“We cuckoos don’t get told a whole lot. Probably because, like I said, we’re right under the Hundred’s noses. I don’t know any more than I’ve just passed on to you.”
I didn’t believe him, but I let him go on.
“And if you were thinking of reporting me—which it looks like you might be—you should know there are only a couple of contacts I could give up, and the authorities would be hard-pressed to find them, assuming they believed you. Then, of course, I’d meet my death, whether by my own hand or that of the Cage, or the Hundred.”Along with any chance of finding out more about Zennia.“It’s a risk I—weare willing to take.”
I wondered what it must feel like—to be ready to die for an idea. Something that seemed so impossible, so utterly unachievable. The Hundred’s grip on Nenamor was strong as nabyrium. Wasn’t it?
A cold thought clawed at me, memories now surfacing: Zennia’s musings about running from Arbenhaw. Her mutinous mutters about her mother’s noble clients. “How do you know what happened to my friend?” I said, my voice dipping to little above a whisper. “Did she seek you out? Did you know each other?”
His gaze, behind his mask, didn’t alter. “I said it was an informationexchange,” he replied. “But I suppose there’s no harm in telling you this much: We played no part in the death of your friend.”
At that word—death—my stomach dropped. And then, for the first time, his gaze flicked to the curtain. The candle was burning low, inviting in the shadows. “Your answer,” he said. “I need it now.”
I felt hemmed in, like a sheep being herded. I thought of Owyn, of his swift disappearance, and wondered whether that would bemyfate if I accepted.
But the knowing glint in the man’s eyes made me pause. To walk away now might be to walk away from Zennia, from ever finding out what had happened in the bay. I tried to imagine getting on with my chores, living out my placement, getting to Mawre’s, then Tigo’s, age. Never knowing what had befallen my near sister, but knowing I’d had thechanceto find out—and squandered it.
And Rexim…as a master, he didn’t exactly inspire loyalty. Though the thought of him discovering I was a spy was terrifying, I couldn’t deny that some sort of comeuppance was tempting. I remembered his steely face staring down from the clifftop. His readiness to half drown me and make a spectacle of it.
Trying to ignore the roiling of my insides, I nodded shallowly. “Fine. I’ll do it.” I eyed him warily. “How do I get you the information? And when?”
He surveyed me critically, seeming to ponder. It was the same look he’d given me when he’d spoken of “trusted servants.”
“We need to be sure you’re really in on this,” he said, “and that you possess the skills to do it. At pallwater, send a tally of what you’ve found so far, by crow, to the Veil, marked with a ‘K.’ Keep it simple. Vague. Just a list of numbers. There’ll be no way to tell it’s come from the island.”
K.His first name’s initial, I guessed. I rapidly counted off days in my head. “Pallwater’s only a week away,” I said.
“Events are happening in the Chamber, among the Hundred, that mean we need to act quickly on this.”
The Chamber.
Whatever the Cage was planning must have something to do with the vote. I remembered the letters Rexim had brandished. The strain in his face.“Ballots to be cast in just a few weeks…”
My pause must have seemed like hesitation, because he added, eyes glinting, “And by the way, if I don’t receive that note, this deal is off the table.”
My stomach jumped. I couldn’t let that happen.
“All right,” I said thinly. “Pallwater, then. And what happens after? I tally the rest?”
“Exactly,” he said, glancing again at the curtain. “I’ll write back to you with details of a second meeting, where you can hand over everything else we need.”
“And you’ll tell me about Zennia,” I stated, staring at him.
He held my gaze and gave a bare nod.
My clothes were damp with sweat where they clung to my skin as my contact stood up and reached for the drapes. “Come on. I’ll show you a servants’ exit you can slip out of.”
It was over so quickly I felt dizzy, stunned, and I almost stumbled as I shuffled from the booth. The warmth, the music, the hum of laconite: It all assailed my senses, making my head buzz. But the prospect of that second meeting stood out like a beacon in my mind.
If I just did as he asked, and did it quickly, I’d find out what had happened to my friend.
Wouldn’t I?
13
Inthe end, I was only twenty minutes late to meet the siblings.
I claimed I’d gotten lost taking a shortcut through the alleys, which cut like rat warrens behind the smart shop fronts. Llir and Tigo seemed oblivious to the fact that I’d walked right past them back at the Veil. And Vercha didn’t appear to mind my tardiness. She looked approvingly at my bag from Crengar’s—I’d changed back into my livery in an alley—then returned to fawning over fabric samples with Debry.
