Chapter Text
Once upon a time, there was a vast land boarded by high mountains to the east and south and the True Sea to the west. This land had fertile soil as well as hostile wasteland, deep forests, blue lakes, and impassable rocks. The only inhabitants were the Suli, dark-skinned nomads with customs that were almost as colourful as their clothes. Their homes were their families, the people who stood by their side day after day, people with the same past and future, singing the same songs and telling the same stories.
However, one day, their land ceased to be theirs alone, even though they had never claimed it. They welcomed new people with paler skin they had never seen before, and they wanted to live in peace with their new neighbours, but the Ravkans, as they called themselves, did not understand the life of the Suli, they despised the things the Suli believed in, their constant traveling, even the way they spoke. The Ravkans considered them thieves because they did not grow or breed anything, they only took what was around them, while the Ravkans built their fields, houses and cities and worked hard day after day.
Conflict was inevitable and war was almost certain when a wise man, who was considered a Fortune-Teller among the Suli, came and warned both the Suli and the Ravkans that if they did not stop, their land would be destroyed and all their sons and daughters would die. No one listened to him and war began. It lasted for years and years and many died, fields were burned to the ground, as well as houses, cities... Nothing was left. Or almost nothing, because there were people who decided to make peace and start building something new where they could all live together. They found the wise man and asked him to become their emperor. At first, he hesitated, but when he saw how desperately they wanted his help, he agreed. His Suli became empress and their descendants ruled the empire as best they could. However, peace could not last forever, because nothing ever lasts.
These days, sunny and with the air filled with the wonderful scent of flowers and fruit, Inej preferred to spend most of her time outside in the large gardens of the royal palace in Os Alta. The gardens stretched around the entire palace as if they had no end. They were full of trees, flowers, and there was a lake with cold water that was very tempting on hot summer days. For anyone else, that might have been enough, because there were so many things to do here, even horse riding, but not for Inej. She had done it all too many times and there was nothing she didn’t already know about this place. She knew every corner of the maze made of hedges too intimately, like every flower, every tree she could climb, the swing she used for acrobatics, or the high wire between the two tallest trees. Nothing could entertain her anymore, because every day was the same.
Getting up at the same time, breakfast in her private chambers with only Nina, studying, because as the future empress she needed to be fluent in all languages (which Nina already was), know culture and politics, history and much more. Lunch on the terrace or in the winter garden and then a free afternoon if she didn’t have to attend her father’s meetings.
“Don’t look so bored. You can have anything you want,” said her companion Nina, who was sitting under a parasol, sipping fresh orange juice.
“I don’t,” Inej objected.
She didn’t have freedom. It hadn’t always been like this. When she was younger, she could accompany her father on his travels around their empire, she could go to the local market with her nanny, or later with a governess and a few guards, she could... There were many things she could do, but not now. Now she could only stare at the closed gates and high walls around the palace and its endless gardens. She was a prisoner for her own safety, as her father, the emperor, would say if she asked. But she never asked, not anymore.
Nina was her only friend. A Ravkan girl of noble birth. According to custom, every Suli prince or princess should have a Ravkan companion, regardless of whether it was the future emperor or empress or just a younger sibling. Inej was an only child, so there was only Nina, who had been taken from her family as a very young child to live in the palace and keep the princess company. Inej found it cruel, since Nina could not return to her family, but Nina never complained. She took everything that life brought her and found benefits in it.
“I don’t even remember living with my parents,” she just shrugged when Inej asked her if she missed it.
Sometimes Inej wished she had Nina’s personality, sometimes, like today, she didn’t.
“How about we have a race on the lake?” Nina suggested. “There is a new guard who seems very strong, and it would be a shame not to try to test his skills by rowing.”
Inej knew who Nina was talking about. The new guard was probably only a little older than them, tall and blond, definitely Nina’s type. Inej didn’t really have a type, or at least she had never thought about it. Maybe when she was younger, but back then... She didn’t want to think about “back then”, not when the day was so beautiful and she just wanted to do something she’d never done before.
“Inej? Are you even listening to me?”
Inej looked up at Nina. Her friend was still sitting in her armchair with her feet on a footstool, cooling herself with a fan. Inej, on the other hand, was sitting on the grass, which was so thick it resembled the softest carpet in the palace. When she rubbed her fingers against the blades, it was almost as soft as the Suli silk she was wearing.
“What did you say?” Inej asked, not really paying attention to Nina, thinking about the whole world hidden behind those high walls.
“Where are you wandering with your thoughts? Is it someone I know?” Nina asked mischievously and Inej rolled her eyes. “The Prince of Fjerda is coming in a few days, and I can’t wait for you two to meet.”
“I don’t.”
“Come on, Inej, at least be a little excited. He’s going to be your future husband! Aren’t you curious about what he’ll be like?”
“Not at all.”
Inej had been listening to stories about this prince for weeks and months and never wanted to hear another word about him. Only a few people had ever met him in person, but everyone seemed to know everything about him. What he liked, what he didn’t like, how rich his kingdom was, and how strong their army was. None of this bothered Inej at all. He could have been made of gold and she wouldn’t have been interested in him anyway. Why? Because she didn’t want to get married yet. She was only eighteen, and that might have seemed like enough to make her someone’s wife, but Inej didn’t feel that way. She had lost several precious years of her life and knew she would never get them back, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be tied down in a marriage she hadn’t chosen, even though it would have saved her country from war.
“It won’t be that bad, you’ll see,” Nina said encouragingly.
Inej frowned and looked at the walls again. They were high, but not insurmountable. With her abilities, it wouldn’t be that hard, and once she was behind them, she could breathe freely, if only for a moment, even if she were soon caught and taken back to the palace, to her parents, whom she would greatly disappoint.
Inej sighed. Her parents didn’t deserve her ingratitude, after all, they had done everything they could to protect her and secure her future, while she was not cooperating at all. If there was any other way than marriage...
“Come,” Nina stood up from the armchair and offered Inej her hand.
“Where?” Inej asked suspiciously.
“You’ll see.”
Nina grabbed Inej’s hand and pulled her to her feet. Hand in hand, they ran into the palace and sneaked into the kitchen, where they tasted everything that was being cooked, baked, and roasted for tonight’s dinner.
If only everything could be as pleasant as the time spent with Nina, but the dinner was nowhere near as pleasant, not with all the guests present. It was not unusual for the most important men in the land to gather for dinner with the emperor, the empress, and unfortunately, the princess. Usually, Inej didn’t mind, because important matters could be discussed that she should know, but this time she was in no mood for such boring talk. The general, a burly man in his forties with a well-groomed moustache who always thought more about himself than the welfare of the country, was a particularly dull man who could only talk about the army and weapons, enthusiastic about the well-trained Fjerdan army, as if he were planning to start a war. Inej could see that her father disagreed, but the general didn’t seem to notice. He was silenced only by the emperor’s advisor, whose favourite topics of conversation were business and politics.
“According to the latest reports, the Fjerdan prince should be here sooner than we expected, Your Majesty,” Jan Van Eck said.
Inej disliked him even more because he brought it up during the meal and made her lose her appetite. It seemed Inej’s father didn’t like him much either, but when Inej had asked why this Kerch had been given such an important position once, her father had given her a very rational explanation.
“Our ancestors weren’t very good at keeping money, Inej. We needed someone to help us not spend too much and teach us how to produce money instead of wasting it.”
It all made sense, but it still didn’t convince Inej to trust this man completely. No, his rare smiles were fake, his Kerch faith was dubious, and his demeanour was cold and calculating. He had helped their country a lot, but Inej didn’t agree with some of his solutions, such as increasing taxes and new decrees burdening the craftsmen and peasants with more obligations. However, with the money they earned, they were able to repair roads, clean wells, and much more.
Inej looked up at Van Eck and his receding hairline. Her marriage to the Fjerdan prince had been his idea, and his arguments had made so much sense that the emperor and empress could not possibly object. Inej had tried, but to no avail.
“You know what your duty is, Inej,” her father had told her.
“You’ll see he won’t be so bad, meja ,” her mother had said. “Just give him a chance. We wouldn’t want you to spend your life with someone who isn’t worthy of you. And this boy is, we’ve made sure of that.”
Inej pushed her plate away, and Nina gave her a disapproving look, to which Inej answered with a grimace that empress Arati would certainly not have liked, fortunately she was too busy with the conversation.
“That’s great news,” the emperor Irfan said. “We must hurry up with the preparations so that everything is ready in time.”
“Everything for the ball is almost ready,” Arati nodded contentedly. “The date cannot be changed because we have already sent out invitations to all the noble families in the country, but we have a lot more to do, so that will not be a problem. What about the army parade, General?”
“Ready and waiting for your order, Your Majesty,” the general said, his voice proud.
A ball, a parade, and other entertainment would normally be enough to make Inej look forward to it, but since it was all planned to celebrate her engagement, it had a very sour taste. Even at this moment, the palace seamstresses were working on her ball gown, and other dresses of Suli silk were already waiting for her to try on, each more stunning than the last. Nina had squealed with delight when she saw the first ones, and Inej would have done the same if the circumstances had been different. After all, she herself had never seen anything more beautiful.
Maybe the prince won’t be so bad.
How many times had she said those exact words to herself? It never helped. She didn’t know him at all, and she was only going to marry him for the wrong reasons. Not love, but politics.
Van Eck spoke again, and Inej’s father replied, her mother said something, but Inej wasn’t listening at all, her gaze turned to the window from which she could see the city below her, the lights in the darkness, and she could imagine what it was like there now. Were the streets still bustling, singing, dancing, talking? She wished she had wings so she could fly out the window and circle the city and watch it all from above. Life was there, not here in the palace, not with still the same conversation, with expectations that she had to fulfil, with decorum she had to maintain no matter what. Smiling when she wanted to cry. Talking when she wanted to be silent. Entertaining others when she wanted to hide in her bed so no one would see her. Was she even a princess and future empress, or a trained monkey?
Nina sent worried glances in her direction, surely noticing something was wrong, and Inej convinced herself to hold out a little longer, answering when asked, pretending to be obedient and happy that she would soon marry a complete stranger.
After the last course, the empress accompanied her daughter to her chambers, even though it used to be Nina’s job, and Inej feared she had noticed her behaviour at dinner.
“Are you feeling okay, meja ? I know it takes some getting used to, but believe me when I tell you that me and Papa did everything we could to find you a suitable husband.”
Inej swallowed the sharp remark. It wasn’t right to say it to her mother, who had been through a lot when Inej was missing and had never stopped looking for her, believing she would be found.
“Why can’t I choose my own husband myself?” Inej asked in a choked voice. She knew the answer, but she couldn’t resist asking again.
“You know how it works,” Arati said, gently placing a hand on Inej’s shoulder. “You’re a princess, so you have a responsibility to guarantee our country a good emperor, even if you’re going to be an empress, the important one. That person must be sophisticated enough to be prepared for such an important role. No ordinary person could be suitable, you know that.”
Inej nodded slightly, knowing that there was truth in her mother’s words, but it still wasn’t right. Why couldn’t a princess choose someone close to her heart and the poorest girl in the land could? It wasn’t fair at all. She wasn’t just an item to be sold in the market, she was a living being with her own desires and longings. She wanted to find someone who would make her heart skip a beat, someone who would see who she was inside, not just her gold jewellery or the princess crown. Was there such a person in the whole world who wouldn’t care about money and status and would love her just for who she was inside?
“Sleep well, meja , the following days will be very important for your future.”
Arati leaned closer and kissed Inej on the forehead.
“I love you, Mama .”
“I love you too, meja . Good night.”
The empress gave her daughter one last reassuring smile and then left her alone in her chambers. Or not quite alone, but with a group of maids waiting to help Inej bathe and get ready for bed.
The night was full of stars, countless in the dark sky. They looked as if someone had spilled a sack full of precious stones, more than Inej had ever seen. In fact, they were more beautiful than any diamond could be, for they were unobtainable and truly rare. The air was not as warm as it had been during the day, so Inej pulled her scarf closer to her body. The garden was empty, or so it seemed, but she knew that guards patrolled the palace gates and walls, almost invisible in their dark clothes, ready to deal with any intruder who dared to come near. Inej knew each of them, their strengths and weaknesses, their habits during the night shifts. She knew that the back wall would be unguarded for a very short time before another guard appeared. This was her chance. Once she climbed the wall, she would never look back.
You only get one chance.
Despite the fact that the footsteps on the thick grass made no sound, Inej noticed someone coming before they got close. She ducked and hid behind a bush full of delicate flowers.
“I know you’re here, Inej, don’t try to hide from me.”
It was Nina, still wearing her dinner dress, complete only with a scarf around her shoulders, much thicker than Inej’s. How did she know Inej was here? She couldn’t have followed her the whole time; Inej was very careful to slip out unnoticed.
Inej silently left her hiding place, and Nina jumped a little.
“Saints, I thought you were behind that other bush,” Nina put her hand over her heart to calm herself. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I just wanted to take a walk.”
“Don’t lie to me, Inej. I know you’re not here to walk under the starlight.”
Inej bit her lower lip and turned back to look at the wall again, at her escape route. She still had time, but she had to be ready. She had changed from her nightgown into a tunic and baggy trousers and the scarf for covering her face and hair.
“I can’t marry him, Nina,” Inej admitted. “I don’t want my life to be dictated by a man again.”
Nina sighed and nodded slowly. “I know, but… we all want to protect you. Keep you safe.”
“Being safe is not the answer, Nina. It can never be. If I don’t risk anything, I get nothing. I’m not afraid, I just want to live.”
Nina was silent for a moment, still watching Inej.
“Do you even know what awaits you outside?” she finally asked.
Inej shrugged. “I want to find out.”
Nina stepped closer and took both of Inej’s hands in hers. “Please be careful.”
“I have my knife with me.”
“Okay. Do you have any money?”
Inej shook her head. She thought about how to protect herself, but nothing more. She was too used to always having everything she asked for, and even things she never wanted, to imagine that it didn’t work that way in the world beyond the palace walls.
Nina rolled her eyes. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.”
As she disappeared back into the palace, Inej tilted her head back to see the lights in the palace’s several windows. Would anyone notice her if they looked outside? Probably not. She was no more than a shadow in the darkness of the garden, lit only by the silver light of the stars. Inej’s body trembled with anticipation. She was so close and yet so far away. The decision was only the first step, the hardest and most important part of her plan was yet to come.
Fortunately, Nina soon returned, alone, with no guards accompanying her. Inej knew that her friend would never betray her trust.
“Be careful,” Nina reminded her again, pressing the coin pouch into Inej’s hand. “Will you come back?”
“I don’t know,” Inej admitted.
She wasn’t sure if she would enjoy her freedom and see what the world was like and then return, or if she would cling to her new life so much that returning would seem impossible.
“But this isn’t the last time we’ll see each other. We’ll always find a way.”
“We will,” Inej nodded, pressing a quick kiss to Nina’s cheek and turning her back on her before she could change her mind, not wanting to leave Nina behind.
She had to do it and she had to do it now.
No looking back.
Inej took one slow step and then another and another, each one faster than the last. Suddenly she was running, her feet making no sound and avoiding any places where the guards might see her. When she looked back over her shoulder, she could still see Nina standing in front of the palace.
We’ll meet again.
Climbing up the wall wasn’t difficult at all. She used the protrusion between the stones and soon reached the top and swung her legs over the edge. Looking back at the palace once more, she jumped down and landed silently on a strip of grass. All around her were cobblestone streets with the most beautiful and largest houses in the city, each with its own gardens, much smaller than the palace’s. Inej immediately hid in the shadow of a nearby tree so that she wouldn’t be seen by the guards patrolling the outside walls. Here she wrapped her head in a scarf and pulled it lower on her forehead so that her face couldn’t be seen. She waited a moment longer to be sure, then quickly set off for the nearest street that would take her away from the palace and away from anyone who might catch her and take her back. The first street she passed was quiet and mostly empty, after all it was the middle of the night and most people were asleep in their beds. However, as she continued further into the maze of city buildings, she found men and women still outside, talking, dancing, and singing. The aroma from the street food stalls was amazing, and Inej’s stomach grumbled as she found her lost appetite after a dinner she hadn’t eaten much. When she looked closer at the food on offer, she didn’t recognise anything at all, so she finally decided to try something and was grateful to Nina for the coins she had given her. The food, whatever it was, tasted even better than it smelled, better than anything Inej had ever eaten. It tasted like freedom.
Inej continued walking as she ate, watching everything around her with wide eyes. Was this the real life she had dreamed of? It seemed like another world, so different from the one Inej had known so far. She should have taken Nina with her, she would have enjoyed it too, or even more. Nina would have joined in the joy around her, not just watching from under her scarf like Inej.
Inej continued on and on, not feeling tired at all, not even thinking about where she was going or what she would do next. For the first time in her life, she was living in the moment, and it was intoxicating. The nightlife of the streets grabbed her and wouldn’t let go until night turned to morning and Inej got as far away from the palace as possible, into alleys that didn’t resemble the wide and beautiful streets around the palace. These were small, dirty, and stank of something Inej couldn’t identify. The people here didn’t smile, their expressions were more serious, tired, their clothes old and patched. For the first time in her life, Inej saw beggars, old and young, children, women and men. In one very dark alley, she saw a man and a woman, or rather a girl of Inej’s age, or even younger, doing things that should be left for the privacy of the home, and when the man was done, he gave the girl a few coins and was gone.
“What are you staring at?!” the girl shouted at Inej. “Go your own way! I’m trying to work here.”
The joy Inej had felt a short while ago was suddenly gone, and Inej realised that she knew nothing about the real world, nothing about how it worked. She didn’t know what ordinary people’s lives were like, only what people around her had told her, but it didn’t seem close to the truth.
“Hey lovely, where are you going?” a man, much older than Inej, called after her. “Where are you going? We can have some fun together.”
Inej didn’t listen at all, fumbling for the knife she had on her belt, hidden under her tunic, and hurrying to get as far as possible. Suddenly she found herself in an open space between two-story high narrow buildings that looked old and dilapidated. The square wasn’t big, but it still held many stalls with various products. After several hours of wandering around the city, Inej felt hungry again, so she stopped at the nearest fruit and vegetable stand. Maybe an apple or something like that would settle her uneasy stomach. Then she noticed a little girl who might have been about seven years old. She was wearing patched clothes, her hair looked unkempt, and she was so skinny that she looked sick.
“Are you hungry?” Inej asked.
The girl nodded slowly, as if afraid to say anything.
“Come here, take it.”
Inej took an apple from the stall and handed it to the girl, whose eyes lit up, and before Inej could do or say anything else, the girl was gone. Suddenly, someone roughly grabbed Inej by the shoulder and pulled her closer.
“Thief!” the owner of the fruit stall began to shout.
“I’m not a thief,” Inej defended herself. “I can pay you for it.”
She reached under her tunic to find that her coin pouch was gone.