19. Magdalena

The sun had set by the time that Magda and Odie made it to the royal palace. After they had left the main marketplace, they had paid a carriage driver to take them all the way to the palace gates. The palace was outside of the city of Eloquas, set in the lush, green hills. All around the palace grounds were public gardens interspersed with statues of the royal guardians and majestic floral displays that could only have been produced with earth magic.

Magda entered the gardens, and the Flaustran palace spanned out before her.

It was much bigger than the Azuremi fortress, built in the shape of a rectangle from a mix of sandstone and marble. An outer wall enclosed a front courtyard. Brown double doors, which were framed by two windows filled with mosaic glass, blocked the entrance. The second story hosted massive, arch-shaped windows leading out to flat roofs on different tiers. On each corner of the roofs was a dome-shaped tower held up by small posts. A glow protruded from the torches, lighting up the ivory sandstone against the midnight sky.

Magda pulled her hood and scarf up over her face, even though the thick Azuremi fabric was making her entire body sweat. As she approached the outer gate, she was unsure of her strategy. The only way she would automatically be granted a meeting with the royal family was by revealing herself as Princess Magdalena. But, it didn’t seem like a viable option to announce that the princess was in Flaustra, and not in Ilusauri. It would put Dagmara in danger. In addition, it could send another round of assassins after her. She could only hope there was another way to gain a meeting with the queen without revealing her identity.

Magda and Odie walked at a brisk pace through the main road of the gardens, until they reached the front gate of the palace, which was guarded by two men.

“Stop! Who’s there?” an officer flashed a colored lantern in Magda’s face.

“It’s okay!” Magda yelled out from the darkness. “I’ve come to see the queen.”

When the officer noticed she was Azuremi, he switched to Magda’s language. “The queen isn’t expecting any visitors this late. Do you have an invitation?”

Magda scrunched her face. “No, but…”

“No exceptions! There will be no admittance to the royal palace without an invitation. You can come back in three days when the queen will be taking public visitors and listening to their grievances,” said the man.

“Three days?” Magda asked. What was she going to do in the city during those three days? She couldn’t waste any more time. She continued arguing with him for a half hour more, telling him that the royal family in Azurem had sent her to speak to the queen, but he wasn’t buying any of her story. It was clear Magda needed to be a better story-teller if she was going to get anywhere in this kingdom.

Distraught, Magda turned back around and exited the gardens, with Odie behind her. She decided that they would be back in three days’ time, and then she would have to use every opportunity to talk not only to the queen but to Princess Kiran. Kiran would hear her out—Magda was sure of it.

When she got to the edge of the palace gardens, Magda paid her carriage driver once more to take them back to the city so they could find a place to stay for the night.

“I told you I should wait for you,” the carriage driver grumbled. “No one gets in and out of that place.”

“Not even for the day of grievances?”

“What?” the man piped up.

Magda cursed under her breath. The officer had lied. There was no public day where the queen was going to greet visitors from the village. What was she going to do now?

Once back in the city, Magda and Odie were again lost in a maze of small streets. The streets weaved in and out of each other, and buildings arched over the tiny alleyways like bridges. Magda’s only hope was that they would be able to find an inn this late at night. She had no idea where to look.

A shadow reflected in the light of a colored-lantern, and she snapped her head to the darkness behind her. It was quiet and practically deserted in this area.

Somewhere in the distance, she heard the soft sound of music, but it didn’t seem as if any of the storefronts were open at this hour. She continued circling the streets, Odie at her heel, wondering which direction to go next. Up ahead, she heard a few voices. Maybe someone would give her directions.

Magda emerged in a small town circle. Pathways spoked off in every direction, heading back into the maze of the city. In the center of the town circle, was a statue of Queen Sanyal.

She headed to her right, but suddenly a man in a hat stepped in front of her path. Behind him, a few companions pulled a large wagon down the road, and strange noises came from the tarp underneath it.

“Excuse me,” Magda said.

The man placed his hand on her shoulder and stopped her. “What do we have here?” He also had a gilded pin on his chest; however, instead of a peacock feather, it depicted a strange beast.

Odie let out a soft growl.

Magda’s heart fluttered, as the danger of the situation sank in. “I don’t want any trouble,” she said, stepping away from the man and holding out her hands in front of her. If there was ever a time to use magic—this would be it. Although she wasn’t exactly sure how to use earth magic or what types of things were even possible with earth magic. Her eyes darted to Queen Sanyal’s statue. It had to be created from some type of malleable stone, right?

Magda screamed as someone grabbed her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her high in the air. Magda kicked and yelled as she helplessly watched the other two men throw a metal net over Odie, pinning him down on all sides. Odie snarled ferociously, but his bites were no match for the twisted wires that caged him.

“Stop!” Magda screamed. “Let him go!”

The man laughed and snapped his fingers, and like that, his group of friends dragged the net across the ground, before picking up the sides and throwing Odie into the back of their wagon. When they lifted up the tarp, Magda saw at least four other animals struggling to get free. But all too soon, the tarp was replaced and Odie was out of sight.

“He’ll make a fine coat and bring in a nice profit,” the burly man growled in her ear. “Hope I get to skin him myself.”

“No!” Magda screamed hysterically, trying to wrench herself from the man’s grasp. “Help! Please help!” she screamed until she was sure her voice would break from the strain.

The leader had already snapped his fingers, and the cart was rolling away. In a matter of seconds, Odie would be out of sight and lost to the city. Magda dug down deep, to the pit of her stomach, hoping to harness any magic to save herself and Odie. All around them were specks of dirt and sand lining the pathways, but she had no idea how to channel particles that were so minuscule. She turned her attention to the statue, but nothing came of it either.

Suddenly a figure jumped down from the rooftops, landing gracefully in a somersault next to the cart. They quickly pulled out the pin holding the cart door closed and pulled up the net. The dogs jumped down and out into the streets.

“Go, go!” the boy shouted at them.

The man holding Magda released her, going to grab the fleeing dogs. Magda stumbled to catch her footing and smashed into the mysterious savior of the animals. When she looked up, she recognized Ravi—the street violinist from earlier. He quickly grabbed her wrist and yanked her behind him, before facing three remaining men.

“How many times do I have to get you out of trouble today?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“You followed me?” asked Magda. She was about to ask another question, when she saw the lead man grab onto Odie’s scruff, unsheathing a dagger in her pet’s direction.

“No!” Magda shrieked.

The man stopped the knife’s blade inches from Odie’s neck. “Ah…Ravi Kalal,” he spoke.

Odie whimpered, lashing in the man’s grip, but the man’s clasp on Odie’s scruff was like iron.

“Give her back her dog,” said Ravi assertively.

“It’s nothing personal. Just business. Surely you would understand that.”

“You did a nice job ruining my business today,” Ravi retorted. “Not a single person came to my show when they heard you were in the district.”

The man sighed. “Maybe it’s time we end this little feud. I could use your skills. Street musicians are everywhere, under our noses, over them…the best ears anyone can buy. Be my ears, Ravi. In our world, information is the currency of kings, isn’t it?”

“I won’t spy for you, Vex.”

Vex stood, shoving Odie into the direction of his henchman, before stepping aggressively in Magda and Ravi’s direction with the sharp knife. The other two men held Odie back, for the rest of the dogs had escaped to the city.

Ravi put his hand out in front of Magda, pushing her further behind him.

“Luckily for you, Ravi, you’re more useful to me alive than dead,” Vex snarled menacingly, “Everyone has their price, and every secret has a buyer. I’m sure that there will come another time when you’ll need your pockets full.”

“I don’t think so.”

“So naive.”

Magda cut them off, jutting in, “Get away from us! And if any of you hurt my dog there will be consequences.”

“Feisty!” said Vex. “Now I know why she’s made quite the stir amongst the guilds and why my people alerted me to a new dog in the streets.”

“I’m hardly interesting enough,” Magda said.

Vex got close to her face, saying, “Did you think a diplomatic representative of the kingdom of Azurem would slip into this city completely unnoticed? The Marauders Guild knows every individual or artifact that enters this city—including who they are, what gate they have passed through at what hour, and what business you have here. But it seems no one can figure out that last part.” He began walking in a slow circle, back toward his henchmen, running his finger over the blade as he did so.

Ravi whispered, “We need to run.”

“What?” Magda said. She looked toward Odie, who was still being held back by the two men.

Vex continued on his lecture, stroking the knife with his fingertip. When he nodded toward his two henchmen, Ravi grabbed Magda’s arm and sprinted in the opposite direction.

“Not so fast!” yelled Vex, reaching out to grab Magda’s wrist and swinging her around until she was facing him. His putrid breath blew onto her bare neck. “You’re not leaving. There’s someone willing to pay for your secrets.”

Magda stomped down on his foot as hard as she could, pressing the sharp end of her boot into the soft part of his toes. “Ow!” Vex yelled, wincing and pulling away.

The two other henchmen reached out to grab Magda, but Odie was quicker. Odie leapt onto one of the men, smashing his teeth into the man’s leg. He let out a squeal of pain that rang through the streets. At the same time, the other man slapped Magda across the jaw. Magda stumbled over, crashing into Ravi.

Then Ravi pushed Magda behind him and gave Vex a solid punch, while Odie took a snap at the remaining henchman.

Vex and his two hooligans were sprawled on the ground, holding various body parts in pain.

Magda shouted to Ravi. “Come on!” she yelled. “Odie!”

The three tore as fast as they could away from the town circle and could barely hear the shouting of Vex yelling, “Get them!”

They rounded the corner and turned onto the next block, but Magda had no idea where she was running. Most of the shops in this area were boarded up, and there were no houses or courtyards in the area where she could lose Vex and his companions. A flag flickered up ahead, leading the way into a small alleyway between two buildings.

“This way,” Ravi yelled, beckoning her into the alleyway. They both sprinted into the small space, Odie slowing his pace to remain with them, before they realized they were in a dead end.

“You’re going to get us both killed!” Magda yelled upon seeing the sandstone wall before them.

The shouting behind them was getting louder.

Magda didn’t have time to wait for this young man to think of a better plan. She placed her hands on her thighs, bracing herself to feel weight against her shoulders. Then she shouted, “Odie, up!” as she motioned to the side of the building framing the alleyway.

In an instant, Odie charged towards the building, running slightly up the side of the building, before landing on Magda’s upper-back, using her tall body as leverage before launching himself over the wall. Now that her pet was safely on the other side, Magda frantically searched for anything they could use to boost themselves upward. Next to them, was a large wheelbarrow on giant wheels. Ravi was one step ahead of her and heaved it over toward the wall. He spun it around on the wheels and used all his might to push it up against the wall. Then, Magda threw her leg on top of it and hoisted herself up. She reached up to the top of the wall, but the wheelbarrow teetered underneath her weight, threatening to tip back on its handles.

“I have it!” Ravi yelled, holding it steady.

Magda leapt up to grab the top of the wall. As she did so, the wheelbarrow slammed to the right. “I thought you said you got it!” Magda yelled, too angry to find the words in Flaustran, cursing Ravi’s skills in broken Azuremi.

Magda felt Ravi grab onto her feet, pushing her up. She mustered all the strength she could and pulled herself over the wall. With all the strength she had left she pulled her feet over and jumped down on the other side next to Odie.

Ravi dropped gracefully beside her, as if scaling the wall had been no trouble at all. However, the shouting behind them still continued.

As fast as they could, the two began running alongside her pet. Magda was leading the way, but she felt like a ship with no destination. She didn’t know if she could trust Ravi—for all she knew he was also working with the mysterious group who had tried to take Odie, even if he had been the one to release the dogs. She had no idea where to go or what was the next part of her plan. A few yards ahead, she could see shadows reflecting on and off the walls and bright lines bouncing around the corner of the alleyway. As they approached the next street, a loud shouting and the rumbling of music crescendoed.

They both emerged into a larger town circle, which was full of Flaustrans going to late-night restaurants, clubs, and stores. The streets were dotted with small carriages, whizzing by, and patrons shouting at merchants in the streets. Magda stopped to catch her breath, panting as her eyes dotted up and down the street.

“What’s your plan?” Ravi asked her curiously. “Are you going to just run away from them all night—to the guardians know where?”

Magda had no idea what her plan was anymore. She was on the verge of tears. Not only was she exhausted, but she hadn’t been admitted into Queen Sanyal’s palace, and on top of that, Odie had almost been taken.

Ravi repeated his questioning. “Where were you heading when I found you?”

Magda continued panting. “I don’t know,” she said with a sigh. “I was trying to find a place to stay for the night.”

“You don’t have a place to stay?” Ravi asked, curiously. “Come with me.”

Ravi began walking away, but stopped when he realized Magda wasn’t following him. “Do you trust me?” he asked.

Magda hesitated. She didn’t trust anyone right now. For all she knew, Ravi could have been associated with the assassins who killed her brother and father. Although she knew that was a ridiculous thought, for they were proven to have been Ilusaurian.

“Do you trust me?” Ravi asked, extending his hand to her. This time, the words flicked across his tongue in broken Azuremi.

Magda was so taken aback, she almost didn’t know how to respond.

“I’ll help you avoid those men,” he continued in her native language, although grammatically incorrect.

Magda nodded. If anyone knew the streets of Flaustra, it would be someone like Ravi.

Behind her, she heard shouting. Magda snapped her head around to see Vex and his henchman on the opposite side of the large town circle. They had also climbed the wall.

Hesitantly, Magda extended her hand and placed it in Ravi’s, and in a flash as quick as lightning, they all were racing down the streets of Eloquas once more.