Page 55 of The Ragpicker King
She gave him a quick, sharp look, but even Kel could not see anything in Conor’s expression to indicate displeasure.
Conor rose to his feet. “If that is all you wished to speak to me about,” he said, “all I can say is that I am in agreement with you, and we shall proceed accordingly. I will leave you now, if you do not object, for I can only imagine you are tired from your journey.”
Anjelica inclined her head. “Thank you.”
Conor took several steps toward the door, then stopped and turned back to face her. “There are,” he added, “two more things I thought I should mention.”
She raised her eyebrows inquiringly.
“First, you have an elephant,” he said. “I’d like very much to meet this creature. I’ve never met an elephant before.”
A smile flashed across Anjelica’s face. “I’m sure Sedai would be delighted.”
“Second,” he said, “there is always the danger that you might fall in love with me. I am very appealing.”
Anjelica regarded him with great seriousness. “I shall,” she said gravely, “let you know if such a thing occurs.”
Conor swept a final bow and headed toward the door; Kelfollowed, pausing only a moment in the doorway to look back at Anjelica. She had not moved from the daybed; she looked a little lost, as if, having unburdened herself of a great secret, she was unsure what ought to happen next.
Outside the castle, the sun had begun to set. Kurame and the other Bloodguard had joined the Palace guards in a card game around a folding table. The air was full of the scent of night-blooming flowers, only just beginning to open.
Beside Kel, Conor took a deep breath. Kel turned to look at him. To Kel’s surprise, Conor, too, looked unburdened—as if he had been relieved of something he was dreading. Which was strange; Kel could think of nothing about what had just transpired that would lift a weight from Conor’s shoulders.
“Did that go the way you hoped?” he asked, truly curious.
Conor threw his head back, gazing up at the dark-blue sky. “Ilikeher,” he said, sounding pleased. “She’s a delightful girl, don’t you think?”
Lin
For the first time in a long time, Lin dreams.
The dream is vivid. She stands in a green valley, watching a man dressed in fine clothes, in the style of centuries ago, make his way toward a house that stands in the lee of a mountain. The door flies open as he approaches, and a woman and children run toward him with their arms outstretched.
But when he goes to embrace them, one by one they catch fire and burn. The man weeps, but he cannot seem to stop himself. Each member of his family that he wraps in his arms becomes a pillar of flame reaching to the sky.
The man falls to his knees among the pillars, his hands catching the grass alight. Soon the house is burning, too, and the trees, and everything green is turning to ash. Lin cries out in pity and horror and the man turns to look at her, seeming unsurprised that she is there.
“Hollazekyer di niellem pu nag,” he says.
Lin wakes, her heart pounding. Ever since she’d acquired the Source-Stone, she’s had strange dreams, though they were rarelyso clear. She’d really thought she was in the valley, seeing the fire. Seeing the greenery turn to ash.
She rolls onto her side; she keeps her Source-Stone on the bedside table, where she can always reach it. She picks it up now, turning it over in her hand. “What are you trying to tell me?” she whispers.
The stone, in its silver setting, weighs heavy in her hand. More so than usual, she thinks—although perhaps she is imagining things? She closes her hand around it, only to feel a jolt of emotion go through her. It feels like fear—a fear that comes from outside her. As if somewhere out in the night, a storm is gathering. But she has never felt this before at the advent of lightning or thunder. It is as if the stone is warning her of a threat, something dark in the city, something that sings with a high, discordant note like struck crystal.
Something unnatural and malevolent.
Wondering and worrying, Lin sets the brooch back down on the nightstand. She closes her eyes, visions of Source-Stones dancing in the darkness that come before sleep.
CHAPTER TEN
Two days later, Lin sat perched atop a wooden stool in the Black Mansion’s laboratory. She was watching Merren with great curiosity as he unveiled the various tools he’d readied to test the substance she’d brought back from Marivent.
Wearing thick gloves to protect his hands, Merren lined up a series of glass jars along the edge of the table, each containing, he had explained, a different reagent. He had set up an alembic as well, with a flame beneath for distilling.
None of it was entirely unlike the tools in the House of Physicians, where ingredients were pulverized, chopped, distilled, aged, and purified into medicines. Merren had a set of different words for what he did and the things he used, though—alchemy, retorts, cucurbit, anbik.In the Physicians’ House, everything was done as it had been done for hundreds of years. Merren seemed to be inventing his technique as he went along.
“You’re very clever with all this,” Lin said. Merren looked up and smiled, but there was a distance in his blue eyes, as if he’d only partially heard her. “Merren, is everything all right?”
