you, I am certain you would find mostly hard hearts and deaf ears. As I said, interfering with Le Poing Fermé could make my lady, and her throne, a target. That is not a risk I am willing to take without a very compelling motive.”
I understood what he was implying: he believed involving himself in my situation wasn’t a good enough reason to risk endangering Tereza, and I couldn’t blame him. His only duty was to protect her and her throne. I swallowed, easing the burning in my throat. Some of my discomfort came from the damage inflicted by the smoke and fire, but fear and desperation had caused the worst of it. I scowled but nodded. “Do what you can for Gideon, please. I’ll take care of myself.”
I stopped long enough to grab my Thunder Cloak before heading out the door. Marlis hurried behind me. “You’re going to walk away from him? From us?”
“It’s for his own good.” I refused to look at her. “Yours, too. You’ll see to his care. You’ll make sure he’s well, won’t you?”
“Evie, please don’t go.”
The tears in her voice wrenched my heart, but I shook off my grief and picked up my pace. Don’t feel it. Harden yourself. Do what’s best for them, no matter what. When I reached the stairway leading to the main floor—to the exits, to escape—I allowed myself one look at Marlis’s desperate face as she lingered in the hallway. “When he wakes up, tell Gideon I’ve gone to see the circus.”
“Circus?” Her face crumpled, showing her confusion.
I nodded and turned toward the stairs. “He’ll know what it means.”
BOOK TWO
THE TAMING OF LIONS
Chapter 10
Undetected, unscathed, and without further interference from Le Poing Fermé, Adaleiz and I reached the periphery of Le Cirque de Merveilles Mécanique in time to witness a small group of laborers disassembling the main tent. In the light of a circle of lanterns and blazing torches, they removed the exterior skirting, folding the massive swath of striped fabric as they untied it from its frame. Besides the workers and a few performers strolling to and from their wagons, the field was empty. The circus’s spectators had departed long ago, and only the detritus from their visit—ticket stubs, wrinkled handbills, spilled popcorn, and confetti—swirled about like tiny circus tumbleweeds.
A sudden gust of wind grabbed a loose fold of fabric and ripped it away as the workers reached to untie the next section. The tent whipped and snapped. A tall, slim figure darted in, shouting commands as he grabbed the loose ends. Falak, in his jodhpurs and white shirt, strained to keep the striped bundle under control as the winds lashed at him. More men fell in beside him, grabbing armfuls of the loose skirting as fast as the wind could unspool it.
Falak cried out in a foreign tongue—an obvious curse. I slid from Adaleiz’s saddle and, after tying her reins around the spoke of a massive wagon wheel, strode to his side and grabbed a bundle of skirting, balling it in my arms. “Brauchst du hilfe?” I asked. Can I help?
Falak flinched and gaped at me. “Evie? What’re you doing here?”
“I’ve come to see a man about a job.”
