“Do you have any idea how powerful that woman is?”
“I have some semblance of an idea.” Jessamine sipped at her tea again. “I must admit, I have been away from court for quite some time. Dying tends to do that to a person. So I do not know what she has done or where she has been of late. That’s why we’re here. I remember her living in the Pleasure District, and I know for certain that business would not change so very quickly. The woman is particular about her money.”
“That she is.” Elissa shared a look with the parrot before clearing her throat. “She basically runs the entirety of the district now, but that is almost certainly because the king himself has gifted it to her. If anyone speaks ill of her, King Leon Bishop is certain to get involved.”
So, she’d sunk her talons into him far more than Jessamine had expected. Although she supposed it made sense. If Fortuna wanted to ensure her position here never changed, she would need to make the king do more of the work for her.
“With her hand on the cock of the king, it’s much easier to do whatever she wants, whenever she wants.” Jessamine shook her head in disgust. “She always was remarkably ambitious.”
“It’s more than that. The rumor is that she’s…” Elissa leaned forward as though the secret was too dangerous to say out loud. “A witch.”
Jessamine leaned forward as well and whispered back, “Youare a witch.”
Elissa’s face blanched, and she leaned back so quickly it appeared Jessamine had slapped her. “I am not… well, I am, but… Fortuna Beaumont is impressively powerful, and no one can stand against her.”
The door closed quietly behind them, and Jessamine saw that Sybil had joined them. The dark witch snorted, her hair wild around her head and a shawl around her shoulders as she staggered toward the tea.
“If you think no one can stand against her, then you’ve never met Jessamine. The woman is ruthless.”
“The Deathless One is ruthless,” Jessamine corrected. “He’s the one with all the ideas.”
“You’re the one who stood in the middle of a group of men, naked and covered in blood, and then cursed a man to be perceived by everyone else as a simpleton while knowing that he was once great.” She poured herself a cup of tea, leaned against the counter, and then breathed in the scent of the black tea. “You could have just killed him and put him out of his misery. Instead, you wanted him to suffer for years to come. He had at least another ten years in him.”
“More than that.”
“He was infected.”
Jessamine snapped her fingers. “Oh, that’s right. Do you suppose if the infection continues to advance that he would remember who he once was, wandering the streets as an infected, but everyone would still see him as nothing more than a doddering fool?”
“It was a rather lazy spell.”
“Well, I’ll say.” Jessamine shook her head. “I didn’t think that one through. He’ll infect a lot of people if they don’t see him as such. Sounds rather dangerous to leave him in the Factory District.”
“He’ll only infect the other Iron Knuckles.”
“That’s all right, then.”
Elissa’s eyes pinged back and forth between the two of them. She clearly wasn’t following the conversation in the slightest, but she was trying her best. “The two of you talk about dastardly things so easily.”
Sybil looked at Jessamine, then Elissa, then back to Jessamine. “We’re witches. Of course we do.”
Well, it wasn’t the best thing to say. Elissa was already a little skittish about the whole thing, and now here they were, talking about the horrors they’d inflicted and expecting that she would be fine with it.
A ring on Elissa’s left hand rattled against her porcelain teacup as she lifted it to her lips. “It’s just all very… terrifying.”
“Witches don’t live peaceful lives,” Sybil said, her gaze narrowing on the other woman. “I could teach you, if you were interested in being taught, which I don’t think you are. I think you lived in this comfortable bubble and were certain that if you called on a god, you had done all you could. Then the blame was no longer on your shoulders. You’d tried your best. And nothing would change or happen, so nothing was your responsibility. All the gods were dead, after all. What were the chances that one of them would answer you?”
Elissa’s face went even more pale. “I want to be a witch. Just like my mother.”
“Do you? Why are you so afraid of the magic, then?”
“I’m not.” But then Elissa rubbed the new wound in the center of her chest. “It’s just… not what I thought it would be.”
“Surely you saw your mother’s well of magic?” Sybil sipped her tea, then caught Jessamine’s glance. With a quirk of her lips, she made it very clear that she was doing the same thing she had once done to Jessamine.
The ancient witch in the room did not look like the crone she was. Andyet, Sybil was clearly the witch who would teach all the young women who came to them, even if that meant she had to do so with a little tough love.
“I saw it only a few times. She kept it hidden.” Elissa’s hand never moved from her own chest.
