The Icon Unbound

Chapter Twenty-One, Part A - Saiph

Hello again my lovelies! We are scrambling toward the end here. The whole book is twenty-eight chapters, so we only have a short while before the final arc. There were only a few tweaks made to this chapter. Saiph is going to look for his brother, who is, of course, getting himself in trouble. --Elizabeth, UPDATED 07/01/2017 

First impressions of the sprawling, crowded city would have to wait. Really, Saiph didn't want to set one foot outside their rooms unless it was to board another train going home. The noise outside, the confusion, the relentless sea of strange faces made him dizzy and irritable. Rigel, for once, had fared no better, collapsing not three feet from the train platform when they arrived yesterday evening.

While his brother slept it off, the rest of them scurried to acquire all the things they would need to live for the next few weeks. Honor made up a list literally as long as her arm, and Corwin sent it via one of the pages to the market. Saiph tried to remain patient and still, but he felt the screws begin to turn as the tension inside continued to ratchet to unending heights. His fingers twitched, his feet longed to pace. If he didn't close his eyes, they danced around the room without rest.

He was going to lose her...

No. Please all the saints and stars.

It would happen soon. Even if they all survived this and came home having triumphantly contained the evil, she would be killed by the very people she swore to serve, the people he swore to protect...if they found out she was unbound. They would pick up stones in their hands. By the protocols, he would have to help them.

Protocol be damned then. He wouldn't help anyone that tried to hurt her.

As if the question had never been asked.

Her long, heavy skirts fell like a bell from her hips, swishing with every step. She wore a shawl around her bare shoulders, which seemed to be a fashion here. Her hair was swept up in a complicated twist at the back of her head, leaving only a few tendrils to frame her face. She looked lost without Nadir at her side. No...it wasn't the absence of Nadir. She was just lost.

Putting his eyes respectfully on the ground, he spread his hands. "Good afternoon, Icon."

"War Master." Her voice was soft but her hands were clenched together. "Have you seen your brother?"

"I thought he was still up in his room, resting."

"Meissa told me he was awake. When I went to check on him, his room was empty. I have since been up and down these stairs looking for him in every place I could think of, and no one has seen him. I begin to worry."

"You know how sensitive he is to emotional climate, perhaps he stepped outside."

"I checked the little courtyard, he wasn't there either. Saiph, if he went into the city, it could be dangerous for him."

"Why?"

"Because he could be recognized. Honor told me how distinctive your features are here, and all I have seen of this city gives me no cause to doubt her. It could be trouble."

Recognized? In this sprawling city? Was their mother that paranoid?

"I feel as though I have a right to know what's going on. If my mother doesn't tell me..."

"She has sworn to do so, the moment we're all together. Corwin is sulking, but this is a family affair. She cannot delay a moment longer now that we are in the Red City. Rigel..."