The Bound (Ascension #2)(76)

She had known that it might take some time to find them, but it was easy to get discouraged when they didn’t have any clues and no word from her friends on the outside.

“Any luck?” Maelia asked.

Cyrene jumped on the bed where she had a pile of books sprawled out before her. “How are you so silent? I didn’t even hear the door open.”

Maelia shrugged. “Years of training with the Guard.”

“You’re even quieter than Avoca. That’s a feat.”

Maelia smiled, as if this were a compliment.

“Did you find anything?”

Maelia shook her head. “I think we should go meet with the others and see how their search is going. Try to come up with an easier way to go about this than blind searching.”

“You’re right. We need to reconvene. I don’t want to spend years searching for them. We need to be more pragmatic.”

Cyrene followed Maelia out of the castle grounds. In such a short time, Maelia had already figured out the perfect time to get in and out of court without being seen. Cyrene couldn’t help but admire that training. While Cyrene had been preparing for her Presenting and learning any number of subjects, Maelia had been learning swordplay, tracking, and other militaristic things from her parents and the guards whom she had grown up with in Levin.

Maelia flagged down a gondola and gave the man directions to where they were to meet the others at an inn in the First Sector. They cut through the water, and Cyrene got her first real look at the city during the day. It was bustling as much as the palace was. Every square inch was built up, and for every waterway that Orden had drawn on the map, there were dozens of other smaller waterways navigating throughout the various sectors. The canals crisscrossed the city in a manner quite like the back roads of any other major city. It was incredible that these boats were the major source of transportation instead of horse or carriage. Though most of the canals had sandstone bridges connecting the various buildings as well as the different sectors.

Their gondola traveled off the main canal and into a narrow waterway in the First Sector. Cyrene could tell immediately that this area of the city was much less reputable than where they had come from. The buildings were more ramshackle, and children ran around barefoot. Taverns littered every corner, offering a drunken reprieve.

“Why am I not surprised that this is where Ahlvie chose to meet?” Cyrene asked when the boat stopped in front of a tavern and inn called The Sea Bride’s Chamber.

Maelia laughed and followed her into the inn. Loud music played over the boisterous cheers from the crowd who took up the majority of the space. People were dancing in the center of the room and repeatedly crashing into each other, spilling ale all over the floor. The floors were sticky, and Cyrene was sure she was ruining her silk slippers. She wished she had worn boots, but the weather was so hot in Eleysia that most people didn’t even own them.

Cyrene cast her eyes around the room, looking for some kind of gambling table, knowing she would find Ahlvie there. Then, Maelia laughed next to her and pointed up to the stage. There, decked out in full entertainer garb, complete with a flowing mendicant cloak in a mishmash of colors, playing a lute and singing, while the crowd cheered him on was none other than Ahlvie Gunn.

“Way to stay undercover,” Cyrene grumbled under her breath.

“He is the most irritating man in Emporia,” Maelia confirmed.

“And, somehow, he always figures out what we need to know. So, let’s go see if he’s figured it out this time.”

Cyrene angled toward the stage and started meandering through the crowd toward Ahlvie. She passed a table of men throwing dice and another playing some kind of card game. She was glad Ahlvie was singing on the stage tonight rather than gambling.

He finished his song and swept a deep bow to the room. Everyone cheered and called for another. Cyrene caught his eye then, and his eyebrows rose. His smile grew into that normal devious look she knew all too well. It meant he had a bad idea brewing.

“That’s my final song for today, folks. Same place and time tomorrow,” Ahlvie called.

“Haille, one more!” someone cried.

“Mardas, sing us your favorite again!”

A cheer went up in the crowd. “Mardas! Mardas! Mardas!”

Cyrene shook her head. Haille Mardas was back. That only meant trouble.

He bowed one more time with a flourish and then hopped down. He found Cyrene in the crowd, and at least a dozen times, he was clapped on the back by happy customers who appreciated his music.

“Ladies, ladies,” Ahlvie said, wrapping an arm around Cyrene’s and Maelia’s shoulders. “Let’s get you upstairs where you belong.” He winked at a man at the bar and then pushed them toward the stairs.

“You are vile. You know that, right?” Maelia said.

“Horrid, Ahlvie,” Cyrene agreed.

“You both love it,” he said, squeezing their shoulders and pretending to nuzzle Cyrene’s neck for the crowd.

“I am going to kill you,” she growled.

Their group made it up two flights of stairs. Ahlvie opened a door into a two-bedroom suite. Cyrene’s eyebrows rose.

“You must be throwing dice to afford this room,” Cyrene said.

Ahlvie laughed and shut the door behind Maelia. “The owner of the inn lets me stay in exchange for my performances. Seems it brings good business. Better for us to have one place for everyone with ready meals,” Ahlvie said. He pulled off the cloak he’d worn for the show and slung it on a hook at the door. “Not better money than dicing, but less chance of getting thrown out.”