“I’m trying to learn about ancient artifacts of Bregon.”
“All of our recorded artifacts are merely historical and have either been relocated to museums or been destroyed.” He watched her politely, as though waiting to be dismissed, but it was a signal: He wasn’t going to help her.
Still, he wouldn’t outright reject her, either, which left a little room for her to try again. “Is there any artifact that fits the description of the object I spoke about earlier today?”
His expression didn’t change. “I’m afraid I can’t help you, meindame.”
A clear signal—he wasn’t going to yield much more. “Is there anyone else I can speak to about this matter?” Ana pressed. “The Queen Regent, perhaps—it seems she was not at Godhallem earlier.”
Something shifted in Scholar Tarschon’s face; he looked guarded. “I cannot advise. Admiral Farrald would be your best contact.” He paused, and inclined his head again. “I must excuse myself, meindame—I do have other matters to get to.”
Ana couldn’t think of how else to persuade someone who was reluctant to help, to say the least. She watched him leave, feeling as though she’d just lost a good lead.
She felt the smallest stir of winds, like a breath against her cheeks, as Linn appeared beside her.
“Did you find anything?” Linn asked, gazing after Tarschon.
Ana shook her head. “I felt like I was talking to a wall,” she muttered, but then a new idea struck. If she couldn’t coax anything out of Scholar Tarschon directly, perhaps she could gather information indirectly, instead. “Linn, can you follow that man?”
A shadow of a smile curled her friend’s lips. “It would be sad not to test out how well my new clothes blend into the shadows.”
Ana found herself grinning back. “I’m going to stay here and see what else I can find. I need more information on the Bregonian courtiers and officials of the Blue Fort.”
Linn nodded. “I will report back tonight,” she replied, and turned and made for the doors where Tarschon had exited. She stopped to murmur a few words to Kaïs, who nodded and remained where he was. His eyes, though, trailed her with what Ana thought were glimmers of concern.
Ana spent the rest of the evening in the Livren Skolaren poring over anything and everything she could find about Bregonian defense strategy and weapons. Her search for artifacts had led her to read lengthy chapters on searock and ironore, the two materials found only in the Corshan Gulf in the south of Bregon. The newer sections on those records included details on how the Bregonian government had discovered new properties that could strengthen their defenses and had begun excavating it en masse.
As time passed and the night deepened, the patrons of the Livren Skolaren began to wrap up. Books were shut, lamps were doused, and the doors opened and closed incessantly as scholars trickled out. Ana had just started reading about the ability of searock to absorb the properties of other precious stones and metals when a shadow fell over her.
“Oh,”Sorsha said, smirking. “What a change a bath and some new clothes can make.” She leaned against the other end of the table, color returned to her cheeks, looking for all the world like her own father hadn’t slashed his sword across her neck earlier in the day. She’d changed outfits into a standard Bregonian blue doublet and breeches, cinched by a gold-studded belt at her waist. Daggers glinted like ornaments at her hips, unsheathed. The tips of her boots sloped into metal sharper than knives’ points, designed to cut. She’d undone the top part of her previously tightly buttoned collar; resting at the base of her throat was the glittering black necklace that Ana had noticed earlier. The color matched her eyes.
Below it was a pale white scar, the only indication of her father’s earlier assault on her.
Sorsha traced Ana’s gaze and brought her fingers to her neck, stroking it lovingly. “The healers in Bregon work wonders,” she crooned. “Don’t look so shocked; this is far from the worst my father’s done to me.”
Ana’s stomach turned. “What are you doing here?” she snapped. There was no one else around; the library had completely emptied out. Only Kaïs stood in the same spot he had since they’d arrived. He stood straighter now, his eyes glinting as they caught the lamplight.
Sorsha’s lips curled. “Why, as Lieutenant of the Royal Guard, I thought I’d check in on you.”
Ana reined in her anger. There was nothing to be achieved from antagonizing this girl, who saw no rhyme or reason. “You can report back to your father that I’m doing quite well,” she said curtly.
“I see that.” Sorsha giggled. “You even have your own bodyguard now.” She gestured at Kaïs.
Ana bristled. “He’s not my bodyguard.”
“Oh?” Sorsha smiled coyly in Kaïs’s direction and crooked a finger at him. “Then am I free to persuade him to work for me? I could make averyconvincing argument.”
Ana stood, her chair scraping loudly in the silence. “Leave him alone,” she growled. “And the rest of my court, too.” A fierce defensiveness surged in her as she thought of Ramson, the look on his face when his father called for his arrest. “You try to touch any one of them and I’ll finish what we started back at the Crown’s Port.”
Sorsha Farrald tipped her head back in a sharp laugh. It echoed down the hallway. “I see the way you look at me,” she said. “Like you’re afraid.” She lowered her voice, giggling. “You havenoidea.”
Faster than a blink, she danced past Ana’s side, her arm darting out. It was only when the coppery tang of blood snaked into the air that Ana realized Sorsha had sliced her cheek with a blade.
“What—” Without thinking, Ana lashed out with her Affinity, slamming Sorsha against the searock floor. At the sudden movement, Kaïs drew his double swords, but Ana held up a hand.
Sorsha was panting, her eyes wide in ecstasy, a fleck of Ana’s blood dotting her lip. Ana watched in disbelief as the girl’s tongue snaked out and she licked the blood away. “Mm,” Sorsha murmured. “Such adeliciousmagek.”
“You’re sick,” Ana said.
