I barely had the door closed before Penny spoke.
“If we don’t know when they’re coming, we won’t know when to take the charcoal,” he said. “Nora said it should be taken first.”
I returned to the couch and tugged the blanket around both of our shoulders. “She also said we could take it afterwards if we had to,” I reminded him. “Within an hour. If we take it as soon as they leave, we should be fine.”
Penny chewed his lip. “What if Merrick gives us more than he’s supposed to? I’m sure he’d be happy to be rid of both of us.”
I laced my fingers with his and gave his hand a squeeze. “The Shroud Warden may administer the poison, but theSentinel is there to make sure he does it fairly. He won’t have the chance to sabotage us under their watch. Everyone gets the same amount.”
Penny took in a deep breath and let it out slow, like he was steeling himself against the worry I could feel already twisting my insides into knots.
“Well, probably best to do this on a full stomach,” he said, and flashed a smile that I almost believed. “I’ll make breakfast.” He pushed off the couch, and I let him take the blanket with him as he headed for the hall.
I was too anxious to feel hungry, but the familiar routine would be a comfort. So, I levered myself to my feet and followed.
Penny went to light the stove and peered out the back window at the drifted snow. When I came up behind him on my way to the kettle, he glanced back and offered a slightly more genuine smile. “Guess it’s a good thing we’re not needed in the smithy today.”
I chuckled. “Small blessings.”
Breakfast was a quiet affair, and neither of us ate much. Afterwards, Penny disappeared into his room to put on a shirt, then we both settled on the couch to nurse the last of the coffee.
I grew more antsy as the hours ticked by. Lunch and dinner time came and went, and neither of us had enough of an appetite to bother cooking. Snow continued to pile up outside, and there were several additional inches by the time the sun began to set and the dark figures of Merrick and one of the Sentinels appeared on our doorstep.
Penny followed me to the door with his face set in determination while I welcomed the two men inside.
“Good evening, initiates.” The Sentinel pushed back his snow-crusted hood. I recognized him as Klaus, the sameman who had administered our brands almost two months before and had then taken part in the raids of both the forge and our house. He cradled a chalice between his hands, fashioned from the upper portion of a human skull and carved with an intricate rendering of Eeus’s mark.
The thought of drinking anything, poison or otherwise, from such a vessel made me feel sick.
Merrick brushed the snow from his cloak and looked almost smug as he swept his eyes over the two of us. From a pouch hanging off his belt, he removed a dropper bottle half full of that familiar, sickly green liquid, and motioned to the Sentinel.
“Klaus, if you will,” he said, unscrewing the top of the bottle.
The Sentinel stepped forward and nodded toward the floor. “Kneel, initiates.”
Penny flicked a glance at me as we both got to our knees, and I couldn’t tell if the resolve making his eyes hard was real or an act. But for once, it wasmewishing I could tuck myself up close tohimfor whatever comfort he could offer.
Klaus’s voice pulled both of our attention back to him as he held the skull chalice aloft. “Today, you will partake in the holy sacrament of Eeus, a baptism of suffering that binds your soul to his will. As you drink, you willingly surrender to the shadows that the rest of the world tries to burn out.
“As the poison takes hold, let it sear away all that remains of your former self. It courses through your veins as a conduit to the heart of our god. This is but a herald of the trials that await; embrace the agony, for it is the currency with which you purchase favor from Eeus.”
Merrick emptied a full dropper of hemlock tea into thechalice, and the Sentinel held it out to me. I took it with hands much steadier than I felt.
“Today, you become a harbinger of dark times,” Klaus continued, “a living testament to the potency and blessing of pain. Repeat after me.
“I offer my mortal vessel unto Eeus’s dominion. Let this act be a catalyst for my transcendence and a testament to my faith in him. If I should crumble into the abyss, may I become a shadowy sentinel, bound to Eeus in eternal loyalty.”
I stumbled through the recitation, then put the base of the skull to my lips and swallowed its contents as quickly as I could. I fought the reflexive gag at the bitter taste and handed the chalice back.
Merrick added the next dose, and Klaus spoke the words of the Oath again for Penny, who parroted them back perfectly. He paused with the skull partway to his lips, and his eyes met mine.
It was like watching him receive the brand all over again, though with potentially deadly consequences. I’d encouraged him to keep going then. Here, now, I wanted to do the opposite. I wanted him to refuse the hemlock, to not risk taking such a large dose at once when a few drops had done so much damage. He’d told me he’d follow me anywhere, but I couldn’t let him this time. Not here. Not to his death.
We could run. I could knock out Merrick and Klaus and take Penny and disappear. Maybe we couldn’t go back to Forstford or Eastcliff, but there were other places we could go. Towns I’d been to when I was younger, where Penny and I could be happy and safe. Nora had been right: taking down the Bone Men wasn’tmyresponsibility. I’d doneenough. I’dgivenenough. And they had already taken more than I was willing to let them have.
They wouldn’t take Penny from me, too.
I was ready to knock the chalice out of Penny’s hands, but he tipped it back and swallowed before I could even move.
