The word loyal clanged unpleasantly in my head.
“What happens to disloyal lines?” I inquired.
She glanced toward a narrow lane branching away from the square. “You’ve seen some of them.”
My fingers curled against my palms as my shadow mark flickered.
I forced my hands loose again. “The dungeons.”
“You think I’m trying to provoke you,” the Priestess said.
“I think you don’t know what to make of me.”
That made her laugh again, and a shiver moved through the curtains of the nearest home.
“You’re quick.”
I brought my gaze to hers and shook my head. “No, I’m just tired.”
“Those can look similar.”
She turned toward another street, this one sloping gently upward. The fog thinned here, revealing buildings with taller windows and iron balconies. Several held potted plants, though most were black-leafed vines with small silver flowers.
The same flowers I had seen on the compound.
“Those grow everywhere,” I said.
“The shadowvine?” She stopped and looked at me.
“Is that what it’s called?”
“It binds the village. Carries messages. Strengthens old places. It is quite useful.” She frowned. “But I wouldn’t call iteverywhere.”
“Does it feed from people, too?”
Her gaze held mine. “Everything feeds from something, Maeve. Stonewick feeds from laughter, loyalty, memory, and the convenient belief that kindness makes power clean.”
“And Shadowick feeds from fear.”
“Shadowick survives on what reality provides.” She clasped her hands together and looked toward the buildings as something in her face tightened.
But it passed.
“Come.” She motioned for me to follow as we walked into the next part of town. It looked older. The cobblestones were cracked and uneven, and some buildings leaned so sharply they should have collapsed years ago.
“What is this district?” I asked.
“The old quarter,” Barlen said once he realized the Priestess wasn’t going to answer.
“Does anyone live here?”
“Some.” He looked at me with a warning.
“They avoid you,” she said. “They avoid change.”
I glanced at her. “Is that what I am?”
“You could be.” She sounded amused, and I nearly missed the softness in her, but it was there. The Priestess stopped in front of a long, low building with iron bars over the windows, and my stomach tightened.
