Ice Crown by Kay L. Moody (good books to read for adults .txt) 📕

Talise probably could have handled. But then Wendy touched her arm with fingers as cold as ice. In a voice barely above a whisper, she asked, “Marmie?”

The floodgates released and tears fell down Talise’s cheeks in sheets before she could even nod. Gripping her arms tight around her stomach, she turned away. She felt foolish for crying, but she didn’t know why.

The emotion boiled inside her until it was too much. She threw her body onto her bed and kicked her feet against the mattress as she sobbed. She felt like a child throwing a tantrum, but it didn’t stop her. Nothing could.

Why did this have to be real? Why couldn’t it be a fairy tale where she gained some magic power for going through a tragedy? In reality, all this gave her was the urge to curl up in a ball and never face the world again.

If she couldn’t even keep her cool around her best friend, what chance did she have around the rest of her classmates? Around Mrs. Dew?

Around the emperor?

He’d never understand or forgive her for letting her emotions get in the way of shaping.

Wendy had sidled next to Talise. She stroked her hair and let her cry. Minutes passed without either of them saying a word. Or maybe it was hours.

All Talise knew was her shoulders still heaved with sobs, but no more tears fell from her eyes. Maybe she’d finally gotten too dehydrated. When the sandpaper coating her throat became unbearable, she sat up.

Wendy sat across from her on the end of the bed. Were those tear streaks on her cheeks too?

“I just,” Talise said as she started twisting a chunk of her hair with both hands. “I just want to go to the funeral and put a mark on Marmie’s gravestone. If I can just see her one last time, if I can just say goodbye, I know I’ll be okay. I’ll be able to focus on the competition and do my best like I promised her. I just need to put mark on her gravestone.”

“When is the funeral?” Wendy’s voice came out in a gentle wisp, floating on the air like an air shaping ribbon.

“I don’t know. Mrs. Dew was supposed to find out, but she doesn’t know yet. She said the city is taking forever to write back. Or maybe the letter got lost in the mail.”

One of Wendy’s eyebrows shot up for a brief moment before it fell back into place. It was such a small expression, but on Wendy, it spoke volumes.

“What is it?”

Wendy seemed to curl into herself. She shrugged her shoulders until they touched her earlobes. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

Talise sat forward, grabbing one of Wendy’s hands until it was tight between both of hers. “Please, Wendy. It’s my…” Her throat seemed to choke up before the name could escape her lips. In a whisper, she finished, “What do you know?”

Wendy’s eyes were full to the brim with tears. A light flush colored her cheeks as she nodded. Maybe she had been trying to protect Talise from the truth, but she understood now. Talise needed the truth more than anything.

“I think Mrs. Dew already knows when the funeral is. I heard her talking to another teacher. I don’t know when it’s supposed to be, but I think she’s hiding something.”

Talise clasped her hands over her mouth. Her stomach seemed to solidify into a knot with thousands of strands that grew tighter each second. “It’s the same day. What if it’s the same day as the competition?”

“They wouldn’t do that,” Wendy said, forcing her head side to side in sharp jerks. “They wouldn’t wait that long to do the funeral. Especially in the Storm. Have you ever heard of them waiting an entire week to do a funeral?”

The knot in her stomach loosened one strand at a time. “No. No, you’re right. Funerals in the Storm usually happen within three days.” With those words, another strand came loose, allowing her to let out a breath. But then, it recoiled, and the knot seemed even tighter than before.

“But then why hasn’t Mrs. Dew told me when it is? What is she hiding?”

“Maybe she doesn’t want you to get distracted from the competition.”

Talise let out a snort. “Too late for that.”

“Is money a problem?” Wendy asked. Her eyes were focused on her fingers as she picked at her cuticles. “I have a little money in savings if you need a ticket.”

It took everything in her for Talise to keep her mouth from gaping. This was not typical for their relationship. Wendy was from the Gate, so she always had more money than Talise. But even still, Wendy never had exorbitant amounts of money. At least not like people from the Crown.

Another frog settled into Talise’s throat, though she couldn’t figure out exactly why. “Mrs. Dew said the school might pay for the ticket.”

Wendy let out an audible breath of relief that was probably meant to be silent. Her cheeks turned pink for a moment before her eyes narrowed at a spot in the floor. “Something weird is going on.”

Talise nodded and crossed her arms over her chest. She wanted to scowl too but worried Wendy might think it was about her. For now, her scowling would have to stay in her head.

Wendy twisted her hands around themselves before she spoke again. “My brother told me he used to bribe guards when he wanted information. You know they hear everything. He told me who the trustworthy guards are, who can be bought, and who gives good information.”

A light bloomed in Talise’s heart for only a moment before it was snuffed out. “I can’t. I only have enough money for my riverboat ticket. If the school doesn’t help, I don’t have anything extra for bribery.”

“I wasn’t suggesting you pay for it,” Wendy said in a matter-of-fact tone. She grabbed Talise’s wrist and pulled them both out the door before Talise could even think about protesting.

Wendy led them out into the gardens where they hid behind a particularly stiff bush. Prying a few branches apart, Talise looked through a small opening in the leaves.

A guard stood in front of a fountain wearing a uniform covered in wrinkles and dirt smudges. One of the older guards was talking to him, and the younger guard didn’t like what he was hearing.

The moment the older guard stepped away, Wendy pulled them out from behind the bush and marched toward the younger guard. He didn’t notice them at first because he was too busy grumbling under his breath and digging his toe into the dirt.

When they stood directly in front of him, he finally seemed to notice they were there for him. His toe stopped mid-dig as he looked up. He pasted on a cocky smile and shook his hair until it fell into his eyes.

But then, he saw Talise’s face and everything in his expression changed. First his eyebrows shot up, and then he stuffed his hands into his pockets. After a tiny gulp, his cocky expression returned, but nothing about it felt natural now.

“Why did you make that face when you saw me?” Talise asked. “Did that guard say something to you about me?”

“No!” the guard said, a little too quickly.

Wendy placed a hand on his forearm, and his shoulders seemed to relax instantly. She turned her eyes downward so the only way to look at him was up through her eyelashes. “Do you know anything about a funeral for a woman named Shyna?”

The guard seemed mesmerized by Wendy’s honey-sweet voice. After a brief blank stare, he shook his head and looked away. “No. I don’t know anything about that.”

Talise was ready to grind her teeth into dust, but Wendy seemed to welcome the challenge. She bit her bottom lip and touched the guard’s forearm again. He was too busy staring into her eyes to notice she had retrieved a wad of money from her side pouch.

“What about now?” she said with a playful smirk.

He eyed the money for a long second but then looked back into her eyes. And then back at the money. Without warning, he took a step back and raised his hands in front of himself. “I’m straight now. I don’t do that kind of thing anymore.”

Wendy let out a soft sigh and reached back into her side pouch. This time, an even bigger wad of money lay in her palm. Even Talise’s eyes widened at the sight of it.

“What do you know?” Wendy asked. She probably meant for her voice to sound serious and business-like, but she was too sweet for it. Instead, it sounded just as innocent as her.

The guard showed a moment’s hesitation. After one last look into Wendy’s eyes, he leaned forward, keeping his head bent low. “The funeral is scheduled for the week after the competition.”

Talise’s fingers curled into a fist. “Try again,” she said. “That’s two weeks away. They would never wait that long to do a funeral.”

“I swear,” the guard said, placing a hand over his heart while the other took the money. “I thought it was weird too, but they said they’re doing some embalming thing so they can hold off until then.”

Talise was still busy eyeing the guard, trying to decide if he was telling the truth or not, when Wendy said, “Thank you. You don’t know what this means.”

A sheepish smile grew on the guard’s lips as he rustled his hair with one hand. Talise still didn’t know if he could be trusted, but then again, why would he lie? Everything made sense now. Mrs. Dew didn’t want to say when the funeral was because she wanted Talise to focus on the competition without worrying about it. They postponed the funeral to make sure Talise could be there.

It all made sense.

Even still, the curling knot of anxiety in her stomach only seemed to twist and tighten at the thought. Could she focus on the competition even with the funeral postponed?

 

TEN

 

 

 

THE CLASSROOM LOOKED NOTHING LIKE IT USUALLY did. The desks and chairs had all been pushed against the walls, so the floor was wide open. The students sat cross-legged at the back of the classroom.

Mrs. Dew and four other shapers from the Crown sat at a long table in the front. They each held a writing pad and kept whispering to each other. They didn’t seem to be concerned in the least that their whispers increased the tension in the room by ten times. In fact, a few of them seemed to enjoy the affect they had on the students.

Pre-competition day.

Competition day was most important to Talise, but for almost everyone else, this was the day they’d been training ten years for. Mrs. Dew and the fellow judges would make notes on the demonstrations and those notes would ultimately help place the students into their future jobs. Plus, it gave anyone vying for Master Shaper the chance to see each other’s demonstrations and alter theirs to better compete.

On competition day, the only judge would be the emperor. He would choose the best shaper as Master Shaper. Everyone already knew there were really only two students who had a chance at this.

But pre-competition day?

Everyone had a chance here. For everyone besides Talise and Aaden, today was the day their lives would be set. They had to show the very best of their skills, and they had to do it without throwing up.

Talise dug her fingernails into her knees, trying to keep her mind occupied with anything besides Marmie’s funeral. She should have been more worried about Aaden and seeing his skills, but all she could