Page 56 of Saint
They were questions I’d never have the answers to, I reminded myself. And really, it was better that way. Emilia had every right to be worried, even if I’d brushed her off. I’d managed in the last two years to do the thing no one thought I could. I’d built something from nothing and I’d kept myself free of ties and obligations, with the exception of Clove. But this dredger was like a fever beneath my skin and whatever she was running from, I couldn’t afford it finding me.
When we reached the stairs that led up out of the harbor, we followed the river of people to the right and climbed until the bridges were in view. The trail of simple, unpolished buildings followed the curve of the cobblestones beneath the walking bridges suspended over their roofs. From here, it was impossible to see the expanse of the city like you did from the water. The closer you got to it, the more it swallowed you up, until all you could make out was the street ahead. That was the way the city felt too. Like one wrong turn would be the end of you.
No one had thought Ceros would become much of anything when they first built the docks here. It was just an easy place to land with deep enough water to accommodate ships. But once the Saltbloods started coming, the city started growing, and it wasn’t exactly something you could pick up and move when you ran out of room. The more crowded the streets became, the more bridges were built. Now, they were suspended over the entire city like a spider’s web.
I reached the top of the stairs and looked back, finding Isolde in the sea of faces below. She’d stopped, eyes wandering over the view behind me. There was a shadow of hesitation there. Something reluctant.
When she caught me watching her, she started again, finding her way up the last few steps. Clove was right behind her, brow cinching when she didn’t follow him onto the street.
“I have something to take care of. I’ll meet you at the tavern,” she said, not looking at me.
She didn’t even bother asking for the tavern’s name to keep up the pretense. There were a dozen in this city.
“Griff’s,” Clove said. “Near the south side.”
She nodded. “Thanks.”
But her feet didn’t move.
Wherever she was going, she wasn’t coming back, and she must have had her reasons for keeping that to herself.
I waited, watching her war over something to say in her mind. I didn’t want a thank-you or a goodbye. I wouldn’t give either of those things to her. But I also wasn’t going to stand there and wait for her to make a fool of us both. So, I’d save her the trouble.
I looked at her one more time, tracing the shape of her face, her jaw, the curve of her throat. I etched it into my mind to keep for no other reason than I felt like I had to. And then I turned and walked away.
Clove followed closely at my side, keeping his eyes on the street ahead. “Think we’ll see her again?” he asked.
“No,” I answered, “I don’t.”
21ISOLDE
I don’t know why I lied.
I watched Saint disappear into the crowd, the color of his coat snuffed out. Just like that, he was gone. A pinprick on the narrow timeline of my life.
There’d been a moment as I stood on the ship, watching him and Clove from the railing, that I’d imagined myself standing beside them. Maybe because they were alone in the world, like I was. Or maybe because I just didn’twantto be alone. But eventually, there would come a time when they’d have a choice between me and the copper. And at heart, they were just traders. I knew where that road led. Saint had all but admitted it.
I stood there another moment, watching the sea of people pour down the street, before I forced myself to walk in the opposite direction. With every step, I could feel it. That endlesswell. Its depths. But the only thing I could do now was to keep walking.
The road widened as soon as I was a few steps from the archway, and shadows danced on the ground, casting the shops in shade. I looked up, almost dizzy as I took in the sheer height of the bridges striping the sky. They rocked and bounced, the knock of boots on the wooden planks like little drums over the city. Below, people filed up the ladders and followed them in every direction, like a fishing net cast over the rooftops.
“Excuse me.” I reached out, gently catching a woman by the arm as she shouldered past me.
The open clamshells in the basket she carried clinked like pieces of glass as she stopped. “Yes, dear?” But as soon as her eyes took me in, they narrowed.
“I’m looking for the Trade Council Chamber.”
Her mouth twisted. “The what?”
“The chamber,” I said again, “the place the Trade Council meets?”
“Ah, those fools,” she hissed. “Don’t suppose you could leave them to work for their own people, now could you? You Saltbloods never saw a thing you didn’t think you could take.”
She opened a hand in front of me, her jaw set.
I stared at it.
“Well?”
