Chapter One
Thick drops of cool water splash against my skin and against the fifty-foot cliff face I am about to climb. Each mossy handhold grows more precarious as the storm persists. No matter. I could make this climb with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back. I would do anything to make it to the top today.
I tighten my harness—a quad-coil of spiral-braided rope looped around my chest. My fingers move without thought, securing a sisal sling from my harness to the rope dangling from a pair of iron pitons high above. This setup will catch me should I fall. I tap the sling three times for good luck, a superstition inherited from Ellias Veber. He taught me everything I know about climbing.
In case charms and chance aren’t enough, I whisper a silent prayer to Orna, the goddess of the mountains. “Protect me on this climb. Help me defeat my competitors.”
Surely, from lady to lady, she understands. Based on my failed attempts to get ahead, I can only imagine what she must have gone through to reach god status.
In the forest at our backs, under the cover of a large sheepskin marquee beneath the oakenwood and fizhte spruce canopy, sit the men who will determine my fate. To my left, seven other figures dressed in woolen sweaters and dark hosen tucked into knee-high leather boots are visible through the misty morning, standing at the base of Vether’s Fel.
The male climbers also wear woolen coppolas—flat-brimmed caps—on their heads to shield their faces from the rain. Beneath my straw hat, my hair is tied into a braid with ribbons wound through the plaits. A single strand of beads called an ilice hangs from each of our necks—a token of gratitude we will present to Orna once we reach the top.
Directly behind each competitor, in position to belay, stand the eight remaining Ascenditures, the kingdom’s elite climbing team, which I am so desperate to join. Seven moons past, exactly one week ago, the ninth and youngest member of the team tied a faulty sling that came loose on a dicey descent. It took only seven days for us to mourn his loss, send his bones to sea, and start foaming at the mouth to replace him. How quickly our humanity flashes out the door when opportunity calls.
Unfortunately, these exclusive climbers aren’t the ones who select their new partners. The real judges are three men who pretend justice and fairness reign supreme.
I glance at the judge’s table. The oldest, a bent and gnarled man I know who frequents one of my bunkmates at her brothel, narrows his eyes at me. Squares his jaw. The other two notice his expression change and turn. One sneers as he wipes a bit of jam from the corner of his mouth. The other shakes his head and laughs.
“Good luck, Fram Ascher.” He addresses me with the formal title of an unwed woman and lifts a mug of ale into the air. Rain tinkles against the pewter of his cup. “Maybe today Orna will favor you with fortune.”
They laugh and go back to their banter. Exhaling slowly, I stretch my neck to one side and then to the other. I keep climbing, despite it all. The only place I truly feel free is pressed against granite. Dangling from a thin rope, with no guarantees. It’s worth the pain of rejection, the broken bones, the sick feeling in my gut when I know I am about to be passed over yet again. It’s the only thing I’ve done in my short life that is worth it all.
Besides, my other option is to work in one of the textile or machine factories, breathing in smoke and chemicals until my body succumbs to pulmonosis. Climbing keeps me outside, in the open air, away from pestilence, abuse, and the horrible afflictions that plague most of our citizens.
A long, slender alpenhorn blasts, signaling the sixty-tikt mark. When the horn sounds again, I will race to the top of this cliff, hoping to beat the seven climbers next to me. It is not just about time. I have to follow a specific route, touching certain holds and using the proper technique. My route is marked with rose-colored paint. Of course it is. I plunge my hands into my dust bag and then rub them together, knocking off the excess white powder. It lands like softly fallen snow on the ankle-length skirt I am required to wear. I can’t afford a new pair of climbing boots, so the rain soaks through the worn and faded sheepskin of my knee-highs.
“Ignore them, Klarke,” Ellias whispers from behind. Ellias Veber is the lead climber of The Ascenditures and my belayer for the day, the person I must count on to save me should I slip. As something of a surrogate father to me since my own passed beyond the darkened sea, I feel most comfortable with my life in his hands. “And suertgût,” he adds.
“Suertgût” is the old Galvaithian word for luck. We still use it on the fel. We use anything that might keep us from ending up in a box beneath the tides. Ash and wave. That is our fate. Ash and wave and the darkened sea. Those words are carved in stone on the archway leading from the city to the port and etched into every tomb we set fire to and send to sea.
I nod so Ellias knows I heard, but don’t break my concentration. My weight shifts from one foot to the other on the spongy ground of decaying forest detritus. The horn bellows again. I count down in my head, taking deep breaths I hope will fill my lungs so full of air my stomach won’t have room to churn. Rain pounds my flesh in sharp staccatos.
Three. Two. One.
“Klettag,” I say, letting Ellias know I am about to start climbing.
“Klettag und,” he responds, letting me know he is ready to cradle my life in his hands.
The horn blares. Instinct takes control, sending me up the route with perfect ease. My hands touch each rosy fleck of paint and my feet follow. I know I look like a kefer beetle crawling up a wall. The urge to turn my head and watch the others is strong, but I ignore it as I encounter the first obstacle.
Until now, the rock has been almost vertical, but I’ve reached The Ankel, the obstruction where the cliff wall becomes a roof over my head, forming an overhang before returning to a vertical pitch. The only way up and over is to cling to the rock face with my body parallel to the forest floor and make sure I’ve got a good hold. Hitting the ground is not my worry. I am attached to a top rope, so a fall won’t kill me if Ellias does his job.
I move onto the overhang using a heel hook technique, straightening my arms and bending my legs between moves to conserve energy. The wet rock makes it difficult to grip. The fabric of the skirt spilling onto my limbs adds an element of difficulty the others don’t have to contend with. Each time I rest, my hands begin to slip. I reach for the next handhold—legs, arms, legs, arms. My fingers slide across the sharp edge of a crimper, and the skin peels away from the bottom of my pinky finger. This happens often. I’ll feel the sting for the next week as the abrasion heals and reopens. Ignoring the discomfort, I plant the tip of my boot on a small nub of rock and propel my body upward. Next thing I know, I am pulling myself up and over the alcove and back onto the straight cliff.
The following challenge offers a sheer slab with few holds. I grip the nearest crimper, a thin ledge of rock no wider than a sprig of fluset grass, with just the tips of my fingers, curling my thumb up over my joints to lock my digits into place. Letting out a low grunt, I bear down to support myself, stretch one leg to an unnatural angle near one shaking hand, and find a sturdy place to push off. I know they are watching, which means they will see how perfectly I am crushing this route. I pass the final, near-invisible hold, and my eyes catch the rosen paint that will lead me to the top. I fly up the rest of the route as if I have wings.
I reach the top before the other competitors and yank on the long string, which sounds my bell. Clings and clangs ring out over the forest below. Shouts and cheers reach my ears.
From my perch atop Vether’s Fel I can see Kietsch, the capital city of Ectair, through the rain and hazy smoke rising from the rows of chimneys, smokestacks, and weather vanes. Beyond the juxtaposition of dingy tenements and red brick multi-storied homes with vibrant shutters and hand-carved balconies, the Bay of Hammonhoff cuts like a jagged piece of broken glass into the land. Ships jostle about the port. Their brightly colored sails offer such vividness in this cloyingly earthen land.
A few seconds later, Russet Kamber reaches the top and sounds his bell. He gives me a smile and a thumbs-up as he squats to stretch and puts his hands behind his head.
I did it, I think to myself as my heart drums with celebration and fatigue. I watch Russet stretch, knowing I’d been first to the summit before and they still passed me over. “I did it,” I whisper so only I can hear. “They can’t say I didn’t.”
Russet leaps to his feet and walks to the wooden holzenschrein beyond the row of bells. “Tanks be to Orna. I almost forgot!” He removes the strand of ornate beads from around his neck and drapes it across the point of a chiseled pyramid.
The holzenschrein is carved into a hollowed-out triangle, adorned with small holes and filigree that let the light from the candles inside twinkle out. It is modeled after Fitzhan, the guardian mountain of our kreison. Each of the kingdom’s nine kreisons, or regions, has its own protector, a natural landform that acts as a sentinel of the lands ruled by Orna, our high goddess of the mountains.
I pull off my strand of beads, one I made from mud collected along the banks of the Sevier River where it meets the Rolag Sea at the Bay of Hammonhoff. Bits of dried grass and dark pebbles disrupt the patterns I tried to carve. Next to Russet’s varnished and painted marbles, my offering seems unworthy.
“Tanks be to Orna.” I drape my ilice across Russet’s and wonder how Orna decides whose beads merit her esteem. Hopefully she favors imperfection.
Another bell rings as a climber named Veit reaches the top. He gives an angry scowl and kicks the pebbles by his feet. “Foze,” he hisses at me.
I focus on a krave nest at the top of the nearest pine. Five other bells sound, letting the judges know that all eight of us have reached the top. With a nod at Russet, I shout down to Ellias to let him know I am coming down. “Dirt me!”
“Beat you to the bottom,” Ellias calls from below with his typical response that I am clear to descend.
“Helps when you’re already there!” With a worn sigh and a half-smile, I lean over the edge and kick off, reaching the forest floor in a few swift seconds.
Ellias pulls me into a hug before I have time to untie my sling. He laughs his uniquely jovial laugh. I can’t help but smile at the man who taught me how to climb—the man who chose me over every eager young person to train for this moment.
“Yes, Klarke! Yes!” He pumps his fist in the air. “They must give it to you this time. You were perfect. Clean. So clean.” Ellias’s rosy cheeks glisten with rain. His brown eyes twinkle. A beard that could be the tail of an obafox hangs from his chin. If he had any hair beneath his woolen coppola, it would be dark brown, the color of a fallen log in full decay, just like all of ours.
I nod, still smiling, and hope he is right. This is my second time trying out for the team. My second time making it to the top before anyone else.
Ellias wraps his arm around my shoulders and steers me toward the tent, where the three judges converse quietly, their heads together.
“I hope you had clear eyes today, Hannar,” he says forcibly, giving them the courtesy title of Hannar even though they are far from gentlemanly. “She was perfect. You know she was perfect.”
“Ah, Ellias,” the thin, stringy one with drooping eyes says, his deep drawl marking him as one who hails from the Calvia Plains. “You are one to speak of clear eyes with such blinding devotion attached to your statements. We will do our jobs as we have been appointed to do. I suggest you focus on yours.”
Ellias tugs on his beard and lets out a grunt. We turn from the judges. “You will always be the winner in my mind, always my first choice.” He pats my back and then joins the crowd to await the decision.
“Fantish climb, Klarke.” Russet pulls his untied harness from his chest and extends his hand. “You deserve this.”
I accept the gesture. “You put up a good fight. And you know how it goes.”
He shakes his head and lets out a frustrated sigh. Russet is short and wiry, which makes him light and agile on a climb. “You beat me. No questions about it. And I had a wee slip on one of my marked holds. That’s a deduction heaped upon my slower time.” He chuckles as he moves past me to hug his family. “We all thought the protests were wild before. Complete madness when they picked Kiel over you. Can you imagine the riots tonight if they do it again?”
Wiping the rain from my face, I take my place on the platform in front of the tent to wait for the other climbers to finish their greetings and join me for the results. They all have families to share this experience with. I have only Ellias and an inaccessible dream. Staring at my wet boots and the warped platform beneath them, I consider Russet’s statement. The last time I was passed over, an entire street in the Eastlich burned to the ground. Two soldats were found naked and hanged from a crane at the docks. The king had women arrested and beaten for being out in the streets past dark. I bite my lip and pray for victory. For myself and for all that will burn.
From behind the judges’ table, I catch Kiel Abel’s eye. He gives me a wink and a sly smile. At eighteen, he is the youngest and newest member of the Ascenditures, being the most recent climber to beat me out for a spot. Kiel and I have been climbing together since he was ten and I was nine. I know he wants this for me as much as Ellias and I do. I wink back, hoping the misty rain masks the deep red coloring my cheeks.
The horn sounds again as the head judge stands, smoothing out his long, green ceremonial robe. He clears his throat and folds his hands across the stitched emblem of two intertwined golden knots at his stomach. With an insincere smile, he gives each contestant a nod before turning to the crowd of anxious onlookers on the other side of the marquee. Rain drips from the needles of the fizhte canopy onto their silken scarves and velveteen collars, but not even moisture can keep our people away from the sport of climbing. We covet it and our climbers like the people of Kobo covet song and dance.
“Geitsê, framen and hannar,” the judge begins. “To be an Ascenditure is a great honor, one of the greatest honors this kingdom bestows upon its citizens. This elite group of champions risk their lives for the kingdom. They are beacons of hope and strength. They provide special food for the king and aid in times of great need. They procure medicine only they can retrieve from the heights of the Celebern Fields for our sick. They maintain our beautiful and historic Rektburg and keep our bridges and dams secure. Bestowing the title of Ascenditure is not an action we take lightly, and therefore only the best are selected. Three teams of three there will always be. Nine in total to represent the nine kreisons on which this kingdom rests.”
I’ve heard this speech before. I’ll hear it again soon, in a different, longer form, whenever the person chosen today is officially sworn in. King Adolar will deliver the words on the steps of his palace, the Rektburg, in front of the citizenry of Kietsch and whoever else from the kingdom journeys to the capital for the ceremony.
“Now, without further delay,” the head judge continues, “I am proud to announce the newest member of the Ascenditures. Please keep in mind that selection is based on the entire performance, not solely on speed.”
My heartbeat stalls. I know what’s coming. Beside me, Russet stiffens. He knows it too. The scraggly judge whom Ellias spoke to smirks at me beneath heavy eyelids. I want to run into the woods and cry, but I stand taller, trying to fight the scowl from consuming my face.
“Our selection was based upon speed, accuracy, and technique. So please, framen and hannar, put your hands together to welcome Russet Kamber as our newest Ascenditure.”
Ellias’s lips stretch into a thin line. His eyebrows knit together. Kiel shakes his head, his playful smile replaced with fury. My soul seems to have left the empty sack of my body and floated upward into the canopy of the oakenwood trees, perhaps where it can grieve in private.
Russet bows to the judges and waves at the crowd before turning to me wide-eyed. His hand flies to his mouth, and he begins chewing at the skin of his thumb.
I rush to him, an expert at masking disappointment, and pull him into a hug. “You are a great climber. You deserve to be on the team. Don’t worry about me. Enjoy this moment.”
“Klarke,” he mutters into my ear. He quivers in my arms. “It’s scheiz. I’m so sorry. The city will burn. It will burn because of me.”
“It’s not your fault. You don’t run this kingdom or make these rules. Whatever happens is not on you. Remember that.” I let him go to celebrate with the others and force my mouth into a polite grin. Thin clapping permeates the forest, mocking me. Faces sway in and out of focus.
“When are you going to give it up, Klarke?” Veit, the competitor who came in third, strides toward me. He is nearly a foot taller than I am, with piercing blue eyes and dark hair. His climbing hosen are brand new. Swirls of flowers have been embroidered in snow-white thread across the wool.
“I beat you, Veit. Give it a rest.”
“Russet beat me. Not you. You don’t belong here.” He balls his fists. His eyes bore into me like a chisel into the wall of a salt mine.
I shake my head and glare at him with the most severe look I can muster. Brushing past, I sneer at the judges and wave to the glowering faces in the crowd—both the ones incensed on my behalf and those who wish I did not exist.
Someone breaks out a bellowkord and begins squeezing the box-shaped instrument. The rich, reedy sound of an organ cuts through the jubilee and dissent pressing in around me. An already drunken man with a feather in his felt cap leans back and shouts the first line of a famous stanzllied, a classic and overly simplistic song chanted by drunks and joyfuls. After each line he sings, the crowd responds with the words “ho di oh di el,” clapping their hands and clanking the bottles they’ve pulled from their rucksacks. Nausea builds with the fervor of each verse.
Come drink with me and toast the king.
Ho di oh di el.
From Fitzhan’s fel to Laren’s sea.
Ho di oh di el.
Today wasn’t just about making the team. My time has run out. At seventeen, the kingdom considers me of age and will soon pick a man I must wed. Selection as an Ascenditure today was my one opportunity to escape becoming someone’s brideprize. The lump in my throat swells. The air in my lungs dwindles. The only thing I can think of is my need to get as far from this clearing as possible.
From Kaiwa’s wine to Orna’s peak
Ho di oh di el.
Before anyone can reach me, I’ve secured my gear to my pack and am running through the woods, trying to find a safe space where I can scream and not be hanged for it.
