Of Sea and Stone (Secrets of Itlantis) by Kate Avery Ellison Page A
Authors: Kate Avery Ellison
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the gardens?” My stomach dropped.
“Not even the gardens,” she said. “But...I had an idea.”
I pushed her back so I could see her face. She was half-smiling in a hopeful way, her eyes lit with a calculating expression.
In that moment, she seemed like a little sister, and I felt a surge of apprehension and exasperation.
“What?” I demanded. “What are you planning?”
“We’re about the same size,” she said. “You’re a little taller and thinner, but you could easily pass for me if you wore a scarf over your head and—”
“You want me to impersonate you?”
She nodded.
“No.”
“Aemi, please. Think about it. You’d be so good at the exam. You’re so smart.”
My mind worked over the possibilities. If she didn’t do well, I might not be able to escape.
“Please, Aemi. Please!”
I sighed. “What will I have to do?”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I ADJUSTED THE scarf covering my hair and smoothed both palms down the dress of tiered blue cloth that covered my body. Lyssia’s clothing felt like warm lagoon water against my skin, and a necklace of gold-dipped shells lay cool and heavy against my collarbone. A thick band of gold clinked on my left wrist—a gift from her father, she said—and a pair of silk slippers cushioned my feet. Everything was a soft shade of blue or gold.
Lyssia squinted at me. “Hold your shoulders up higher—that’s right—and be sure to fiddle with your hair at intervals. I do it all the time and the instructor scolds me.” She bit her lip as she studied me. “Otherwise...” She smudged colored powder on my eyelids with her fingers and stepped back to admire her handiwork. “You look quite convincing.”
Lyssia accompanied me up the lift and to the door. As we slipped through the halls, I caught a glimpse of golden hair as someone turned the corner to our left. Nol? Had he seen us?
My heart pounded and sweat slicked my palms.
“The school isn’t far,” Lyssia said once we’d reached the foyer. “Cross the bridge and go through the commons, following the blue pattern on the tile floors that leads to all public spaces. The school is near the gardens. If you get lost, just look for the fountains. They mark the entrance.”
Blue pattern. Gardens. Fountains. I nodded, uncertain. Fresh fear clenched my stomach, but then she was pushing me out the door, and I was on my own.
Merelus’s house clung to the outer wall, a barnacle of glass. The beauty of Celestrus glittered around me as I crossed a slender bridge wrapped in glass that stretched out like a finger through the ocean to touch another orb of the city.
The glass and pearl-colored metal walls curled like a ribcage around the walkways, stores, and common areas, keeping the seawater out and letting little dancing ribbons of distorted sunbeams in. The light had a curious, almost alien glow to it, but there was something about it that was familiar. The same ribbons of light had played across the underside of the rock bridges and carved formations in my old village. Seeing the same patterns here made my throat close up tight.
I crossed the commons, a large expanse of space devoted to exercise, training, and artistic expression. The ceiling glowed with a heatless, white-blue bulb of light far above me, illuminating everything in sharp detail like a weak sun, and everywhere, artisans plied their trades. Painters splashed color across the walls, making a dolphin mural. A dozen dancers draped in silk swirled together and then apart to my left, making the shape of a flower blooming with their movements. To my right, shirtless men practiced with swords. Combat training for the war? My footsteps slowed as I stopped to watch.
The instructor barked orders, and the men obeyed his commands with clean, precise movements as their blades swept the air in a dance of practiced death. Their bare shoulders gleamed with sweat, and their hair clung to their foreheads in tangled curls. I thought I saw one of them
“Not even the gardens,” she said. “But...I had an idea.”
I pushed her back so I could see her face. She was half-smiling in a hopeful way, her eyes lit with a calculating expression.
In that moment, she seemed like a little sister, and I felt a surge of apprehension and exasperation.
“What?” I demanded. “What are you planning?”
“We’re about the same size,” she said. “You’re a little taller and thinner, but you could easily pass for me if you wore a scarf over your head and—”
“You want me to impersonate you?”
She nodded.
“No.”
“Aemi, please. Think about it. You’d be so good at the exam. You’re so smart.”
My mind worked over the possibilities. If she didn’t do well, I might not be able to escape.
“Please, Aemi. Please!”
I sighed. “What will I have to do?”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I ADJUSTED THE scarf covering my hair and smoothed both palms down the dress of tiered blue cloth that covered my body. Lyssia’s clothing felt like warm lagoon water against my skin, and a necklace of gold-dipped shells lay cool and heavy against my collarbone. A thick band of gold clinked on my left wrist—a gift from her father, she said—and a pair of silk slippers cushioned my feet. Everything was a soft shade of blue or gold.
Lyssia squinted at me. “Hold your shoulders up higher—that’s right—and be sure to fiddle with your hair at intervals. I do it all the time and the instructor scolds me.” She bit her lip as she studied me. “Otherwise...” She smudged colored powder on my eyelids with her fingers and stepped back to admire her handiwork. “You look quite convincing.”
Lyssia accompanied me up the lift and to the door. As we slipped through the halls, I caught a glimpse of golden hair as someone turned the corner to our left. Nol? Had he seen us?
My heart pounded and sweat slicked my palms.
“The school isn’t far,” Lyssia said once we’d reached the foyer. “Cross the bridge and go through the commons, following the blue pattern on the tile floors that leads to all public spaces. The school is near the gardens. If you get lost, just look for the fountains. They mark the entrance.”
Blue pattern. Gardens. Fountains. I nodded, uncertain. Fresh fear clenched my stomach, but then she was pushing me out the door, and I was on my own.
Merelus’s house clung to the outer wall, a barnacle of glass. The beauty of Celestrus glittered around me as I crossed a slender bridge wrapped in glass that stretched out like a finger through the ocean to touch another orb of the city.
The glass and pearl-colored metal walls curled like a ribcage around the walkways, stores, and common areas, keeping the seawater out and letting little dancing ribbons of distorted sunbeams in. The light had a curious, almost alien glow to it, but there was something about it that was familiar. The same ribbons of light had played across the underside of the rock bridges and carved formations in my old village. Seeing the same patterns here made my throat close up tight.
I crossed the commons, a large expanse of space devoted to exercise, training, and artistic expression. The ceiling glowed with a heatless, white-blue bulb of light far above me, illuminating everything in sharp detail like a weak sun, and everywhere, artisans plied their trades. Painters splashed color across the walls, making a dolphin mural. A dozen dancers draped in silk swirled together and then apart to my left, making the shape of a flower blooming with their movements. To my right, shirtless men practiced with swords. Combat training for the war? My footsteps slowed as I stopped to watch.
The instructor barked orders, and the men obeyed his commands with clean, precise movements as their blades swept the air in a dance of practiced death. Their bare shoulders gleamed with sweat, and their hair clung to their foreheads in tangled curls. I thought I saw one of them
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