The Bone Palace - Amanda Downum [52]
“Despite popular opinion, I am not precisely a whore.”
“I never—” Ginevra’s eyebrows rose. “Is that really what it means?”
“To bear the mark means accepting the rules of the hijra, and the hijra have joined with the Rose Council. They are their own faction within the Garden, and sell other services, but most sell themselves as well. I’m told this wasn’t always so, but in recent history they have found it expedient.” She let scorn flavor her voice. “So many are curious, after all, why not make them pay for it?”
She’d received her share of propositions since she came to court, and nearly all of were based on curiosity instead of honest desire, or hopes of the fabled hijra luck. She spurned them all, until Nikos.
“What do they think of you, unmarked?”
It was her turn to shrug. “Proud, I suppose, that I have a prince on my string. And annoyed that I won’t join them. Disappointed.” It was more than supposition, but her conversations with the Black Orchid weren’t ones she liked to recollect. “Some think I’m no better than a peacock in gaudy drag, since I shun the hijra mysticism.” She was always careful to keep her wardrobe subtle enough to deflect the worst of the barbs, though she envied the peacocks their stunning colors and their seeming comfort in their own skins.
“Did you ever think of joining them? Before Nikos.”
“I never had to.” Not precisely a lie—she smothered memories of the Black Orchid and the stifling incense-and-opium heat of the hijras’ temple, and blessed the darkness that hid her burning cheeks. “My family accepted me. Most androgynes have nowhere to turn when they discover the truth of themselves.” Her hand rose before she could stop it, one fingernail tracing the crease in her brow.
Ginevra made another soft sound, this one unhappy. Whether it was for the fate of the third sex or for her empty glass, Savedra wasn’t sure.
Her neck prickled—not just the itch of hair and feathers, but of eyes on her back. She turned away from Ginevra as if annoyed, snapping her fan as she risked a backward glance. Only Captain Denaris, lingering in the shadows of a fig tree, and she relaxed again. But the Captain looked unhappy, more so than even Thea Jsutien’s careless laughter might warrant.
The dancing continued for at least an hour. Savedra chose not to join, but Ginevra did, flouncing away with such perfect disdain that it was all Savedra could do not to laugh. The woman was a better actress than many she’d seen in an Orpheum. Natural talent, or a product of growing up under Thea’s ruthless gaze?
She wanted to like Ginevra. Wanted to believe her, but she knew that was foolishness. Instead she watched her charm Nikos into a dance and didn’t quite hide her glower behind her fan. Tomorrow’s gossip would be entertaining. After the dance, a knot of laughing young nobles swallowed Ginevra, leaving Savedra to wonder if the loneliness she thought she’d glimpsed was only a ruse.
The dancing ended with an eruption of giggles in a lull between songs. A Konstantin girl whose name Savedra could never remember slapped Ginevra on the arm with a shriek and cried “Hart!” The other girl shrieked in turn, then gathered her skirts in her hands and fled into the black mouth of the hedge maze. The rest of the crowd laughed and clapped and began counting loudly.
Amidst the clamor, Captain Denaris materialized at Savedra’s elbow. Her dark clothing and matte-painted steel were meant for skulking—the silver streaks in her tight-plaited hair were the brightest thing about her.
“I don’t like this,” she murmured, face creasing. “We haven’t found anything, but something isn’t right.”
Savedra frowned in turn and nodded. Perhaps she’d been too quick to dissuade Ashlin from bearing steel. Her hair sticks were sharp enough to serve in a fight, and she carried a small blade in a garter around one calf, but neither were practical enough to reassure her. “I’ll keep my eyes open,” she said, all she could ever do, and moved to join the hounds.
The Isle of Cormorants’ maze was nothing compared to the one at the heart of the palace grounds,