Bennett stood, brushing off his breeches. “A smoothing iron. Do you have one?”
She perked up. “I bought one yesterday! Wait here.” Giselle ran off to her room and came back with a hefty hunk of iron, the base shaped like a rounded arrow. She held it away from her, a wad of cloth wrapped around her hand. “Just heated it. What do you need to press?”
Bennett splayed the third flier onto my vanity and took the iron, laying it over the back of the paper. As he moved it slowly across, thick brown stains appeared in the shape of letters and numbers.
12:30 AM. Sewers. 2L, 4R, 1L
Giselle gaped.
“How?” I managed to say.
“Lemon juice can be used as invisible ink. It won’t appear unless heat is applied,” Bennett said. He colored under our incredulous gazes. “It’s something I learned from a previous case.”
He gave the same treatment to the other two fliers.
1:30 AM. Roof. 3L, 2R
12 AM. Sewers. 4L, 5R, 2L
“Meeting times and directions,” I said. I turned the fliers over, trailing my finger down to the dates of the shows printed on the bottom. “And those are the dates. There’s one tomorrow night.”
If Celeste was writing these, it meant she was a rioter. Her concern over witches was false, as I had expected.
Giselle pressed a hand over her mouth. “Does that mean what I think it means?”
Bennett looked grim. “Rebellion.”
***
“WHAT?” KING MAXIMUSstood and slammed his hands on his desk, face growing cherry red. “Rebels are meeting here? In my presence?”
We went to the king immediately after our discovery. He was understandably upset as we had interrupted his meal, but news of a rebel gathering ended up being more important than roasted chicken and pear soup.
“I don’t believe they anticipated your arrival, Father. But it’s likely they’ll think us ignorant and meet anyway,” Bennett said, spreading the fliers before us.
His Majesty seated himself again, exhaling heavily. “What do you suppose we do, Bennett? After all, you did insist on this tour out of a stubborn will to defy me.”
Bennett didn’t react. “Surrounding the building is out of the question,” he said. “I propose we send two guards to infiltrate their meeting tomorrow night.”
King Maximus nodded. “A cautious approach is best. Once we unveil the culprit we can target them accordingly. I must speak to Lord Frederick tomorrow.” He sank back into his armchair, looking gray and haggard against the bright red cushions. “Is there anything else I need to know?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” I said. “We’ve discovered several points of unrest in Coriva and Vandil regarding witch businesses.”
“I am aware,” King Maximus said. “Though I have yet to hear anything from the crown prince.”
Bennett ducked his head. “Apologies, Father. I sent them to the palace before I knew you were coming.”
“You didn’t know I was coming? You surprise me.”
“As you meant to surprise me,” Bennett said with a dry smile. “I was preoccupied.”
I recalled that Ulysses wanted to tell him something the other day. But Bennett had left so quickly after our talk that the steward couldn’t get a word in. I turned the ring on my finger, watching the gem glitter.
“I see.” King Maximus sucked in his cheeks. “Then perhaps you can give an oral report instead.”
He did. Bennett explained William’s produce shop and the complications behind Vandil’s textile trade. He proposed his idea of limiting witch weavers to their specialty fabrics so textile merchants would have to return to human weavers for linen and wool.
“A flawed plan, as those who specialize in luxury fabrics are still robbed of business,” Bennett said, “but it is better to pass a law now that we can amend later. Perhaps as time passes, it will be possible for witch weavers to collaborate with human weavers.”
