“The Right Hand’s time is valuable. I can schedule you an appointment.”
Groaning, I rubbed my hand over my face. “Can you at least let him know I’m here? I’m sure he’ll see me.”
The man sighed and consulted the woman at the other end of the table. “Please let the Right Hand know that Mister Koesters is here wanting to speak with him, and that we have advised him he can schedule an appointment, but he insists.”
The woman dipped her head in a curt nod and disappeared through the doorway on the right.
While she was gone, I paced the front of the atrium, trying to burn off some of my anxious energy. The man’s eyes followed me back and forth, watching as if I was a child in need of constant supervision. He didn’t look away until the woman returned a few minutes later, stopping in the doorway.
She beckoned me to approach before fixing her attention on the man at the table. “The Right Hand says that Mister Koesters is welcome to visit whenever he’d like, provided His Eminence does not have a prior engagement.”
I followed as she turned back down the hall and didn’t bother to look back to see how the man reacted to his small authority being undermined.
She led me up the stairs to the top floor, then tapped on the door on the right. When Levitt pulled it open, she dipped her head in reverence and then retreated down the stairs.
When he stepped back, I followed him inside and wandered toward the desk in the center of the room as he closed the door behind us.
“I was a bit surprised to hear you were back so soon,”Levitt said. I could hear the smile in his voice. “Though I’m happy to have a chance to catch up just the two of us.”
“I’d like that, too,” I said, taking up Merrick’s previous position leaning against the desk, “but unfortunately this isn’t a social call.”
Levitt’s bright smile shifted into a look of concern, and he motioned me toward the pair of chairs in front of the windows. “Come, sit. You sound troubled.”
I followed his prompting, and we both settled into the plush armchairs. He folded his left hand over the stump of his right wrist and waited patiently while I gathered my thoughts.
“I have some concerns,” I began slowly. “After we left here, there was an… incident in the stairwell. With Penny and your Shroud Warden.”
His brows crinkled in confusion. “Merrick didn’t mention anything.”
“No, I imagine he wouldn’t have, considering the farm he pledged to the cause years ago wasn’t his to give.”
Levitt opened his mouth to respond, but I forged on.
“Merrick is Penny’s brother, and they have a troubled history. More volatile, I think, than even I know. After we left here, Merrick cornered Penny in the stairwell and all but threatened his life. It seems that Penny being here may create a conflict of interest for Merrick, and I’m concerned he may retaliate against Penny because of it.”
Levitt sat back in his chair and scowled. “Merrick is an only child. It was just him and his father.”
I shook my head. Why was I not surprised he’d claim that? It seemed he’d picked up more than my father’s penchant for avoiding handshakes. Denying the existence of an entire family was worse than just erasing one person from history.
“Their father remarried after Merrick’s mother died,” Iexplained. “So they’re half-brothers. He has a stepmother and a half-sister, as well.”
“He failed to disclose any of this.” Levitt’s voice was low and cold. “That means the so-calledfarmhandMerrick mentioned?—”
“Not a farmhand,” I confirmed. “By law, the rightful owner of the family farm. Though, given what I know of their relationship, the fact that Merrick reduced Penny to that role is unsurprising. He’s always considered Penny to be a lesser man.” Not all of us were set up to succeed in the lives our fathers set out for us. Penny and I certainly had that in common. “But he manages the farm well enough. There’s clearly a reason why their father put him in charge.”
“That would not be the first time Merrick has been passed over,” Levitt muttered, tipping his head against his seatback.
I leaned forward. “What do you mean?”
“Merrick was your father’s Shroud Warden for years while I was a Sentinel. They were rather close and shared the same ideals and views on how the Bone Men should be run.”
That explained how Merrick had seemed familiar with my tensions with my father when so many of the newer acolytes had no idea who I was. What else did he know about me that he could use against me later? If they were so alike, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was the oft mentioned protege my father gushed about in his journals.
“As a whole,” Levitt continued, “the rest of us were uncomfortable with the path they were leading us down, and there was a fair amount of discord among acolytes and laypeople alike.
“So, when Vaughn was arrested and executed, the other Sentinels and I were unwilling to let Merrick ascendto Right Hand. We knew that if he did, nothing would change, and we would be well on our way to suffering another Judgment. It was a risk no one was willing to take. We decided that one of us would have to take the position in his stead.”
He looked almost pained, like this wasn’t a story he enjoyed recounting. I could have sworn I could see the weight of his responsibility pressing him deeper into his seat.
