Inez paused mid-stitch and finally turned to face Erinna, her face a mask of stoicism. “I know.”
“Oh. Well, if you need, I can find a way to?—”
“It’s fine.” She shrugged. “He wasn’t the one who caught me.” Inez returned to her sewing with the kind of finality that meant the subject was not up for further discussion.
Erinna could kick herself. Had she just made a complete fool of herself? First with Afton, now with Inez; she wanted to sink into the floorboards.
Instead, Erinna sighed and reached for her pack before settling into her mattress, desperate for a distraction. The contents were somehow still damp from yesterday’s near-drowning experience, and Erinna inwardly cringed as her fingers found a moist leather journal and pulled it out.
The leather was warped, but the pages seemed miraculously intact, albeit curled and crinkled beyond repair. It was her father’s notebook—one she’d seen him use countless times before. Erinna cracked it open and rifled through the first few pages.
Tears stung her eyes and threatened to spill down her cheeks as she read. Inked on the pages were letters to her mother, written after the wreck had taken her life. Kenneth spoke with pride at how well their daughter was growing up, how Erinna reminded him so much of her.
It was too much.
Erinna quickly closed the book, ready to shove it back in her bag before a half-ripped piece of parchment slipped from somewhere between the pages and settled into her lap. She brought the slip close to her face, scanning the faded ink.
Erinna’s stomach bottomed out. The paper contained one symbol, drawn in Madds’s familiar handwriting. An open eye with a rising sun where the pupil should be. The mark of the Watchful Eye; a symbol used to warn those who were being monitored by the council. She saw her father’s name written in fresher, darker ink at the bottom.
It was a warning. Madds warned her father that suspicion was being drawn his way. Erinna knew the baker’s contacts ran deep but didn’t realize just how far into the palace they went. Memories came crashing back.
The nuanced warning, the reason he was keeping her even further than an arm’s reach away. It was safer for Erinna to notbe involved in whatever machinations he concocted, but only marginally.
Anger gnawed through, mingling with fear. If he’d known about the suspicions, why in all the hells couldn’t he just lie low?
Her hands started to shake, and the paper slipped through, falling back into her lap.
“Is everything okay?” asked Inez.
Erinna barely registered the sound of rustling fabric and patter of soft footsteps as Inez crept to her side. “No.” She tried to shake her head, but her body felt frozen in place, leaden and immovable.
Inez took the parchment, fingers pinched at the corner, when her head suddenly rolled back, aimed at the shoddy rafters. Her eyes clouded white, and her body stiffened to an unnatural degree. It was her Talent, Erinna realized. It must have been triggered by something on the page. Gods, she wished she understood how it all worked. Was Inez in pain? Did she somehow force her to divine?
Then the whispers started.
Hushed, incomprehensible words streamed through Inez’s lips. Her hand trembled before she released it with a gasp, like her lungs had stalled their work.
“What happened? Are you all right, Inez?” Erinna gripped Inez’s shoulders, fear dissolving into worry.
Inez blinked, her soft brown irises returning to normal. “I,” she started, rubbing her eyes as if she had just woken up. “I didn’t expect that.”
Erinna took the paper and held it over the closest candle. The flame caught and reduced the paper to ash.
The smell of smoke filled the room, and ash fluttered to the ground. It was so slight, Erinna nearly missed it, but the soft pressure was unmistakable. Arcanum threads were severed bythe flame—likely a small enchantment Madds had done to keep the warning concealed from prying eyes.
Inez placed a soft hand on Erinna’s shoulder. “I saw him, your dad.”
Erinna stilled.
What did you see? Is he okay? What happened? Why were you able to see him?Erinna wanted to ask a string of questions, but bit her tongue. Inez still looked somewhat dazed from the experience, and the last thing she wanted to do was distract Inez from whatever vision she was trying to communicate.
“He’s okay. He will be okay. At least, for as long as we are here.” Inez looked around the room as if to orient herself, brow furrowed into a stern line. “I’m sorry. It was…a bit jumbled. I just…that’s all I know and…” She trailed off, frowning as she turned to face Erinna.
“It’s okay, is there anything else?”
Inez shook her head.
“But he is safe? As long as I am here, he is safe?” She was trying to make sense of it all but couldn’t help the sense of relief starting to fill her. Her father was safe. At least for now.
