Chapter 80: [Short Story] - Spider's Eye

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Music is "Free from Fear" by Masami Ueda and Saori Maeda, from the sountrack for "Resident Evil 3". Play it for maximum effect!

This short story takes place in the aftermath of A GRACE OF CROWNS, and Tran has inevitably been relocated to the Water Palace. It marks the end of her easy, innocent days, and her journey into adulthood.

★ THE SPIDER IN THE LAKE ★

'Breakfast at seven, and don't be late. First lesson starts at eight, whether or not you've eaten.' The woman did not wait for a response. She tapped a list of rules nailed to the door. 'Do not leave your chambers unless in pairs, and no one is to be out in the halls at all after evening eight-bells.'

'Yes, matron,' Tran echoed along with the other girl.

'Absolutely no swimming in the lake—in fact do not even touch the water. That means no skipping stones, no fish-feeding, certainly no fishing—'

'Yes, matron.'

'Good.' The woman turned to leave. 'Dinner is at seven, but new intakes will have them sent to their chambers for tonight. Lights out at ten-bells.'

The door clicked behind her. Tran breathed a sigh of relief. They had spent the whole day travelling to, then touring the Water Palace. It was a large facility; much larger than the palace academy and their asraam combined. Her feet were sore, her bags were heavy, so she plopped both onto the closest bed.

'I guess you want that one, then,' said her new chambermate. 'I'm Nindita, by the way. But people call me Nindi.'

She even looked like a Nindi. Thick, curly hair down to her shoulders, dark eyes under dark brows. Her syarong was knotted into a ball at the midriff and slung into a sleeve over one shoulder. Not many girls could pull that one off.

'I'm Tran.'

'I know. You're the girl whose room caught fire, and the one whose chambermate went missing.' Nindi smiled wryly, but she couldn't completely mask the apprehension on her face.

Tran didn't blame her. She knew what the girls whispered about her, back at the palace academy. She was cursed. She brought bad luck. One of her chambermates burned in her sleep, the other disappeared without a trace after an assassin came in the night. Even the raj she was seeing left her for another.

But she was at the Water Palace now. It was a new start. Most of the girls wouldn't know anything about what happened in Kathedra, and Tran hoped they wouldn't care.

'You can ask to switch rooms,' she said. 'There are supposed to be four girls to a chamber. It looks like the other two already requested a transfer.'

Nindi shrugged. 'More space for us, then. Look at this, we've got way more room than we need!'

She was right. The left wall, where two more beds should have been, stood wide empty. Only a row of shelves filled the space between them, and a desk basking under the afternoon light.

Their room was high on the fourth floor of the eastern housing wing, with a clear view of the surrounding Lake Spiderseye and the Nameless Woods beyond.

For all the matron's talk about dangerous waters, nothing separated them from the lake but two yards of tall grass.

'I wonder what's in there.' Nindi joined her by the window, her breath fogging the glass.

'My academy master told me all sorts of ancient creatures live in the forests, maybe even in the waters.'

'Your master knows his stuff. The older girls were saying Rajini Amarin came here several times before—Ogbu embrace her—to try and capture some sort of water beast. Well, her son tried. They said he stayed here for two whole weeks, can you believe it? Or maybe they were only saying that to make us new intakes jealous. Of course, that was long before the whole attack on the rajini's estate ... can you believe what happened?'

Tran had returned to her bed, allowing Nindi to ramble off. She unpacked her clothes on the mattress, wondering again what became of Lilja. It all happened on the same night, and she couldn't help but feel it was all connected, somehow.

'... and I heard Maharaj Kiet was even injured during the attack! He didn't come out for weeks afterwards, you know? Can you imagine if he had died?' Nindi flopped onto the bed, sending Tran's folded fabrics into the air. 'Gods. What a tragedy. They say he's scouring the kingdom now, looking for Rajini Dhvani.'

And Lilja.

So many people had questioned her about Lilja.

Rajini Chei had a silver-servant conduct a thorough search of their rooms, confiscating anything that was left behind. Master Chendra had interrogated her from morning to night; even Maharaj Kiet had sent a woman to ask her the most bizarre string of questions.

'Isn't that amazing? It's just like a perri tale,' continued Nindi. 'Everyone else is sat on their bottoms except him. I mean, it is his own mother, but I can't imagine Maharaj Khaisan or Baghaskar leaving the palace for even a hunting expedition, let alone something as dangerous and time-consuming as this.'

Tran sighed. She was sick of hearing about Maharaj Kiet or Rajini Amarin or anyone who had anything to do with that night.

Nindi seemed to finally take the hint. 'Anyway. I hope he has more luck hunting her down than he did the water beast. The older girls said he returned to the palace empty handed then, but he probably just came at the wrong time.'

'The wrong time?' Tran moved her newly folded pile into the safety of a wardrobe.

'Oh, yes.' Nindi smiled conspiratorily. 'I'm from around here, you know. There's a village just north of the Nameless Woods, between here and Kathedra. That's my hometown. Living so close to the forest as we do ... our elders have a lot of stories.'

'Stories are just that. You shouldn't take them too seriously.'

Nindi snorted. 'Spoken like a true Outsider. You've never seen the trail marks of the four-tusked boar—'

'Which would be just the same as any ordinary boar's.'

'—or heard the song of a rainbird at the dawn of every blooming season. We hang windchimes by the forest edge to ward the arachnapes off from entering our village, leave mulled milk in front of our doors to keep the mooncats happy ... and they all work, you know!'

'Arachnapes tend to avoid humans anyway,' interrupted Tran. 'We learnt that in Natural Studies. And all cats like milk.'

'You clearly don't know many cats. You don't get it, anyway. There aren't many mooncats in the Nameless Woods, but the ones that do remain are crazy for mulled milk.'

Tran raised an eyebrow. 'Have you ever seen one, then?'

'Well, no—but that's the point! You don't want them sizing up, because that's when you know they're angry.'

'So you've been feeding a colony of stray cats. Great.'

Nindi made a sound deep in her throat, annoyed. She hopped from the bed and pointed out the window. 'Who do you think named the lake surrounding the Water Palace? It was our village forefathers.'

'They named the lake but skipped the forest itself?'

'It had a name. Maybe I'll even tell you, City Girl, once you admit you're wrong.'

Tran chuckled. 'I'm sorry. I don't mean to scorn your local wisdom. Where I come from, we scrape our backs with a coin to cure everything from a common cold to deadman's joints.'

'You can't cure deadman's—'

Tran raised a brow. 'It works just as well as your mulled milk.'

It was Nindi's turn to laugh. 'Fine. You don't believe me? Luckily for you, we did come at the right time.'

'The right time for what?'

'Haven't you been paying attention? The water beast, of course! Our elders say it'll only wake during a blood moon. There are even stories on how to summon it. And it just so happens that tonight is the last blood moon for the next two years.'

'You want to summon the creature a maharaj was tasked to capture?'

'Well, they are only stories.' Nindi wiggled her chin. 'So I guess nothing will happen, anyway.'

'Right. So it'll be a waste of time. Besides, you heard what the matron said—'

'Ah, don't be so dull!' Nindi kicked her trunk open. She was even more of a mess than Tran. Books and jars had been squished between rolls of clothing; little trinkets simply dumped on top of the entire pile. 'Everyone here is so serious and boring. This is the last chance we'll ever get to do something for ourselves, before we turn into one of them.'

'This isn't a matter of fun and games, Nindi. What you're talking about is a sea monster.'

'Lake monster, for one, and secondly—so you admit I'm right, then.' Nindi pulled a knife from her trunk before scurrying through the rest of her belongings, tossing paper and clothes out onto the floor until she had a phial in her hand. 'Here it is!'

'Don't be stupid. This is our first night here, and you're already talking about breaking the rules.'

Nindi rolled her eyes. 'I thought you of all academy girls would be up for this.'

'What is that supposed to mean?'

'I requested to be put up with you, you know. The things the other girls at the academy said about the three of you ... going off on adventures to the Water Palace, being chased by a whole pack of wolves ...'

'Adventure. Singular. That was one time.'

'... all the parties at the palace you attended ...'

'We were working.' Even then, it had all been thanks to Lilja.

'You fought off an assassin!'

'He knocked me out with one blow!' What exactly was it the other academy girls thought of them? Now that she looked back upon it, no one ever bothered her since Phrae and Lilja became her chambermates. No one even dared talk to any of them unless absolutely necessary.

But she was just as ordinary as the rest of them. Certainly not more daring or smarter than the average. She left the impertinence and rule-breaking to Lilja, while the arrogance and book-smarts were all Phrae.

'Well. I'm going with or without you,' declared Nindi. 'Imagine the stories I'd be bringing back to my village if I could just see what lies within the lake. Maybe I could even write a chapter in the Village Compendium.'

'If there is a monster in the lake, it could kill you.'

'I'm just going to watch it from afar. It's a water beast, you know. They say the farthest it can ever leave the lake is within the grass, where it's most muddy. Besides, I've got this.' She held out the phial of what looked to be regular water. 'Feast your eyes on this! You'll never see one again. This is the pure, concentrated song of a rainbird.'

'You're insane.' Tran's face fell, realisation sweeping over her. 'You're genuinely, certifiably insane.'

★ ★ ★

They left a half hour after the custodian came knocking with their dinner. Nindi gobbled hers up like a wild turkey, but Tran could barely eat. She wondered if she should have told the custodian of Nindi's plan, or perhaps even got one of the matrons involved. But did she really want to be known as the girl who snitched on her own chambermate?

Phrae would've stayed in bed reading and let the girl to her own devices. Lilja would probably have tied her up so she couldn't leave.

Tran, on the other hand, was knee-deep in the tall grass; her feet sinking into the mud as she trailed behind Nindi. Lights bobbed down the path behind them. Nindi pulled her down as a pair of guards rounded the corner. They waited, watching through the grass, until the men disappeared into the darkness.

'That was close!' Nindi giggled.

It was not too late to alert the guards. Tran hesitated. 'We should head back, Nindi. My legs itch all the way up to you-know-where.'

'Pah! Don't be a dud. The sky is so clear, it's a sign!'

Tran looked up at the full, red moon above them. 'Yeah. A warning sign.'

'What's the matter?' Nindi called through the grass. She was already far ahead of her. 'I thought you didn't believe in my backward village tales!'

'I believe the monsters. It's your wards and protection charms that are nonsense.'

They stopped at the lake's edge, just inches before their toes touched the water. Fireflies buzzed along its surface.

'Look how red it is,' gasped Nindi. 'Aren't you glad you came to see this?'

'We could've seen this from our window.'

Nindi shook her head, exasperated. She passed Tran her phial of water. 'Hold this.'

'What are we supposed to do with this?'

'Nothing, hopefully. Concentrated rainbird song is a strong purifier. Any creature of darkness will shrivel at its touch. So if anything comes out that we can't handle ...'

'Wait. Just wait a moment. What is your plan, here? What even is your theurgy? I'm only an apsapeut—a weak one, at that.'

'You manipulate water? That's perf—'

'No. Not an apsakin, an apsapeut. I can change one type of liquid into another. And no, I can't change this entire lake into a bubbling pool of lava, if that's what you're thinking. Even if I could change large bodies of water, I'd need to be touching both the liquid I'm changing, and what I'm changing it into.'

Nindi's face fell. 'Well, never mind. Plans are for the dull. We'll wing it. Worst case scenario, we'll run for the guards!'

Tran looked back. The path behind them was swallowed in darkness. Not a single lantern bobbed behind the grass. 'We're heading back. Now.'

But Nindi had brought the sharp edge of her knife against her own palm and sliced. She waded into the lake, grinning at the look of terror on Tran's face. Only once the water reached her thighs did she stop.

She raised her hand and squeezed. Blood dripped into the water.

Tran clasped the roots of her hair and watched.

Nothing happened.

'Nindi!' Tran edged closer towards the water. Her wide-eyed reflection stared back at her. She thought better of entering the shallows. 'Get back here!'

Nindi did not move. She watched the waters beneath her, her face basked in the red of the moon. Only after a few minutes did she finally wade back to shore, muttering irritably to herself. Tran grabbed her arm, pulled her back into the grass until they could see the lake no more.

'Are you happy now? We should get back before anyone realises we're gone.'

'Nothing!' Nindi hawked her throat. 'Not even a nibble of fish! Can you believe it?'

'Come on.' Tran gathered the edges of Nindi's syarong and twisted out the water. 'Dry yourself. We can sneak back in while everyone's still at dinner.'

'I did everything right! The burning cut of silver; fresh blood from a pure, young maiden ... unless ... oh, gods! I did kiss that stablehand that one time. Do you think—am I not pure enough?' Nindi stepped towards Tran, knife out. 'What about you? You've probably never even touched a boy.'

'Don't even think about it.'

'It's just one cut. You wouldn't even feeel it.'

Tran tried to wrench free of Nindi's grasp, but the girl was surprisingly strong. 'Stop it! You've lost your mind!'

'Come on, Tran, don't be boooring.'

'What's wrong with you?' Tran slipped in the scuffle. She fell hard into the mud and sat there, stunned by the pain.

She looked up, nursing her back, expecting an apology. Nindi smiled down at her, pearly white teeth all in neat rows.

A shiver chilled her down to her spine.

Tran scrambled to her feet, but Nindi was faster. She grabbed Tran by the ankle and dragged her, slowly, back towards the lake.

'Stop! Nindi! It won't work! I ... I've spent a night with a raj, back at the academy!'

'Oh, silly duck. As if anyone would tussle with you.'

Tran kicked with her free leg. It was difficult from her prone angle, but her foot landed several times against Nindi's thighs. The girl did not even wince.

Something was dreadfully wrong with her.

Tran began to wail. Light still poured from the castle, but she caught no shadows walking along its halls. Was everyone still at dinner? Where were the guards? She yelled out into the night, her voice sending a scatter of bushbirds into the air.

A sharp pain tore through her scalp. Nindi had grabbed her by the hair, pulling her to her feet. 'Enough of that,' she hissed, inches from Tran's face. Her breath smelled of bog and fish. Tran gagged.

Nindi shoved her into the lake. Tran shivered upon impact. Already the water reached past her hips. Her syarong clung to every fold of her body. Mud and dirt dissolved from her as though escaping the coldness.

'Keep moving.'

The tip of Nindi's knife pressed against her back. Tran looked down, hoping to catch Nindi's movements through her reflection—and that's when she saw it.

Hundreds of beads had replaced Nindi's eyes, bulging out of her face.

Some were as large as grapes, others no bigger than the seed of a dragonfruit. They crowned her entire head, popping over the bridge of her nose, covering the hollows of where her ears should be, peeking between clumps of damp hair; glassy and midnight blue.

They caught the light of the moon, and Tran screamed.

Not beads, but eyes.

Countless eyes watched her, unblinking, following her every movement.

Tran thrashed, fell into the water. Her head went under, and in that short space, looking up at Nindi's towering form from below the surface, she saw the creature that had taken her chambermate.

Nindi laughed, her tongue long and thin. Her skin was pale beyond reason, the fingers that reached into the water shrivelled and peeling.

The image disappeared the instant Tran resurfaced. Nindi's beautiful face laughed with her beautiful voice. Eyes no more than two, ears both where they should be. She had Tran by the shoulders, holding her steady.

'Come on, Tran. It's not so bad.'

She was not fooled. Tran stumbled away. This time the creature let her. There was nowhere for her to run, after all, and her movements were sluggish in the water.

Nindi, on the other hand, seemed to flow with every ripple and gentle wave.

What was she?

Tran's heart was beating so fast and her entire body hurt from the cold.

'I can keep you warm, you know,' continued the creature. She lifted the knife in her hand, the wound on her palm already dry. 'Look. One scratch, and then we can go home.'

What now?

Tran sobbed, hugging herself.

Phrae would have doused the creature in flames; she on the other hand, had no such impressive theurgy. Lilja would hack and slash her way through, but unlike Lilja, she never came prepared.

She should have stuck to her better judgement and stayed in their room.

So she is boring. She is dull. But at least no assassin had ever been sent to murder her in the dead of night; at least half the girls of the academy didn't hate her for stealing their grades or their men.

All Tran had was good sense, and even then she failed to make use of it.

She should have told the matron and have Nindi dragged back into the castle before any of this could have ever happened.

Now it was too late.

Nindi was so close, her true reflection wavered by Tran's feet.

'Hush, now. Don't look at it. Give me your hand.'

Her knees were growing weak. Tran clutched her syarong. Her fingers brushed against something hard, tucked deep in her front pocket.

The phial.

The creature that was Nindi licked its lips. 'Two meals in one blood moon, can you belieeeve it?'

If her village is only right about one thing, please let it be this.

Nindi snarled and reached for her, fluid and graceful as a rising wave. Tran clutched the phial, slammed it against the creature's cheek. Glass shattered. A shriek filled the air. Skin bubbled and frothed.

The smell was horrid, like old fish burning in damp charcoal. Tran splashed back to shore as the creature clawed at its face. When she looked back, it had shed off its illusion.

Tran stumbled at the sight. Eyes stared at her from the back of Nindi's head. The creature did not even turn, it simply drifted backwards, cutting through the water like a snake in the grass. Its fingers were long and sharpened to a point, bent over its shoulders at an impossible angle to reach for her.

She did not have much time.

Tran drew in a deep breath and mustered her core.

Her palm stung from the broken shards of the phial, some drops still remaining on her fingers. Its liquid was as thick as honey but as light as morning dew. She fixated on its sensation against her fingers; its soothing touch, its crisp scent—and with her other hand reached into the water.

Please, please work.

She did not need to turn the entire lake; just enough of it.

Tran shut her eyes. Her hand tingled, the tips of her fingers numbed; though whether it was from her theurgy or the cold, she could not tell.

Water and mud sloshed as the creature approached shore. It was angry; spitting and screeching as it came. Tran fought the urge to pull back. She tried to concentrate on her theurgy, but the fear was overwhelming.

Don't look, don't look, she repeated it like a prayer. Tran pinched the drop of rainbird water between her thumb and index finger, willed it into the pores of her skin.

And then she felt it.

Its vibrant, morning song coursed through her veins. The terror cleared from her mind, if only for a moment. Silence filled her ears; the world around her seemed to freeze in time. Tran flexed her hand in the water, feeling every pressure against each stretch of her fingers. The water around them thrummed and rippled.

The moment passed just as quickly as it came, but already was the section of water surrounding her hand gaining clarity. Like oil in a bucket, it spread along the shore, carried into the depths by every ripple.

It was not much, but enough to stop the creature in its tracks.

Nindi made a clicking sound deep in her throat.

Tran flinched, but forced herself to stay. Her hands started to feel heavy, but she wrung the theurgy out of her. A ring of rainbird water bubbled around the creature, creeping closer and closer to its moon-basked body.

How dare it wear Nindi's clothes, Nindi's voice, Nindi's hair ... 'What have you done with her?'

The creature's laughter was shrill.

'Give her back, and I'll let you go!'

'Oh, Tran, you really are a silly duck, aren't you?' Nindi cocked her head. 'Why are you being so difficult? We're chambermates, aren't we? It's time to head back, now.'

Tran gathered her last ounces of strength and pushed with all her might. Her fingers burned, even deep in the water, but she bit her lip and blasted through her core.

Steam hissed out of the creature's skin as the rainbird water finally closed in around it, but when Tran looked up, Nindi was smiling, watching her, all eyes unblinking.

Tran pushed herself to her feet. Her knees were raw and caked with mud, her right arm completely numbed from the water. The ridges of her hand were cracked and red. She backed away from the water, grass blades cutting against her feet as though sharpened by the creature's very glare.

Soon her small pool of purified water would dissipate into the depths of the lake, and it would be free again.

The farthest it can ever leave the lake is within the grass, where it's most muddy. Nindi's voice rung in her head. Tran scrambled back, not daring to expose her back to the everwatching creature.

It was dark and the growing distance made it harder to see, but Tran swore it was melting. Nindi's clothes washed off her like a waterfall. Her hair dripped like tar; her entire skin like stretched dough—flowing into the lake until the creature stood there no more.

Tran's feet hit hard, solid ground. She turned tail and ran.

★ ★ ★

'Are you sure she hasn't returned to the chambers since then?'

Tran shook her head.

It was no ordinary matron—Sister Mabel herself had come to her bedchamber the moment the custodian left to report Nindi's disappearance. She looked ready for sleep with her hair let loose beneath her cowl. 'She went before dinner, you say?'

'After, Sister. She ate quickly and left. I couldn't stop her.' Tran looked down, shamed by her own lie. She caught her trunk, peeking from under her bed, and with her heel nudged it deeper.

If the sister decided to search through it, she would find Tran's mud-coated syarong. If she saw Tran's hands, she would see the blisters on her fingertips. Tran clasped them behind her back, hoping Sister Mabel would read her guilt as concern.

'Why didn't you follow her?'

'The matron made it clear the lake was off limits. Nindi said she only wanted to look at it closer under the blood moon ... something about some village tales, but I didn't want anything to do with it.'

'So why didn't you immediately report her?'

Tran shrugged. 'They said not to leave our bedchamber unless in pairs. I was all alone. Besides ... I didn't want to get Nindi in trouble. I thought she would be back quickly. But when the custodian came to collect our silverware and she still hadn't come back ...'

'Dear Reijyr.' Sister Mabel squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, they were acute with anger. 'Every year there's always at least one dhayang who thinks the rules are above her. Well. Never mind. The soldiers could use a midnight drill. Stay in your bedchamber, understood?'

'Yes, Sister.'

Tran waited for the sister and her guards to leave before falling onto her bed, trembling. Nindi's open trunk still lay on the floor. Before she knew it, Tran was sobbing into her pillow.

She needed to keep her mouth shut.

The Water Palace was her last hope; her family's last hope. She could not get kicked out now. If not a spouse or patron, at least the Civil Servants Examination would secure her a decent occupation. Besides, Nindi's body was as good as gone ... she had seen it melt into the lake. There was nothing anyone can do about it. Whatever that creature was, it had claimed Nindi.

Tran rose and slowly made her way to the window.

So much for her new start. There would be no escaping the rumours, now. Perhaps she truly was cursed.

Light poured out into the grass far beyond, drowning out the glow of fireflies, drowning out the red of the moon. They circled the fields, tightening in ever closer towards Spiderseye Lake.

A man's shout drifted high into the air. Perhaps he had found Nindi's knife; perhaps a slipper.

But Nindi was already gone, and they would never find her.

★ END ★