“I’m so hungry I could eat an entire barrel of potatoes.” She goes for another bite, moving so quickly her fork nearly slips from her fingers. “It was so much worse because I got stuck doing it all with Mikel.”
My eyes tug in the direction of Cindel’s table, but only for a second. Mikel is one of her bunch. A mousy-looking boy with short brown hair and dark-brown eyes set against fair skin a similar shade to Saipha’s. I’ve only seen him in passing and never have heard him speak. I only know his name because I’ve heard Cindel bark orders at him.
Luckily, they don’t catch me looking.
“Let me guess, he spent the entire time telling you how amazing Cindel is?” I whisper.
“If only that were it. He wouldn’t stop asking about you.” She gives me a genuinely worried look.
“Me? Why?” I try to exude calm I don’t quite feel.
“Spying for Cindel would be my bet.” She leans in as she talks, voice barely above a whisper. “No matter what I tried to talk about, it’d come back to you—how you were handling the Tribunal, what it was like being friends with Valor Reborn, what you could really accomplish.”
The food is now ash in my mouth. But stopping eating would let Cindel win. And if the vicar can’t break me, I’m not lettingher. “Whatever it is, we’ll handle it.”
“Cindel isn’t also some kind of mole for the vicar, is she?” Saipha glances in Lucan’s direction. As she lowers her fork to her plate for the next bite, she nearly drops it. The utensil is shaking in her white-knuckled grip.
I speak before Lucan can reply. “Saipha, are yousureyou’re all right?”
“Wha— Oh.” Saipha looks at her hand, then violently stabs a hunk of potato. When she lifts it next, it’s stable. “Other than mentally scarred with images that’ll probably haunt me for life,I’m fine. Hands are tired, is all, from using bone saws and mallets. Now, focus. Cindel and the vicar?”
“It’s doubtful,” Lucan replies. “The vicar is indebted to her father. As the master renewer of Vinguard, he’s done a lot of repairs on the chapel after attacks, as that’s what he specializes in. But I don’t think there’s any love there.”
“Does the vicar love anything but himself?” I murmur under my breath. I don’t think Saipha hears, but Lucan’s eyes flick toward me, and there are a thousand things unsaid in that stare. Hate wars with worry that competes with a defensive edge I want to pretend doesn’t exist because it’d be so much simpler if it didn’t.
The moment evaporates as that same man enters, as if materialized at the mere mention of him like a nightmare I can’t escape.
My whole body goes cold as he walks down the stairs with the prelate at his side. Behind them are three faces I haven’t seen before—one boy and two girls, all wearing supplicant uniforms. Behind the three are two more inquisitors, like a wall to prevent them from running.
As odd as it is to see three unfamiliar supplicants, I can’t take my eyes off the vicar. I still see him looming over me. Still feel the magic ripping me apart as if I was little more than paper.
Lucan’s knee presses into mine under the table so firmly that our thighs touch. The warm, steady contact jolts me back to the present, and I glance his way. But he’s looking straight ahead, eyes on the prelate.
“Supplicants, there are three late additions to be counted among your ranks.” The prelate steps to the side and gestures to the inquisitors in the back. They shove the three new additions forward aggressively. “We found these threehidingin the Undercrust, avoiding reporting for Tribunal.”
All eyes dart between Horowin’s table and these new additions.Horowin and his crew look as bewildered as the rest of us. Hiding from the Tribunal? It seems impossible. And even if it were… Is there any greater shame in Vinguard?
I’m shocked they’re still alive. That they weren’t slain outright from suspicion. But Vinguard needs all the citizens it can get. And if they haven’t been tested yet, they’ve no reason to receive mercy.
“Some Mercy Knight is getting reprimanded forthis,” Saipha murmurs. I glance her way, lifting my brows. She leans in, whispering hastily. “Two years ago, there was a pair of siblings in the Undercrust who didn’t report in. Mercy Knights were sent, Father one of them. According to him, they were made such an example of in the Tribunal, no one would ever try again. Didn’t stop Mercy Knights from doing sweeps since, though.”
I shudder to think of what making an example of someone here would consist of, given what we’ve been through.
“We weren’t hiding,” the boy snaps at the prelate. “We didn’t even know about the Tribunal. It’s not like we had a home or parents to teach us.”
“Excuses.” The prelate scoffs, disbelieving.
The vicar holds up a hand.
“Street urchins, hiding in the caves of the Undercrust. Fighting for scraps. The Creed has failed you,” the vicar says solemnly. Like he cares. “Which is why we shall show you forgiveness and allow you to join late. But do keep in mind that you have already missed the first test—something we must remedy tonight.”
I suck in a slow breath. My heart is starting to race as though I’m the one about to go into another test. I’ve no idea what the inquisitors might do to them. But I am sure the vicar will punish them in his own way for this.
The wicked gleam in the vicar’s eyes turns my way, as if he knows how aware I am of his worst tendencies. “You also missed the blessing on the Convening. Perhaps Valor Reborn would liketo assist me in placing it upon you.”
I’m going to be sick.
If it weren’t for the sturdy bench under me, I would’ve collapsed here and now. I’m honestly surprised I don’t melt under the table. Anything to get his eyes off me.
