“Eleos said the same,” Seraphim said, draining her second glass of wine.
“Mad men,” Percy murmured, pushing his food around. “We’re going to be descended upon by crazy Duathian warriors, and you wantedmorestrife?”
Chuckling, Phaedrus met my eye. I shifted in my seat, unable to shake the feeling I’d met him before.
“So,” Eleos raked his hair behind his ears, “What did you two do in the attic all day?”
“Trained Whisper,” Seth said.
“Wrote a song,” Percy spoke over Seth. A heavy thud followed as Seth stepped on his foot, and Percy cursed.
“Well,” Eleos picked up his wine, “Those were lies.”
“It’s a secret.” Percy insisted, lifting his head to stare at me. Seth followed suit, his red eyes darting over my face. They realized they both stared simultaneously, and quickly looked away.
Eleos glanced at me, eyebrows raised.
“And it’s not important,” Percy stabbed his fork into his cut of lamb. “What’s Duath Nun like, Seraphim? Is it paradise?”
“Hardly,” Seraphim answered, folding her arms on the table. “It’s vastly different from the Merchant Isles—in every sense. But it is much safer there than here.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yes.” She nodded. “For whatever reason, the Empty doesn’t plague them the way it does us. Oh, it clings to their borders and locks them inside its walls, but its wilderness? Perfectly safe.” She paused, rolling her tongue in her mouth. “For now.”
I leaned back. The very idea was impossible to imagine. Sprawling fields and vast woods?Safe?
The old steward emerged from the pantry with a fresh bottle of wine and refilled Seraphim’s glass. She held it up with a smile, and I noticed something she missed.
Though the steward managed to hold the bottle steady, his fingers trembled. Guilt creased his face when he retracted the wine and stepped away.
Glancing at Seraphim, I tried to draw her attention, nodding my head toward the steward and gripping my glass, but she didn’t notice.
“But enough business,” Seraphim leaned forward. “You mentioned this was only your second-worst entrance to a city, Seth?”
“Oh!” He grinned. “I’d almost forgotten. Perse, you want to tell this one?”
“I can’t believe I haven’t.” Setting aside his glass, Percy tilted his hat up. “This was back when we first met—before Seth’s wanted posters hung on every wall.”
Feeling woozy, I rested my head in my hand. Was I drunk already? Black spots colored my vision, and I shook my head, trying to drive them away. Percy halted mid-sentence and braced a hand on the table.
“Perse?” Eleos asked. “Are you. . .” He trailed off, pressing a hand to his eyes.
Seth leaped from his seat, knocking the chair over. He placed a hand on his dagger before his knee gave out, and he dropped, grabbing the table to catch his fall. My vision blurred as I tried to stand, and I collapsed back into my seat.
Phaedrus stood, a red and silver blur beneath the flaming chandelier. “I really do appreciate your help.” He said, pacingaround us. “It gives me no pleasure to stab you in the back like this, but. . .” he chuckled, “You’ve lost your edge, sister. You made this far too easy.”
A shadow loomed behind me as he placed a hand on the back of my chair.
Seraphim grabbed her dinner knife and raked it across the back of her hand. Fingers curling, she tried to form her blood into a scythe, but I could see her body trembling. Folding. Losing consciousness.
Phaedrus leaned forward, whispering in my ear. “I told you we would meet again, Elpis. It’s a shame, too. You were so closeto figuring it out.”
Bloody vines rose from the darkness, like horrors in a nightmare. The doors flew open, and guards burst through, surrounding the table. I reached out for the fading figures around me, and felt Eleos’s hand brush mine before I fell backward into shadow.
28
Chapter 28
