I dragged my feet through the street long after the dim stars emerged in the sky. The nights were dreadful. But that’s when I was needed most. Mama promised I’d be safe from the pus-filled blisters and oozing sores. I trusted her, but still, my bones hurt just thinking about the Lilac Plague.

Few of us were healthy enough and foolish enough to bring water to the homes marked with the black ‘X’. The canvas flags snapped, making me jump at times. How many houses had been affected? Three in four? Seven in ten? A dark, quiet house not flying a flag could also mean those inside were unable to rise from their deathbeds.

“You should go home now,” a man about my father’s age instructed. “Get some rest.” His own face was covered with scabs, one of the lucky ones. His own body was thin and worn, but he took the empty bucket from my hands. I didn’t know his name. I’d grown tired of learning who they were just to have them die a few weeks later.

I mentally unhooked my fingers from the handle, but they were sluggish to respond. “I will see you again tomorrow night.”

“You mean tonight. It’s almost daybreak, and you haven’t missed a night in three weeks,” he responded softly before taking the bucket and continuing on to the water well. “Have hope. The plague has almost run its course.”

I looked across the valley at the distant hills. I’d been so focused on putting one foot in front of the other that I didn’t notice the sky was light with pink streaks. I had a magnificent view of the valley from the city square, but it was marred by the spirals of black smoke just outside the city gate. I turned away, swallowing bile.

I trudged up the hill toward home, passing three sleeping children huddled together near the square. Dirt streaked, scabbed faces dotted the road up to the commons. Soon, they would be silently staring, desperate to see a familiar face. Most had learned to upturn their hands, hoping that food would rain down into their palms and fill their ravenous bellies.

I pulled out a crust of bread from my apron, the last of my meal. I laid it next to a waif of a girl. She stirred but thankfully didn’t wake. She needed the sleep, and I didn’t want her to know it was me. Our supplies were running low, but I refused to pillage the dark, quiet houses in the night like I’d seen other desperate people do. I’d have to resort to that, too, if the gates didn’t open soon. We needed to access the high desert, forage, and to trade our gold with merchants. Gold was valuable, but the rocks didn’t do much to fill our bellies without something to trade it for.

A wagon wheel squeaked behind me. The smell wafted ahead of the wagon, and I knew what it contained without a glance.
Horses trotted past me, and a voice called from up above, “I’m headed for the Golden Lily. Would you like a ride, Nicoleta? I can drop you off on the way.”

“No, thank you,” I said, pulling my marama scarf tighter.

With a snap of a whip, the horses trotted by me, the wagon bumbling along behind. I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting this to be the last memory of anyone else I might have known. Might have loved.

After trudging halfway up the hill in a haze, I arrived home to the smell of lilacs permeating throughout the house. I touched the necklace through my dress, drawing some reassurance from the orb. My father’s study door was closed, but I knew he was there, staring into nothingness.

The fire in the kitchen hearth had dwindled to warm coals. I wrapped my fingers around the kettle, and my heart fluttered in my chest. Mama was always the one to re-kindle the fire and start the kettle in the morning.

I took a shaky step through her open bedroom door. On the floor was an empty feather bed. Tears welled in my eyes, and I bit my lip. Yesterday, Rubia had come by and tucked in the blankets and left a bouquet of lilacs wrapped in ribbon on the bed. I sunk to my knees and fell across where Mama had lain for the last ten days.

It had seemed that Rubia’s remedies might work when some of Mama’s sores started to scab. But three nights ago, Mama had taken a turn for the worst. Rubia said that she’d never seen anyone try so hard to stay in this life, but she just couldn’t hold on. The Lilac Plague’s fever consumed her. Rubia administered medicine for the pain, and Mama slept and slept. I couldn’t help but be hopeful even when Rubia instructed me to say good-bye during Mama’s few lucid moments.

“I wish I could be there to watch you grow. Have a family of your own someday. I always wanted to be a grandmother.” Mama winced. When she was the most aware of her surroundings, she was also more acutely aware of the painful blisters covering her entire body, even inside her mouth and throat. Inside her ears and nose.

I couldn’t hold her hand, couldn’t comb her hair. It only increased the already excruciating pain. I was helpless, useless.

Don’t leave me. Tears filled my eyes, and I gave Mama more tea as Rubia had instructed. Most of it dribbled down her chin as Mama choked down what she could. I dabbed her skin and light-weight dress the best I could without breaking her tender skin, making her blisters ooze.

Now, hot tears burned my cheeks as I dug my fingers into her soft blankets. Rubia had removed the diseased bedding, and the room was saturated in a sweet floral scent. I longed to smell Mama, but I knew under the cloying lilac, the smell of the plague lingered. I pulled myself away from her bed and over to Mama’s trunk. I felt around until my fingers brushed against one of her winter dresses. I pulled it out and buried my face it its folds, breathing her deeply. My shoulders shook, and my cries were muffled in the heavy fabric.

I cradled the dress, needing to preserve her scent, at least this small part of her. I rummaged through her clothing, pulling out another dress. With tears streaked down my face, I marched to my room, hiding them away from the smells tainting her room, tainting the city.
Horses neighed, and demanding shouts echoed outside. Papa rushed out of his study, his office door slamming against the wall.

“You’re home.” His hand clutched at his heart. “Hurry! Come into my study, and help me!”

In his study, he grabbed a slender metal bar I’d never noticed before from behind a chest.

“Papa? What’s wrong?” My eyes were wet with salty tears, and my brain was foggy from lack of sleep.

“There are guards here.” Papa rolled up his loose linen sleeves and stuck the metal bar in between the perfectly laid terracotta square tiles on our floor. A tile tilted up with the leverage of the metal bar.

“Thorns? Here? What do they want?” My heart pounded in my chest, and the fog over my thoughts cleared away.

“Nicoleta, help me move these.” A tile was pried up from the floor.

I dove down onto my knees, pulling back the tile he’d freed. The shouts from the soldiers outside grew louder, closer, sharper. Blood rushed to my head, pounding in my ears. The stones were heavy and dug into my fingers, but I did as Papa asked, moving them one by one.

Under the tiled floor and metal bars was a deep hole in the ground. Stale air breathed up at me. With each tile, more of the underground cavern became visible. Papa lifted away criss-crossing metal bars that had held the floor in place, laying bare the space below. Narrow shelves lined the hard-packed clay wall from top to bottom on one side. They were laden with scrolls, books, sketches and journals.

My stomach dropped at the sight of the hidden contents. “What is this?”

A woman screamed in the distance, and a child cried. I jumped to my feet, wanting to rush to their aid.

Papa grabbed my arm, his eyebrows knit with pain and regret. “You can’t help them.”

I pulled my arm away from him and frowned. But, he was right. An unimportant Azure would be crushed under a Thorn’s boots.

Papa redirected me to the cavern in the floor. “Climb down. Quickly.”

He gestured to handholds in the side of the cavern wall below. I gathered my skirt and descended. My arms shook with fear. Papa was rarely curt with me. The screams outside spurred me to keep moving down, down into the darkness.

The cavern was small, just room enough for me to stand and turn around. I reached my hands up, my fingertips curling over the lip of the cavern. Papa handed me down a bin. It had handles for quick transport and fit perfectly on the shelf. A few scrolls spilled out down by my feet. I reached to the ground to pick them up, my shoulder, head, and knees pressed up against the dirt wall opposite of the shelves of scrolls.

“First your Mama and now a levy.” He dropped down another armload of scrolls. His tunic was open at the neck, wisps of gray hair on his upper chest showing. “You have the orb?”

I tugged on the golden chain around my neck and pulled up Mama’s pendant. Papa gave me a satisfied nod.

“There’s not room in here for both of us.” My stomach churned, knowing what it meant.

There was a loud crash outside, and the house shook.

“You’ll be safe in here. Even if they burn down the house, you can dig your way out when the embers cool.” He put the bars across the opening, then his face disappeared. Stone tiles scraped across the floor, reverberating in my ears. A heavy tile dropped back into place, partially blocking my view above.

“Wait!” I had a million questions.

Papa’s eyes softened, and he reached down into the pit, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. “Your Mama would say, ‘Remember to look for the light.’”

I sucked in a breath. Papa pulled his hand away and got back to work. One by one, Papa pushed each tile back into place.

From down below, a narrow crack between two of the tiles allowed me to see a sliver of the room. Papa walked past me, exiting the study. The door to the study swung open and crashed against the wall. Someone pushed Papa back toward his desk.

“We are here on an errand from the Emperor. Due to the plague, the kingdom is increasing their levy. By our records, you must pay two days of ten in service to the kingdom,” a baritone voice bellowed. The soldier didn’t sound very old. Maybe a man in his thirtieth decade. I could see the tops of boots and legs of soldiers, but not much else.

“What?” Papa asked. I knew he did service for the university as his levy. “The levy is doubled?”

“Emperor Cassus VII has provided a new way to fulfill your levy if you are unable to work two days out of ten. Of course, you are lucky to be able to serve the emperor without leaving your city.” A boot moved over the crack, blocking my view of anything except his dirty sole.

“My knowledge is valuable. And we keep —.” His voice was cut short by a quick slap of skin. I gasped. Did a Thorn just hit Papa?

“There are rumors you keep too many scrolls,” the baritone voice continued. There was a shuffling of feet and the rustling of parchments. A scholar being discovered with no scrolls would be highly suspicious. Papa must have left some up in his office as a decoy. A small amount of relief washed over me. This cavern, the box with the handles, the plan to leave a few scrolls out, Papa had prepared for this kind of situation. But why would anyone know to prepare for a visit like this?

Papa explained, “Of course I have many research documents. I travel through this kingdom and beyond, doing research on behalf of the university. I turn over all scrolls I find to the university. I can certainly borrow any scrolls at any time. I helped collect many of them.”

There was a snap of fingers and boots moving.

“Where are you taking the scrolls? Those are property of the university,” Papa said, fighting to keep his voice calm.

“We have interpreters here with us. We will review the documents and decide whose property they are,” the soldier said.

Several footfalls reverberated against the tiles and then faded from the room, but the same set of soldier’s boots remained.

“Where is your family? You need to pay a levy against all of them as well. An extra day per person in your household,” the baritone voice said.

“What about families with more than five mouths to feed?” Papa’s voice was incredulous.

“The emperor has provisions for that,” the soldier snapped. “Bring your family forward for an accounting.”

“My wife is deceased.” Papa’s voice faltered. “And my daughter is not at home. She often helps the sick in the city.”

There was another snap of the fingers.

“Records,” The baritone voice commanded.

There was some shuffling of parchment before a female voice responded. “One wife. Getaen. One daughter. Half-Getaen.”

Non-magical, unfortunately, I thought to myself.

There was more shuffling above me and Thorns talking, one laughing. At least the boot moved so I could see a bit more, again.

“Ah, it looks like there are some dresses your wife won’t be needing anymore. We’ll take them off your hands to make-up for the fact that your daughter is conveniently missing. An Azure like yourself does tend to have a few nice things laying around.” There was a horrendous crash of ceramic breaking on the terracotta floors above.

“You’re lucky the emperor doesn’t charge extra levy for Getaens.” The soldier sneered. “Otherwise, you’d be begging us to take your half-Get daughter off your hands.”

My scholarly father leapt at the soldier, knocking him down. My hands flew to my mouth. I’d never seen Papa hit anyone before in my life. There was a flurry of shadows. Papa was forced to his knees. The light was to his back, throwing his face into shadows, but I could see the anger.

“We are here on official business from Emperor Cassus VII. Impeding us is like going against all of Dacia. Make it easier on yourself.”

“You’re a pack of thie—” Papa interrupted.

A hand flew, slapping my father’s face for his interruption.

“Your daughter, she can work to pay the levy for you and for herself.” The soldier tapped the hilt of his sword.

“And for how long would she need to be a slave to the Emperor to pay the levy?” Father growled. “No, I will pay it myself. Leave my daughter alone.”

I’d never heard Papa talk like this. He normally had his nose in his scrolls, philosophically rambling with Mama or colleagues at the university. Always soft-spoken and perhaps a little scattered.

Someone pushed him forward, his body against the crack blocking most of the view. But I heard the groan that escaped his lips.

The baritone soldier continued, his voice muffled above. “We know who you are, Calvus Aurelian. Don’t think your studies haven’t already raised suspicions. Eventually, you’ll slip up, Azure. Let my little parting gift be a reminder to be careful of who you cross.”

Papa screamed out. I covered my face and curled up on the dirt floor. There was a thump above me, and the crack was completely covered, plunging me into darkness. Heavy boots slammed against the tiles as they marched away.

I envisioned the guards preparing to light the house on fire. Or rummaging through my mother’s things. What was on the ground, blocking the view? A pit formed in my stomach. Papa was laying there. Not moving. What if he was dead and I was left all alone? Could I even get out of the cavern with his body on top of the heavy tiles? My breathing was shallow, and my head was faint. There was no light. Hope faded from my heart, and panic rose in its place.

I couldn’t call up to Papa, not knowing where the soldiers were. What if they knew I was there the entire time and were waiting for me to emerge? I’d be humiliated and then arrested. I clutched the orb around my neck and rocked back and forth. The silence pressed down on me, swallowing up any hope that was left in my heart for the future. 

I dragged my feet through the street long after the dim stars emerged in the sky. The nights were the most dreadful. But that’s when I was needed most. Mama promised I’d be safe from the pus-filled blisters and oozing sores. I trusted her, but still, my bones hurt just thinking about the Lilac Plague.

There were only a few of us healthy enough and foolish enough to bring water to the homes marked with the black ‘X’. The canvas flags snapped, making me jump at times. How many houses had been affected? Three in four? Seven in ten? A dark, quiet house not flying a flag could also mean those inside were unable to rise from their deathbeds.

“You should go home now,” a man about my father’s age instructed. “Get some rest.” His own face was covered with scabs, one of the lucky ones. His own body was thin and worn, but he took the empty bucket from my hands. I didn’t know his name. I’d grown tired of learning who they were just to have them die a few weeks later.

I mentally unhooked my fingers from the handle, but they were sluggish to respond. “I will see you again tomorrow night.”

“You mean tonight. It’s almost daybreak, and you haven’t missed a night in three weeks,” he responded softly before taking the bucket and continuing on to the water well. “Have hope. The plague has almost run its course.”

I looked across the valley at the distant hills. I’d been so focused on putting one foot in front of the other that I didn’t notice the sky was light with pink streaks. I had a magnificent view of the valley from the city square, but it was marred by the spirals of black smoke just outside the city gate. I turned away, swallowing bile.

I trudged up the hill toward home, passing three sleeping children huddled together near the square. Dirt streaked, scabbed faces dotted the road up to the commons. Soon, they would be silently staring, desperate to see a familiar face. Most had learned to upturn their hands, hoping that food would rain down into their palms and fill their ravenous bellies.

I pulled out a crust of bread from my apron, the last of my meal. I laid it next to a waif of a girl. She stirred but thankfully didn’t wake. She needed the sleep, and I didn’t want her to know it was me. Our supplies were running low, but I refused to pillage the dark, quiet houses in the night like I’d seen other desperate people do. I’d have to resort to that, too, if the gates didn’t open soon. We needed to access the high desert, forage, and to trade our gold with merchants. Gold was valuable, but the rocks didn’t do much to fill our bellies without something to trade it for.

A wagon wheel squeaked behind me. The smell wafted ahead of the wagon, and I knew what it contained without a glance.
Horses trotted past me, and a voice called from up above, “I’m headed for the Golden Lily. Would you like a ride, Nicoleta? I can drop you off on the way.”

“No, thank you,” I said, pulling my marama scarf tighter.

With a snap of a whip, the horses trotted by me, the wagon bumbling along behind. I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting this to be the last memory of anyone else I might have known. Might have loved.

After trudging halfway up the hill in a haze, I arrived home to the smell of lilacs permeating throughout the house. I touched the necklace through my dress, drawing some reassurance from the orb. My father’s study door was closed, but I knew he was there, staring into nothingness.

The fire in the kitchen hearth had dwindled to warm coals. I wrapped my fingers around the kettle, and my heart fluttered in my chest. Mama was always the one to re-kindle the fire and start the kettle in the morning.

I took a shaky step through her open bedroom door. On the floor was an empty feather bed. Tears welled in my eyes, and I bit my lip. Yesterday, Rubia had come by and tucked in the blankets and left a bouquet of lilacs wrapped in ribbon on the bed. I sunk to my knees and fell across where Mama had lain for the last ten days.

It had seemed that Rubia’s remedies might work when some of Mama’s sores started to scab. But three nights ago, Mama had taken a turn for the worst. Rubia said that she’d never seen anyone try so hard to stay in this life, but she just couldn’t hold on. The Lilac Plague’s fever consumed her. Rubia administered medicine for the pain, and Mama slept and slept. I couldn’t help but be hopeful even when Rubia instructed me to say good-bye during Mama’s few lucid moments.

“I wish I could be there to watch you grow. Have a family of your own someday. I always wanted to be a grandmother.” Mama winced. When she was the most aware of her surroundings, she was also more acutely aware of the painful blisters covering her entire body, even inside her mouth and throat. Inside her ears and nose.

I couldn’t hold her hand, couldn’t comb her hair. It only increased the already excruciating pain. I was helpless, useless.

Don’t leave me. Tears filled my eyes, and I gave Mama more tea as Rubia had instructed. Most of it dribbled down her chin as Mama choked down what she could. I dabbed her skin and light-weight dress the best I could without breaking her tender skin, making her blisters ooze.

Now, hot tears burned my cheeks as I dug my fingers into her soft blankets. Rubia had removed the diseased bedding, and the room was saturated in a sweet floral scent. I longed to smell Mama, but I knew under the cloying lilac, the smell of the plague lingered. I pulled myself away from her bed and over to Mama’s trunk. I felt around until my fingers brushed against one of her winter dresses. I pulled it out and buried my face it its folds, breathing her deeply. My shoulders shook, and my cries were muffled in the heavy fabric.

I cradled the dress, needing to preserve her scent, at least this small part of her. I rummaged through her clothing, pulling out another dress. With tears streaked down my face, I marched to my room, hiding them away from the smells tainting her room, tainting the city.
Horses neighed, and demanding shouts echoed outside. Papa rushed out of his study, his office door slamming against the wall.

“You’re home.” His hand clutched at his heart. “Hurry! Come into my study, and help me!”

In his study, he grabbed a slender metal bar I’d never noticed before from behind a chest.

“Papa? What’s wrong?” My eyes were wet with salty tears, and my brain was foggy from lack of sleep.

“There are guards here.” Papa rolled up his loose linen sleeves and stuck the metal bar in between the perfectly laid terracotta square tiles on our floor. A tile tilted up with the leverage of the metal bar.

“Thorns? Here? What do they want?” My heart pounded in my chest, and the fog over my thoughts cleared away.

“Nicoleta, help me move these.” A tile was pried up from the floor.

I dove down onto my knees, pulling back the tile he’d freed. The shouts from the soldiers outside grew louder, closer, sharper. Blood rushed to my head, pounding in my ears. The stones were heavy and dug into my fingers, but I did as Papa asked, moving them one by one.

Under the tiled floor and metal bars was a deep hole in the ground. Stale air breathed up at me. With each tile, more of the underground cavern became visible. Papa lifted away criss-crossing metal bars that had held the floor in place, laying bare the space below. Narrow shelves lined the hard-packed clay wall from top to bottom on one side. They were laden with scrolls, books, sketches and journals.

My stomach dropped at the sight of the hidden contents. “What is this?”

A woman screamed in the distance, and a child cried. I jumped to my feet, wanting to rush to their aid.

Papa grabbed my arm, his eyebrows knit with pain and regret. “You can’t help them.”

I pulled my arm away from him and frowned. But, he was right. An unimportant Azure would be crushed under a Thorn’s boots.

Papa redirected me to the cavern in the floor. “Climb down. Quickly.”

He gestured to handholds in the side of the cavern wall below. I gathered my skirt and descended. My arms shook with fear. Papa was rarely curt with me. The screams outside spurred me to keep moving down, down into the darkness.

The cavern was small, just room enough for me to stand and turn around. I reached my hands up, my fingertips curling over the lip of the cavern. Papa handed me down a bin. It had handles for quick transport and fit perfectly on the shelf. A few scrolls spilled out down by my feet. I reached to the ground to pick them up, my shoulder, head, and knees pressed up against the dirt wall opposite of the shelves of scrolls.

“First your Mama and now a levy.” He dropped down another armload of scrolls. His tunic was open at the neck, wisps of gray hair on his upper chest showing. “You have the orb?”

I tugged on the golden chain around my neck and pulled up Mama’s pendant. Papa gave me a satisfied nod.

“There’s not room in here for both of us.” My stomach churned, knowing what it meant.

There was a loud crash outside, and the house shook.

“You’ll be safe in here. Even if they burn down the house, you can dig your way out when the embers cool.” He put the bars across the opening, then his face disappeared. Stone tiles scraped across the floor, reverberating in my ears. A heavy tile dropped back into place, partially blocking my view above.

“Wait!” I had a million questions.

Papa’s eyes softened, and he reached down into the pit, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. “Your Mama would say, ‘Remember to look for the light.’”

I sucked in a breath. Papa pulled his hand away and got back to work. One by one, Papa pushed each tile back into place.

From down below, a narrow crack between two of the tiles allowed me to see a sliver of the room. Papa walked past me, exiting the study. The door to the study swung open and crashed against the wall. Someone pushed Papa back toward his desk.

“We are here on an errand from the Emperor. Due to the plague, the kingdom is increasing their levy. By our records, you must pay two days of ten in service to the kingdom,” a baritone voice bellowed. The soldier didn’t sound very old. Maybe a man in his thirtieth decade. I could see the tops of boots and legs of soldiers, but not much else.

“What?” Papa asked. I knew he did service for the university as his levy. “The levy is doubled?”

“Emperor Cassus VII has provided a new way to fulfill your levy if you are unable to work two days out of ten. Of course, you are lucky to be able to serve the emperor without leaving your city.” A boot moved over the crack, blocking my view of anything except his dirty sole.

“My knowledge is valuable. And we keep —.” His voice was cut short by a quick slap of skin. I gasped. Did a Thorn just hit Papa?

“There are rumors you keep too many scrolls,” the baritone voice continued. There was a shuffling of feet and the rustling of parchments. A scholar being discovered with no scrolls would be highly suspicious. Papa must have left some up in his office as a decoy. A small amount of relief washed over me. This cavern, the box with the handles, the plan to leave a few scrolls out, Papa had prepared for this kind of situation. But why would anyone know to prepare for a visit like this?

Papa explained, “Of course I have many research documents. I travel through this kingdom and beyond, doing research on behalf of the university. I turn over all scrolls I find to the university. I can certainly borrow any scrolls at any time. I helped collect many of them.”

There was a snap of fingers and boots moving.

“Where are you taking the scrolls? Those are property of the university,” Papa said, fighting to keep his voice calm.

“We have interpreters here with us. We will review the documents and decide whose property they are,” the soldier said.

Several footfalls reverberated against the tiles and then faded from the room, but the same set of soldier’s boots remained.

“Where is your family? You need to pay a levy against all of them as well. An extra day per person in your household,” the baritone voice said.

“What about families with more than five mouths to feed?” Papa’s voice was incredulous.

“The emperor has provisions for that,” the soldier snapped. “Bring your family forward for an accounting.”

“My wife is deceased.” Papa’s voice faltered. “And my daughter is not at home. She often helps the sick in the city.”

There was another snap of the fingers.

“Records,” The baritone voice commanded.

There was some shuffling of parchment before a female voice responded. “One wife. Getaen. One daughter. Half-Getaen.”

Non-magical, unfortunately, I thought to myself.

There was more shuffling above me and Thorns talking, one laughing. At least the boot moved so I could see a bit more, again.

“Ah, it looks like there are some dresses your wife won’t be needing anymore. We’ll take them off your hands to make-up for the fact that your daughter is conveniently missing. An Azure like yourself does tend to have a few nice things laying around.” There was a horrendous crash of ceramic breaking on the terracotta floors above.

“You’re lucky the emperor doesn’t charge extra levy for Getaens.” The soldier sneered. “Otherwise, you’d be begging us to take your half-Get daughter off your hands.”

My scholarly father leapt at the soldier, knocking him down. My hands flew to my mouth. I’d never seen Papa hit anyone before in my life. There was a flurry of shadows. Papa was forced to his knees. The light was to his back, throwing his face into shadows, but I could see the anger.

“We are here on official business from Emperor Cassus VII. Impeding us is like going against all of Dacia. Make it easier on yourself.”

“You’re a pack of thie—” Papa interrupted.

A hand flew, slapping my father’s face for his interruption.

“Your daughter, she can work to pay the levy for you and for herself.” The soldier tapped the hilt of his sword.

“And for how long would she need to be a slave to the Emperor to pay the levy?” Father growled. “No, I will pay it myself. Leave my daughter alone.”

I’d never heard Papa talk like this. He normally had his nose in his scrolls, philosophically rambling with Mama or colleagues at the university. Always soft-spoken and perhaps a little scattered.

Someone pushed him forward, his body against the crack blocking most of the view. But I heard the groan that escaped his lips.

The baritone soldier continued, his voice muffled above. “We know who you are, Calvus Aurelian. Don’t think your studies haven’t already raised suspicions. Eventually, you’ll slip up, Azure. Let my little parting gift be a reminder to be careful of who you cross.”

Papa screamed out. I covered my face and curled up on the dirt floor. There was a thump above me, and the crack was completely covered, plunging me into darkness. Heavy boots slammed against the tiles as they marched away.

I envisioned the guards preparing to light the house on fire. Or rummaging through my mother’s things. What was on the ground, blocking the view? A pit formed in my stomach. Papa was laying there. Not moving. What if he was dead and I was left all alone? Could I even get out of the cavern with his body on top of the heavy tiles? My breathing was shallow, and my head was faint. There was no light. Hope faded from my heart, and panic rose in its place.

I couldn’t call up to Papa, not knowing where the soldiers were. What if they knew I was there the entire time and were waiting for me to emerge? I’d be humiliated and then arrested. I clutched the orb around my neck and rocked back and forth. The silence pressed down on me, swallowing up any hope that was left in my heart for the future.