Chapter 8
“Reyn, I’m sosorry, but I have to go back to the bank this afternoon.”
Reyn tried not to let her disappointment show. Selona had come home for luncheon, but here she was ready to rush back out again, even though they had plans for later in the afternoon.
“You can’t make it to tea?” Reyn asked as calmly as she could. They were supposed to meet Lisca and Roena for tea at a new shop that had opened up. Reyn could still meet the other women, but she had hoped to talk Selona into a stroll around the park beforehand.
Selona shook her head. “I will still make it to tea, I swear, but I can’t go with you. I need to go back to the bank, and it is even further north than the tea shop, so it makes little sense to come all the way back here, since that will just mean I have even less time at the bank.”
“What if I went to the bank with you? That way, we each have company while we travel.”
“Are you sure? It’s going to be fairly boring for you once we get there.”
No more boring than waiting around the Ferrini’s house without Selona. Reyn didn’t say that, though. She knew Selona was right, and Reyn would have nothing to do at the bank, but she had to admit that it wasn’t only boredom and loneliness prompting her to go with Selona. She was curious. Maybe a little envious, even, of how the other woman spent her days. Not that she expected Selona to sit her down and explain what she was doing, but even so, Reyn wanted to see her at work.
“I’ll bring a novel,” Reyn announced.
Selona grinned. “In that case, I’d love your company on the walk over. Can you be ready within the next half hour?”
“Of course.”
It took Reyn only a few minutes to gather what she needed for a walk across town. Then she spent the rest of her half hour in the Ferrini’s library searching for something to read. Reyn was not, as a rule, a big reader. She enjoyed the gothic novels by Cartiere, but she had already read all of those. Still, rereading one of them had to be better than some of the other books she found in the library. Reyn gave up finding a new novel and went back to the shelf where she had spotted Cartiere’s work. Picking one at random, she slipped it into her reticule and made her way to the front door to meet Selona.
The walk to the bank was everything Reyn had been missing lately. She enjoyed spending time around many people, but it was so nice to chat with someone who knew and accepted her—even if she didn’t reveal quite all of herself to Selona. Reyn laughed, really laughed, instead of her court giggle, for the first time in what felt like weeks.
It was a shame when the stately building came into view. Most of the structures in Tryn were built of whitewashed timber, and the marble edifice standing apart from the nearby buildings sobered her rather abruptly. Walking into the bank, Reyn couldn’t forget that Selona was here to do a job, and that she was a distraction her friend hardly needed.
The foyer was a high-ceilinged space with men and women ready to direct all visitors to the correct location. Selona nodded at various people, but made her way to a side door without stopping to chat. She only slowed long enough to explain that Reyn was with her. Once through the door, they entered an area made more for comfort than sterile opulence. Carpet softened their footfalls, colorful art and hothouse flowers brightened the space, and the people they passed no longer looked like statues coming to life for only short periods. Selona led Reyn down the hall and into a room that was too big to be a personal office, but too small to be much else.
A man stood bent over the table that occupied most of the room. Selona greeted him and Reyn attempted to fade into walls. The man stared at Reyn for a moment too long, then he looked at Selona, with everything he wasn’t saying clear in his expression.
Reyn would have offered to wait out in the hall while they conversed, but she suspected the other bank employees would take as much exception to her presence out there as this man did in here.
Selona rolled her eyes. “Reyn, please excuse us a moment.”
Reyn nodded. She watched Selona and the man step into the hall, then let her shoulders slump when the door latched shut behind them. She shouldn’t have suggested coming with Selona. She was completely out of place here.
After a minute, curiosity got the better of Reyn. With her hands carefully clasped behind her back, she inched forward to look at the collection of papers arrayed over the surface of the table.
Reyn had never actually handled banknotes. Her shopping was either paid for with coin or the merchants sent a bill that was handled without Reyn ever seeing the money exchanged. She wasn’t sure she had ever even caught a glimpse of Moialan banknotes in her whole life.
The notes on the table were all Lhanaperan and worth the same value. Above each column was a tiny slip of paper with a time and location written on it. Reyn ignored the labels and looked over the banknotes themselves.
The Lhanaperan ten-mark note had an entire scene printed on it. Reyn bent closer to the table, surprised by the intricacy. A man and a woman faced each other, a sword that no doubt had a special name, but had a wavy blade that was nothing like the swords held in the hands of statues back in Moial, separated the space between the two figures. A length of cloth draped over the man’s outstretched arm and the woman held what appeared to be a fireball in her hands. Behind all this, Reyn recognized the outline of Tryn Palace.
Reyn looked at the next banknote. She vaguely knew that paper money was printed using an engraved plate, but to etch such detail into the plate, and apply the ink so carefully that each note matched defied credulity. On the third one she looked at, Reyn noticed the first difference. The cross hatching on the draped fabric didn’t match the first two bills exactly.
In fact, every bill in that column had the slightly different design, but they all matched each other perfectly. The final column of the table also seemed to come from the alternate engraving. Reyn looked at the labels above each column again, but the times and locations shed no light on the different designs.
The door creaked open, and Reyn jumped back, like a child caught doing something naughty.
“Sorry for that,” Selona said. “We can go to my office now.”
Reyn had to walk past the man Selona had been talking with on her way to the door. He narrowed his eyes at her, then glanced at his neatly arrayed columns of banknotes, but he spotted nothing amiss and let her leave without comment.
A few paces from the room, Reyn decided Selona wouldn’t snap her head off for being curious. “I have a silly question. I promise I didn’t touch anything, only looked, but why are the banknotes from Farleigh Street and Velale Square different from the rest?”
Much to Reyn’s surprise, Selona didn’t just stop and stare. She grabbed Reyn’s arms. “What did you say? No, wait, don’t say it yet. Come here.”
