There is a difference, and I am suddenly furious at myself for pretending there isn't.
"Grammy," I say. "I need paper. And the good pen."
She's already moving toward the dresser.
"Kettle first. Nobody writes to a man on an empty pot." Grammy sets the kettle on the stove with sudden authority.
Outside, the rain finally comes, soft against the thatch.
Noemi closes the book and binds it with cord from her satchel. She’ll take it to the spell shop and hide it somewhere I won’t be able to find before morning.
I sit between Noemi and Grammy while the kettle begins to steam.
Then I begin my letter in the only place I can.
Torgan—
The curse is real. Noemi found the working inside the book tonight.
I don't care.
When the Vosses are finished. We have our own story to write. Together.
And as for the Vosses, it’s all one scheme. We have enough to put them behind bars.
—L
I don’t knowwhen or how I’m going to give it to him. Maybe I’ll see him next and the letter is obsolete. But writing it down makes me believe it. If my life is fueled by belief and written words on the page, then I had to write that myself.
I finish by adding in the summary of our findings that we came up with together tonight.
It will be another four-hour ride to Oakenshade Hall tomorrow.
I fold the letter and set it on top of Brynna’s summary.
At dawn, I take both to Oakenshade Hall.
26
TORGAN
Lissy comes back to Oakenshade Hall before noon.
Harek finds me in Pa's study, where I have spent the morning mulling over my conversation with Caden and what that means for us.
"Mistress Sunfell is at the gate," Harek says. "She has Lady Brynna's ledger chest, a rolled length of cloth, and no intention of waiting for an invitation."
I'm out of the chair before he finishes. "Is she alone?"
"A driver brought her."
That isn't what I asked, and Harek knows it. His expression changes by about half a degree. "She appears tired," he says. "Not injured."
I take my coat off the hook.
"And she’s angry," he adds.
Good.Angry I understand. Angry means she came here to say something to my face.
