“That would be inappropriate,” the High Cleric said.Their voice was light and their features pretty and androgynous.Their slight body was hidden in a long, belted robe of jade, and their age was hard to discern—much like Enisca’s.They added something else in a lower voice, which I could not catch.
Who is Enisca, giving a High Cleric orders?I asked Tane, but she had no insight.
Enisca reached out of sight, and I heard a bell ring.Within a few moments a servant knocked at the door of the ward—empty other than myself—and presented himself with a bow.
“You may be waiting some time.Faucher will not return for at least half an hour,” the High Cleric warned.I thought I caught a deeper meaning to their words, a layer that I couldn’t quite identify.It was in their eyes too, cautioning and insightful.
Enisca cast them a lingering glance, and I saw her hand reach out, just at the bottom of my view, and clasp the Cleric’s.Then they parted, and Enisca and the servant were gone and I was alone with the High Cleric.
I heard the rustle of papers and the closing of a drawer, then the clink of tea being poured.
Tane, can we escape through the Other?Out of these restraints?I was wearing little, I noticed with a horrible, twisting feeling of violation—just my stolen, thigh-length shirt, rumpled around my hips.It would be hard to evade notice dressed like that, but surely it was better than being here, at the mercy of the Ess Noti, while Ben was on the run and soldiers hunted for Sam and Charles at every cathedral in the city.
Perhaps.But you still need to be able to walk.
How soon, then?
My next conscious understanding was that someone was very, very close.I pried open my eyes, realizing I must have passed out, and saw a man standing over me.
Inis Hae.
I jerked against my restraints.Hae showed no sign of shock, but he did straighten and look back at an older man who I was sure I had never seen before, and yet was equally sure I recognized.
“Mary Firth of theHart, I am Adamus Faucher,” the older man said, watching me down the long nose he shared with CaptainJessin Faucher ofThe Red Tempest, who I devised must be his son or nephew.“I am the head of the Ess Noti, and I will be your primary caretaker in the coming days.This is Inis Hae, whom I understand you have led on a great chase.”
I stared up at the two, feeling obscenely vulnerable in my cursory clothing.The mask was tight, and my nose felt clogged with unacknowledged tears.
“Hmm.This can come off,” Faucher Senior said to Hae and gestured at my mask.Something swung from his hand—a thick, iron bracelet.“This will suffice.Enisca was foolish not to use it immediately.Whereisthat woman?”
“Lord Faucher.”The light voice of the High Cleric drifted across the hall.“What an honor.Can I assist you?”
The two began to speak as Hae clamped the bracelet—the manacle—tight around my wrist.It had no keyhole, no obvious mechanism, and as soon as it was fixed I felt my magic die once more.
Dread assailed me.Did the manacle only suppress Stormsinging?The Ess Noti knew I wasghiseau, perhaps even that Tane was a Mother Ghisting.Would they have taken precautions against Otherwalking, or was that a skill only Tane and I had unraveled?
I raked in fresh air as the gag came off.A hundred questions hit the back of my teeth, and I barely stopped myself from asking them.What could I say without condemning myself or my friends?
And if Hae was here, had he lost or captured Ben, Sam and Charles?
“Where is the man I was with?”I asked, deciding that mentioning Ben could do no further harm.
A hand immediately covered my mouth.Hae, casually pressing my skull into the bed and squishing my cheeks grotesquely.
“Are you sure you wish to speak with her now, sir?”Hae asked.His hand tasted like sweat and metal and gunpowder.“Cleric, perhaps you could make her more amenable?”
I bit him.He jerked away and stared from me to his hand, aghast.Sadly, it was not bleeding.
The Cleric looked from Faucher to me, to Hae and his hand, which he was shaking vigorously.“Amenable?”
Hae’s expression darkened, but it was Faucher who spoke: “Enisca was here, so where is she now?”
The High Cleric said, “A page escorted her to your office.She insisted on being able to speak with you personally.”
“She is alone in my office?”
“Yes, sir.”
Something passed through Faucher’s expression, and his posture shifted, as if he were already halfway to the door.“It seems I am required elsewhere.Mr.Hae, please escort Ms.Firth to one of the apartments and ensure she remains there.”
