Lux stared at the narrow, yellow thing. At the white tip, tinged scarlet and wet. “Did you—”
“It doesn’t work if you don’t bury it under your skin, but once you do, it’ll stay until you pluck it out. It’s a canary feather. If you wear it, you can never be duped.” When Lux didn’t immediately take it, the vendor waved it beneath her nose. “Well? Do we have a deal?”
“Fine,” said Lux. She placed the seed on the counter. “But wipe the blood away first, won’t you?”
IntheLoxlenmarket,Lux purchased everything she needed for a revival. Everything save marsh snapper eyes. Who knew such a thing would be nearly impossible to find? She’d never thought of the creatures as scarce, but there were no marshes here and not a lot of other uses for them.
Her money dwindled. All this time away, she’d not recited a single incantation and not told a single soul of her brilliance. At this rate, she would need to change her circumstances very soon, and she didn’t have a clue how. In Ghadra, her occupation and whereabouts were known—or at least speculated. Out herein the wide world, she could be anyone. How did a traveling necromancer advertise?
She’d just finished eating her lunch, shouldering her heavier pack out the establishment’s door, when she encountered the sleek carriage again.
The “M” was stark on its side, and it was parked across from the pub she’d stepped from. The man who’d served her had followed her out, trimming shears in hand for the wicked-looking shrub beside the entry.
“Do you know who that carriage belongs to?” she asked.
The man lifted his eyes to where she gestured, and his jaw hardened. “Mothlock.” Then he snipped at the air and went back inside.
Mothlock.A person? A rival establishment? A town? The name didn’t sound familiar to her. Unsurprising, though, as nothing sounded familiar to her anymore. She hadn’t even seen a full map of the country in all her life until she’d bought one off a peddler on the road. With one eye on the carriage, she dug for that map now. Her fingers encircled a roll of thick paper, and she pulled it free.
She found Loxlen easily enough. It wasn’t small, and her eyes roved a circle around it, spreading wider and wider—but there was nothing. To the north were the mountains, Ghadra to the west, a winding river cut across the south, and to the east was the sea.
Her thumb brushed along the vast body of water. An image filled her head of Shaw’s immersive painting before it’d been shredded to pieces, the scent of salt and brine and the rhythmic roll of waves. Of all the things, of all the places that called to her, this shouted the loudest. She wanted it so badly it caused pains in her chest.
If only she didn’t have to travel through a saintforsakenforestto get there.
The rich man in the tall hat emerged from the building across the street, and Lux held the map a little higher in front of her face. She peered at him from over its top. She guessed he was a similar age to his driver, and he carried a new bag this time. One that was large and long, oddly shaped, and not made of leather but fabric.
He didn’t strap it to the back but attempted to wrestle it inside the carriage. The driver helped, shoving the bag through once the other man had climbed in.
The driver glanced her way when it was done, and Lux flung the map up even higher. Behind it, she waited until she heard the snap of reins and the crunch of wheels. Only then did she look again.
The carriage ambled away, and there had been a body in that bag.
She was sure of it.
Chapter three
Thecarriagerolledtoa stop outside a pale-stoned storefront. Lux caught her breath against a building while her eyes narrowed upon the fixed placard.Mothlock’s Manuscripts.And in smaller print below:May Your Mastery Be Limitless.The hatted man climbed from the carriage holding a parcel and went inside.
And now he leaves the body behind…
She kept her face angled away to better act the strolling visitor. Only when she saw another person making for the door, did she hurry. This man didn’t bother to glance behind him, either, and when he opened the door and released it immediately afterward, she grabbed it before it could swing closed. It was a heavy door. An entirely black door. And up close, it too, displayed the same emblem as the carriage at her back. Cold crept up her arm; she stepped warily inside.
Lux’s eyes widened. First to better see because the shop was darkly decorated, but then at what she discovered. Lit by blue-flame lamps protruding from the wall, shelves lined either side—and they were filled from floor to ceiling with books. Her survey began at one end and skipped to the other, and by then, she decided not only had she never before seen so many books at once, but she’d never seen so manywell-appearingbooks in all her life. They were glossy, their covers thick, and every spine held silver lettering bearing their titles. Lux forgot the men momentarily and stepped sideways to better view the volumes. Like the carriage, like the door, the spines had been stamped as well. The now-familiar silvery ‘M’of Mothlock.
Her hand reached toward the shelves and swiped. She eyed her finger in shock. Not only were the shelves free of dust—a feat which she’d not seen managed in any establishment—but they were crafted entirely of stone. She squinted at the silver flecking and thought,Cold colors.The green shade of her cloak did not fit in here.
She would have, though—the past her, at any rate. The girl who’d understood long ago that to wear black in Ghadra was an asset in remaining unseen, and she’d grown to love it because of that. Because it had kept her safe.
“Apologies,” mumbled a voice, a hand stretching out to grasp a book from beside her head.
Lux didn’t have time to see its title before it was pulled free. She moved over to be out of his way and realized he was the customer she’d followed in. She didn’t reply, and he didn’t meet her eyes. Instead, he flipped open the book until he came to an illustration. From there, he began muttering to himself, his finger roving over the page. Both of them startled when a second man said, “I regret that this is not a lending library.”
“Oh. I understand, Sir. I was only browsing.”
But even Lux could hear the waver in his voice. She pressed herself nearly against the shelves and wondered where the manshe’dactuallycared to be near had suddenly vanished. There wasn’t anyone but them three in the main room.
The nervous customer closed the book with a snap, and Lux could see the spine now.Petrovno’s Musical Assortment.He pushed it back onto the shelf.
