A day later, I was yet again squirreled away in the east tower and blindfolded.
Sliding the iron blade between my fingers, I drew in a long, measured breath as I tried not to think about how the god had destroyed my dagger the night before. Luckily, I never practiced with it. I didn’t even want to know how Sir Holland would respond to learning that I’d lost such a weapon.
Or to the news that I’d stabbed a god in the chest with it. I didn’t think Sir Holland would react all that calmly.
Looking back, I could understand why the god had destroyed the dagger. I had stabbed him. But I was still furious. It was over a century old, and if I had any hope of fulfilling my duty—if I were ever given a chance— I needed a shadowstone blade.
I also tried not to think about what I had seen—what had happened to Andreia. The image of her sitting up and launching herself to her feet like some sort of wild animal had lived in my head, rent-free all night long. I had no idea what could’ve been done to her, but I hoped the god figured it out.
Something beautiful and powerful.
His words still caught me off guard. But in my defense, he had called me a name that meant something beautiful and powerful, even after I’d stabbed him. That seemed even more unexplainable than whatever had happened to the seamstress.
Liessa. I couldn’t believe I asked that instead of a hundred other more important questions. Starting with asking what his name was.
“Now,” Sir Holland ordered.
Spinning, I threw the blade, exhaling at the sound of the smack it made striking the dummy’s chest. This went on for a godsforsaken amount of time until I could no longer not speak about what I had seen the day before.
After throwing the blade, I tugged down the blindfold. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course,” he replied, starting toward the dummy.
“Have you ever heard of a…?” It took me a moment to figure out how to ask what I wanted without giving too much away. “A dead person coming back to life?”
Sir Holland stopped and turned around. “That…that was not the kind of question I was expecting.”
“I know.” I toyed with the hem of my airy cotton shirt.
He frowned. “What would make you even ask something like that?”
I forced a shrug. “I just heard someone talking about it when I was out. They claimed to have seen someone come back to life with fangs like a god but…different. They had fangs on the upper and lower teeth.”
His brows lifted. “I’ve never heard of anything like that. If whoever said that was speaking the truth, then it sounds like an…abomination.”
“Yeah,” I murmured.
He studied me. “Where did you hear this?”
Before I could come up with a believable lie, a knock sounded on the tower door. Sir Holland retrieved the blade from the dummy. He looked over his shoulder at me as he walked toward the door. I shrugged. “Who is it?” he called, slipping the blade behind his back.
“It’s me,” came a hushed voice. “Ezra. I’m looking for Sera.” There was a pause while Sir Holland rested his forehead against the door. “I know she’s in there. And I know that you know that I know she’s in there.”
A grin tugged at my lips, but it faded quickly. There was only one reason I could think of that would’ve drawn Ezra to the tower to find me. My gaze drifted briefly to the many stab wounds that punctured the dummy’s chest, and I thought of all the harmful things I’d done in the last three years.
Sir Holland shot me a scowl. “You never should’ve told her where you train.” He sliced the blade through the air. “She could’ve been followed here.”
“It wasn’t intentional,” I said, wondering who in the castle didn’t already suspect who I was and could’ve followed her.
“Truly?” Sir Holland demanded.
“Just so you know, I can hear you,” Ezra’s muffled voice came through the door. “And Sera speaks the truth. I simply stalked her through the castle
one morning. And since I’m not unobservant, I figured out that this is where she spends a decent part of her days.”
“Like you didn’t know you were being followed,” he muttered.
I lifted a shoulder. Of course, I knew she had been following me, but since Ezra had remained kind towards me after I failed, I really hadn’t attempted to throw her off my trail. And it wasn’t like she didn’t know I trained. Sir Holland was just being dramatic.
“I haven’t been followed,” Ezra announced from the other side of the door. “But I can only imagine that the longer I stand here talking to a door, the more attention I will draw.”
“Let her in, please,” I said. “She would only come here if she had to.” “As if I have a choice.” He threw the lock and opened the door.
Princess Ezmeria stood at the top of the narrow stairwell, her light brown hair swept back in a bun at the nape of her neck. Even though it was sweltering in the tower and most likely no better outside, she wore a black, pinstriped short waistcoat over an ivory and cream gown made of the same lightweight cotton. Ezra always seemed immune to the heat and humidity.
“Thank you.” She smiled as she nodded at an exasperated Sir Holland. Her features were similar to Tavius’s, but her brown eyes held a keen sharpness, and her jaw had a stubborn hardness that Tavius lacked. “It is good to see you, Sir Holland.”
Sir Holland pinned her with a look of utter impassivity. “It is good to see you, Your Grace.”
“What do you need?” I asked as I took the iron blade from Sir Holland, sheathing it.
“Many things,” she replied. “One of those chocolate scones Orlano makes when he’s in a good mood would be lovely. Along with cooled tea. A good book that isn’t misery fiction, which begs the question—why do the curators of the city Atheneum think any of us wants to read things that only depress us?” she asked, rocking back on her heeled slippers as Sir Holland rubbed at his brow. “I’m also in need of an end to this drought—oh, and peace among the kingdoms.” Ezra smiled widely as she slid an amused glance at Sir Holland. “But right now, the Ladies of Mercy and I are in need of your assistance, Sera.”
Sir Holland lowered his hand, frowning as he looked at me. “What would the Ladies at the orphanage need from you?”
“Her ability to borrow excess food from the kitchens without anyone noticing,” Ezra answered smoothly. “With the influx of recently parentless children, their cupboards are rather bare.”
I stiffened just a fraction. Suspicion clouded Sir Holland’s features. My ability to do just as Ezra claimed had come in handy quite frequently. I often took whatever leftover food I could scrounge from the kitchens to the Cliffs of Sorrow, where the old fortress had been converted into the largest orphanage in Carsodonia. Still, even as big as it was, the orphanage hemorrhaged with those orphaned by death or abandoned by parents who could not or would no longer care for them. But Ezra had never once come to me for that. I turned to him. “I will see you tomorrow morning?”
His eyes had narrowed, but he nodded. I didn’t linger to give him time to start asking questions.
“Have a good day, Sir Holland,” Ezra said as she stepped aside, allowing me to exit the tower.
Dust danced in the streaks of sunlight seeping through the arrow slits in the walls of the tower as we made our way down to the third floor, where my bedchambers were located among the row of empty chambers. We didn’t speak until we stepped into the narrow hall. Ezra turned to me, keeping her voice low, even though it was unlikely that anyone was around to overhear us. “You should probably change your clothing.” Her gaze flickered over the loose tunic I wore. “Something a little more…suitable for where we must travel.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Exactly what am I assisting you with?”
“Well…” Ezra dipped her chin toward mine, standing close but not close enough to touch me. I pretended not to notice how she made sure her skin didn’t come into contact with mine. “I received a letter from Lady Sunders regarding a child—a young girl named Ellie—that just came under her guardianship, courtesy of one of the Mistresses of the Jade.”
I frowned in surprise. “What was a young girl doing with the Mistresses?” The only reason Jade had even been willing to discuss the things involved in the act of seduction with me was because she believed I was far older than sixteen. Even then, with the veil obscuring my features, I saw that she had been suspicious, even though others were married at that age. “That is not like them—”
“It’s not. One of the women who works for them found the poor girl in an alley. She had a blackened eye among numerous other injuries, as well as
being undernourished. Ellie’s healing,” Ezra quickly added. “Lady Sunders says that the child’s mother died many years ago, and her father had lost his source of income. She believes the child’s father was once a laborer at one of the farms that fell to the Rot.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I murmured because it felt like I needed to say something, even though there was nothing to be said.
“I wouldn’t feel too sorry for the father. It appears that he enjoyed spending his money on liquor more than food, long before he lost his job as a harvester.” Ezra’s lips tightened. “Lady Sunders got the impression that the mother’s death may not have been a natural one, but the kind aided by the father’s heavy fists.”
“Lovely,” I muttered.
“It gets worse,” she said, and I wasn’t sure how. “At some point, the father entered the business of selling intimate moments—”
“The sex trade?” I clarified for her.
“Yes, that is one way of saying it when the person is actually willing to trade time with their intimate parts for coin, protection, shelter…or whatever. But he was the type to make others willing,” she corrected. And, yes, she was right. It did get worse. “Which is also why the Mistresses of the Jade are very displeased with this man. As you know, they are not fans of those types of peddlers.”
No, the courtesans were not fans of anyone being forced into the trade they’d entered into willingly.
“The girl who was given over to Lady Sunders has a younger brother, who is still with the father. The boy is in a very precarious situation, being forced to commit all manner of thievery to keep his father’s cups full. She fears he’s being made to agree to other unspeakable things in exchange for food and shelter—as was the daughter.”
I inhaled sharply, disturbed but sadly not surprised. Both Ezra and I had seen this before. Hardship could exploit the worst in people as they struggled to survive, forcing them to do things they’d never consider. But then there were those who always had that darkness in them, the ones who were predators long before they faced adversity.
“Lady Sunders inquired to see if my friend who has a certain set of talents,” she said, glancing pointedly at where the blade was sheathed, “would be able to assist in extracting the child.”
In other words, the kind of skills that Sir Holland had spent years honing for a completely different reason. “And why would that require me to wear something more enticing?”
“The father? His name is Nor. Lady Sunders believes it’s short for Norbert.”
“Norbert?” I repeated, blinking. “Okay.”
“Anyway, Nor runs his business out of Croft’s Cross,” she explained. Croft’s Cross was one of the districts separated from the Garden District by the Nye River. That part of Carsodonia, close to the water, was crowded with homes stacked tightly together, leaving little space between them. The warehouses, pubs, gambling dens, and other establishments there were nothing like the grand ones in the Garden. Most of the people who lived in Croft’s Cross were decent, just trying to get by. But then there were those like Nor, who could corrupt Croft’s Cross as easily as the Rot spread through the land.
“He’s been keeping his son close since he can’t get his hands on his daughter,” she continued. “The only way to get into that building is if he thinks you’re looking for a particular kind of job.”
“Great,” I muttered.
“I’d do it myself, but—”
“No. Absolutely not,” I said firmly. Ezra had a brilliant mind, but she had no idea how to defend herself. And beyond that, she was a Princess, even if she often got involved in things a Princess usually wouldn’t. “Give me a few moments.”
Ezra nodded, and I turned, starting for my bedchamber. “Oh, and do wear something you aren’t worried about getting…bloody.”
I stopped, looking over my shoulder. “There is no reason for me to get blood on any of my clothing. I’m going in to get a child. That is all.”
She smiled faintly as her brows rose. “Sure. That is all that will happen.”
