“This city is as fucked up as Father warned us,” he says.
“We need to survive it and we need to escape,” I say.
His lips press into an angry line. “What about Asha?” he asks. “Since she’s so important to you. Will you risk our lives again trying to free her too?”
His voice is angrier than I ever heard it and I wish I could see his eyes, but he’s lowered the lamp even further.
“You’re worried about a Blacksmith woman,” he says, “but what about all of the humans imprisoned in this city?” He spits my name. “Would you leave them here to suffer while you save one of their oppressors?”
Did he not hear the way Maybelle spoke about Asha?
My shoulders are tense, my chest aching.
I can’t answer him because I know it’syes.
If the only way to escape this city is with my brother and Asha, I would leave the humans behind.
Chapter 31
The tense silence between Thoren and me stretches through the following morning. From the time when the first bells ring, through a hurried breakfast, and during the walk to the coal house.
Our night passes seem to not only keep Blacksmiths away from us, but other humans too, passersby avoiding coming too close to us.
When we reach the building, there’s a line of human men making their way inside. They’re all taller and bulkier than the humans we passed along the way. I catch sight of burn scars across their arms where their sleeves are rolled up.
Braddock is among them, ahead of us in the line. He’s pulling off the bandage that the healer wrapped around his hand and wrist last night, even though his burns clearly haven’t healed.
I’m surprised to see a human standing just inside the door, counting heads and noting the names of the men who file inside.
Like the other men, he’s heavily built but has a shaved head and sharp eyes.
“Next!” he shouts before I step up.
He glares at me. “I don’t know you, Boy.”
I lift my arm, ensuring he can clearly see the night pass before I incline my head at Thoren. “Lord Ironmeld sent us.”
The man’s jaw clenches and his brow furrows. “Did he now?”
His gaze rakes over Thoren, pausing for a moment on my brother before settling back on me. “My name is Nero. I work for Lord Cohen Copperstream. He’s in a particularly bad mood this morning after he learned of the death of his beloved brother yesterday.”
Nero rams a finger against the red sash wrapped around his bicep. “Do you see this sash, Boy? There’s only one like it. It’s granted to the foreman of the mines and gives me responsibility for protecting the coal.”
He shoves his face into mine and lowers his voice. “Which means I don’t give a fuck who sent you. Give me any trouble and I’ll kill you. Do you understand?”
There’s a look in his eyes that tells me he isn’t bluffing.
“Understood,” I say.
He steps back. “Go to the third table. There are three empty spaces there to choose from. Men who died in the mine.” The corners of his mouth turn down. “Braddock will show you what to do.”
With that, Nero is already focused on the man waiting behind Thoren. “Next!”
Inside, the coal house is a square shape. Three rows of long tables line the room from one end to the other, leaving only enough space at the far end for three large crates that are as high as my chest.
At this end of the room, there’s a larger space where three Blacksmiths stand—all Copperstream, judging by their hair color.
The man in the middle is the shortest, has a round face, and wears a copper-colored beard. He stands a step in front of the others, his hand twitching near the copper hammer that sits in aharness at his waist while the medallion in his right palm swirls across his skin like water.
