“I should still look for what I can replenish our medicinals with,” I said, combing out the last knots in my wet hair and then handing the comb to Fox.
“This field has some ferns that look promising,” Jade said. “You don’t need my help, do you? I am exhausted.”
“Don’t go to bed! We’re playing cards,” Ilsit protested.
I slung my foraging bag over one shoulder and walked away from the sound of Jade saying, very gently, that she knew Ilsit cheated even if they only used hazelnuts instead of coin when they gambled.
After picking my way through tents and wagons, I found myself at the edge of the field that bordered the river again. Ahead was a small copse of birch trees, their white starkness only the least bit visible in the dark. A thin, waning moon was rising, having made a rosy sky turn lavender and now pitching into deep violet, the smoke of campfires making everythingfeel hazy. Behind me the chatter of penitents, happily bathed and eating, drowned out the noise of someone approaching. As I looked down on a patch of what I thought was maidenhair, I was lost in thought. I no longer had Magda’s books, and though I had read them countless times, it felt, I could not remember exactly what I could do with this fern.
Then a hand went over my mouth, and I was yanked back into a man’s body.
56
NOW: SPIKE
Iwas squealing and flailing when I heard a familiar voice say, “Gods, she won’t be quiet, will she? Shut up, woman.”
“Whiskey is making the rounds in the camp now,” said the man holding me, his voice another familiar one. “We’re far enough away; someone might see us, but no one cares. Folks are too distracted.”
“So, we drown her. We make it look like an accident. It’s a stone’s throw from the river.”
“Between the two of us, we can get her down to the bank.Hold still!” The man’s hand clamped down even harder.
“Here,” said the first voice, and a kerchief of sorts was tied around my eyes before I could make out that man’s face. I was able to kick him in the shin, and he stumbled and swore.
“Why in hell did you blindfold her?” asked the man holding me. “Do you have one for her mouth? She’s going to scream as soon as I remove my hand.”
“No, but then this is an opportunity, not a plan.”
“Put that thing over her mouth and gag her, not her eyes.”
“Witches can use their eyes to cast enchantments.”
“Says who?”
“Every damn guide on witches they made me read in the army? Trust me, half of her power is in her eyes. How do you think she’s evaded getting caught for so long? She’s a mesmer. I’m convinced of it. Godsdamn, she really got me in the leg. I wish I could have had some of our men do this.”
“He says it’s better if it’s us. Suffering gods, she’s a mean one.”
“He tells me it was always this way with her, even as a child.”
“Oh it was.”
The two men had tussled with me while I flung out elbows and knees as far as I could, arranging me so I was held between them by my upper arms. On my left, I could tell the man there wore a scant kind of armor, small spikes jutting out on the breastplate, meaning he was in a higher-ranking office of the army or cavalry.
When the hand came away from my mouth, I gave a pitiful half shout, my breathlessness and surprise making it weak.
“Make one more noise,” said the first man, “and we’ll slit that little mute girl’s throat while she sleeps. Nod if you understand.”
Frightened, unable to see through the kerchief, I nodded.
“Walk,” ordered the second one.
It was Bertram Sheridan and Captain Gerard, Ilsit’s former husband. They were taking me to the river to drown me. Louder and louder the Oberlong could be heard. I was going to drown in a river, held down by two men who despised me and likely delighted in my murder. Frantically, I had the thought that I should pray to Sister Sea.
Help me,I prayed in my mind.Father and Mother, if you truly bless me, if I am truly your daughter, then help me. All four of you, I beg you to help me. Please. I don’t want to die.
“Should we have let her get drunk first?” asked Bertram. “That way people will think she fell in because of that.”
