She exited through the window.
???
The baron’s kitchen was a large, practical structure set on the grounds behind the house. There was no fireplace or chimney, but rather several stout, guttering ovens, along with a ceiling high enough to ventilate the smoke. The kitchen staff, if they had slept that night, had not slept long. Workers crowded the space, busying themselves with a number of tasks, some of which involved cleaning up last night’s welcome dinner. The floor was dotted with trash bins. The sink was a tower of goblets. No plates. If food had been prepared for the dinner guests, it was never served.
A woman greeted Ellina, an aged matron with thick white hair and calm, inquisitive eyes. Ellina had come ready with pen and parchment to explain her purpose, but the matron merely smiled, waving away the supplies. She did not speak, and Ellina wondered if she was mute, too, or if this was some kind of backward attempt at deference. The matron motioned around the kitchen, then surprised Ellina by making an elven hand gesture, linking three fingers but leaving the pinkies pointed out. This gesture was often used with guests, or sometimes as a sign of respect for one’s superiors. It meantas you wishor, in this case,make yourself at home.
This, too, surprised Ellina. The matron had been expecting her.
Ellina peeled off her coat but left her gloves as they were. The gloves, which she had acquired in Parith, were made of supple leather as thin as skin, allowing her to retain dexterity while at the same time offering remarkable warmth. More importantly, the gloves were waterproof and armor-strong. Impenetrable.
She went to the sink and its pile of glass goblets. Her heart sank to see that half of the goblets had already been rinsed, dried, and set into a nearby cabinet. Those that had not yet been scrubbed showed the hardened, evaporated dregs of dark wine.
She thought back to the dinner party, the nasal voice of a guest calling for a toast. She thought of two matching jeweled cups, their tinny clink, the way Harmon had gulped deeply while Venick looked on, scarcely touching his own rim to his lips. He had not taken a drink of his own wine.
But that was not the point.
Ellina began searching the pile, ignoring the sting of her burned hand, riffling through glasses of varying styles and sizes. The matron, for all she had anticipated Ellina’s purpose, had apparently not passed that knowledge to her staff. The kitchen workers craned their necks to watch Ellina, whispering animatedly until the matron shooed them back to their work.
Night lifted. Grey morning light filtered into the kitchen through small rectangular windows. Ellina kept at her task, moving to another cup, then another. She was aware that time was ticking by. If she did not arrive at the stables by dawn, Venick would assume she had made her choice. The army would leave without her. And then? Ellina did not have a horse of her own, only her borrowed silver stallion. If she did not claim the steed, someone else would claim him instead. Ellina would be stranded.
She redoubled her efforts, tossing each glass aside with less and less care. She thought of the way Venick’s hands had come to her face when he kissed her, and of his words, the self-consciousness hidden within them.
I need to know it means something to you, too.
Through the window, the clouds abruptly dissipated to reveal a pale blue sky. Ellina blinked into the light. It was later than she had thought. Likely, the army was already assembling along the river, preparing to ride. Ellina realized with a jolt that if she did not go now,Venick would leave the city without her, his request ignored, his admission unanswered. But it was not too late. She could make it to the stables by sunrise if she moved quickly.
She began to abandon her hunt when a flash of color caught her eye.
Ellina stilled. She thought of the mosaic that had once adorned the palace in Evov. The colors were as brilliant as they were intricate, thousands of perfectly set pieces of glass. She felt like that. She felt like she was about to lay her final tile.
Slowly, she reached to the bottom of the pile and pulled out two jeweled goblets. One was smaller, with floral etchings around its base. That had been Harmon’s. The other was wider, studded with rubies—Venick’s.
Ellina raised Venick’s cup to the morning light. There, at the bottom of the glass, swirling in the remnants of wine, was a cluster of what appeared to be grains of sand, moving back and forth like tiny, twitching larvae.
???
Ellina pushed outside into a blustery winter morning. She did not return to her room, did not go to collect her things. She wore what she had been wearing the night before. She was still clutching the glass goblet.
Lin Lill had been right. Someone was trying to poison Venick, and they had nearly succeeded. The goblet, though Venick had not actually drunk from it, was all the proof they needed. There was a traitor among them.
Ellina cut through the baron’s home. Square corridors, a long hall, then the front doors. She drove outside in a rush, making it halfway down the entrance stairs when she was brought up short to see Harmon. The woman looked uneasy. “Ellina. I have been looking for you.”
Ellina’s eyes dropped to the letter in Harmon’s hand.
“From my father,” Harmon acknowledged. “There’s been news. I’m not quite sure how to tell you this, actually.” The wind pushed through Harmon’s skirts. Far away, a crow cawed: a series of short, scratchy cries. “Ellina. Dourin is dead.”
Ellina’s hands went limp. The goblet shattered on the stairs.
“It happened recently,” Harmon said. “His condition was improving, but he caught sick. An infection. He deteriorated more quickly than seemed possible. The physicians did everything they could…”
Harmon continued speaking, her voice coming from a distance. Ellina could not hear her. She had stepped over a cliff, she was falling. The depths below rushed up to meet her.
SIXTEEN
Venick arrived at the stables in the blue hours of dawn. He sat on an overturned crate, warmed his hands with his breath.
Anxious. He laced his fingers, dropped his head. He shouldn’t be so anxious.
