“Understood,” Lady Crane said seriously.
“Tell no one, got it,” Amber said.
At this point, I knew I should divulge my little secret. “Ahhh…”
“What is it?” Maverick asked.
I called, raising my voice a little. “Silence, you should probably come out now.”
“Silence?” Crane asked.
Then shocked expressions appeared on all three of the other’s faces. I turned to see the man standing in his usual sleeping attire: loose breeches and nothing else, standing near the wall by the stairwell.
I’d seen him off and on over the last half-year and he’d grown a lot in that time, not just physically, but in confidence. He was still quiet and reserved, but there was a surety to his stance now, a liveliness to his step. He’d also grown several inches and was roughly a match for me in height and build.
“Ah, hi,” he said, blushing, looking like he’d been caught spying… which he had.
“Spirits, I didn’t even… that’s amazing!” Maverick breathed. Then he looked at me. “How did you know?”
“I have special super-hearing. I heard him when I was back on the stairs.”
“He’s literally quiet as a mouse, and you heard him?” Amber said, shocked. “His name is Bloody Silence for Spirit’s sake!”
I shrugged.
“Sorry,” Silence said, voice low. “I ah… I heard you talking about Legs in the halls downstairs and got curious.”
Maverick sighed. “Well you know too much now, come and sit. But you and Legs need to swear you’ll not tell anyone what I’m about to tell you.”
Crane went and got a second blanket for Silence as he came to sit with me. We shared a smile then both turned to Maverick.
“I swear,” Silence said.
“I won’t tell a soul,” I added. I was a little trepidatious about all of this. What was so important we couldn’t even tell members of our own House?
Whatever it is, you can trust these people and you always have me. I’ll take care of you, Auwei said.
That helped reassure me, a little.
Maverick drew in a long breath. “Something’s been happening to Nobles. Over the last two years or so, Nobles have been dying, some under mysterious circumstances, some not.” He paused there, looking at each of us in turn once again. “That in itself isn’t that concerning, people die all the time. But some of these deaths have been… very concerning. It isn’t something that’s widely known. So far only the leaders of the Houses have been told the full details, but it seems that in the case of some of these deaths… the Lumani within the Noble died as well. No one knows how it’s happened.”
Auwei gasped. I felt her shock, confusion, and horror.
Crane and Amber let out similar noises.
Was I the only one who didn’t fully understand this? Silence looked as confused as I did. Lumani dying was bad, yes but, was itthatbad?
Lumani are immortal, Legs. We… we can’t die. We are energy and when our host passes, we live on as energy. We’re saddened by the loss, but we live. It shouldn’t be possible for a Lumani to die with their host. There may be things — in The Mistlands — that can hurt us or even kill us, but… not out here.
Understanding came to Silence’s face as well, Haleia must have informed him.
“What about a mistweaver?” I asked slowly.
Well…
“Yes,” Maverick answered. “Some of the other leaders think it’s possible that a mistweaver has found a way to somehow kill the host and the Lumani all as one. Though others still think Mistweavers are legends and that there couldn’t be one around these days. Honestly, I was in that group… until I heard what happened on the pirate ship. Still…” He blew out a long breath. “According to you, the mistweaver used the words ‘we’ and ‘our.’ And before I knew a mistweaver existed, I was beginning to suspect certain Nobles of these heinous deeds. I still suspect them.” He ground his teeth, jaw tense. I could tell he was struggling with this next bit. He didn’t know if he should tell us or not. With another sigh, and a shake of his head I knew he’d decided to say it. “I think… it could even go as high as the queen herself.”
“Spirits, no!” Lady Crane gasped.
