Despite the weight of my situation, resting on a clean bed was not something I would waste.I hauled myself into the soft sheets andheavy blankets, and buried my face in a lavender-scented pillow.
See what you can learn?Watch over me?I asked of Tane as my burning eyes closed of their own accord.
Always.
Some time later, a knock came at the door.I’d just cracked open my eyes when a guard entered, holding her musket ready.A second guard followed with a chair, then a man in an apron.
The talisman maker.He looked haggard but nodded in thanks as the guard set down the chair.
I gingerly sat up.
“You can both go,” the talisman maker said, unshouldering a structured bag, more like a small chest with a strap.
The guards looked from him to me.
“That is unwise, sir,” one said in Mereish.
The man let out a sigh so exhausted that it trembled.“Fine, but do not bother me.”He gestured for me to sit on the edge of the bed and dragged his chair to face me.
I did not move, looking from him to the guards, one of whom had closed the door.My nerves hummed.Why was he here?
“My name is Maren,” the man said in Aeadine, setting his bag beside the chair.He appeared unrushed, even grateful for the chance to sit.
I recognized the name, though in my current state and the uncertainty of the moment, our connection eluded me.
“Speak in Mereish,” one of the guards snapped.
Maren turned to look at him, somehow managing to look down his nose despite being seated.“She does not understand Mereish.”
I eyed the guard, wondering how much they had been told about me.Would they believe Maren?
“Usti, then,” the guard insisted.
“Usti from me shit,” I replied helpfully in that tongue, looking appropriately chagrined and uncertain.
Maren gestured to me to prove his point, then turned away from the guards and resumed speaking in Aeadine.“Mary Firth.I met your captain in Hesten some time ago and made him a talisman.”
This wasSam’stalisman maker?I fought the urge to stare and tried to express fear for the benefit of the guards.
“We thought you were dead,” I whispered.
“Hold your arm out,” Maren instructed.“I must take your blood.It is the only way I could arrange to see you.”
I had little choice but to comply.My desire to trust this man was strong, unexpectedly so.There was no sorcery around that feeling, though, in a place like this, I could never be certain of that.
“They burned your shop and abducted you?”I clarified.“Them?”
Maren set the back of my hand on his knee and fished a vial and a pin out of his bag.“Yes.Do you understand who these people are?The organization?I dare not speak the name, the guards will understand that.The Sheltering Hand.Once servants of a saint.”
I nodded.“You’re the one making the shot and the talismans, the ones that suppress sorcery?”
“I am not the only one, but I am the best.”There was more regret than pride in his voice.He held up the pin.“This will hurt.”
I held still as he stabbed my skin.Droplets of blood began to well and he squeezed my finger over the mouth of the vial.Not the most efficient method of blood-letting, I observed, but he seemed more concerned with buying time.In him, I might just have an ally within the Ess Noti.
But what would this blood be used for?Making talismans and shot to be used againstghiseauand Stormsingers?
“After the events beyond the Stormwall came to light, many ofthemcame to Hesten,” Maren explained, his tone empty and measured.“They asked questions, hunted down anyone with suspicious connections.Your captain’s visit to my shop came to light, and I was… uncovered.”
