Page 40 of A Dark and Drowning Tide

“It is a protector,” she said. “There are many stories that are told. The most famous one, however, is about a rabbi who saved the Yevanverte from men like you.”

He said nothing.

“One day,” she continued, “the king threatened to expel all of the Yevani from his city, and so the rabbi went to the banks of the river and built a golem from silt and mud. When he wrote the name of God on a scroll and placed it in the golem’s mouth, it came to life.”

The golem, it was said, could turn himself invisible and summon the spirits of the dead. Every time the king sent his armies to drive the Yevani out, the golem sent them screaming from the streets. On the day of rest, the rabbi would remove the scroll from the golem’s mouth, and he would go dormant.

“And? What happened?”

“It depends who you ask. In some versions of the tale, the king begged the rabbi to destroy the golem in exchange for the Yevani’s safety. Withone stroke of his pen, he changed the wordtruthtodeathon the golem’s scroll. The Yevani lived peacefully in the city, and it is said the golem can be revived again in times of crisis.”

He seemed disappointed. “And in the others?”

“The rabbi forgot to remove the scroll, and so the golem went on a rampage outside the Yevanverte’s walls. He slaughtered many people before the rabbi could stop him.”

“How bleak.”

“It is a comforting fantasy for us,” Lorelei said, with more heat than she’d intended. “Nonetheless, you remind me of him. It seems to me she takes the scroll from your mouth.”

Johann froze as though she had struck him. Lorelei kept walking.

She hated him, yet somehow, she pitied him. Had she not seen the way he’d transformed when he began to fight? Had she not seen the vacant, animal terror in Sylvia’s eyes? Lorelei knew what it was like when your mind was still fighting its own wars, ones that had ended long ago for everyone else.

Even as a boy, he was cruel and petty, Adelheid had told her.His father did not give him much choice in the matter.

Wilhelm surely knew what he was. It did not surprise her he’d used every weapon, every amusement, at his disposal. Lorelei thought of the yearning in Johann’s voice when he spoke of Adelheid, the glimpse of weariness when he described the purpose he’d been given. There was another version of the golem’stale—onein which the rabbi began to fear what he’d created. As he went to remove the scroll from the golem’s mouth, it turned on him.

But that did not seem sufficient for murder. Perhaps she’d been wrong about him. And if she had, where did that leave her?

When they crested a hill, the land opened up before them. Tall grass and pastures were silvered with moonlight. In the distance, soft lights bloomed out of the darkness and crept gently up the mountainside.

“A village!” Ludwig cried. “We’re going to make it!”

The village was little more than a smattering of wood-paneled cottages with smoke curling from their chimneys. As they passed through, Lorelei took in the wards: iron spikes driven into their doorframes and the silver wind chimes clattering in the breeze. Lorelei could feel the eyes of the villagers on them. The few still outside stopped what they were doing. Others watched from their windows, candles burning on the sills, their gazes narrowed and watchful. Although they’d all dressed for traveling, their clothes were likely finer than anything the townsfolk had seen in years.

“It looks like there’s an inn,” Heike said. “ThankGod.”

Ludwig and Adelheid exchanged a look.

“Ah...aboutthat,” Ludwig said. “Lorelei, can I talk to you for a minute?”

His tone filled her with dread. The way he steered her away from the group did nothing to help matters. “What is it?”

“Our instrumentsare...Howto put this? Well, half of them are at the bottom of the river, and the other half are in bad shape.”

Purchasing their equipment had eaten up more than half Wilhelm’s grant. Even if they did have the funds, they could only be repaired by specialists, and somehow, she doubted there was a barometer maker in this yokel town. “Anything else?”

“Most of our money isalsoat the bottom of the river, so . . .” Ludwig cringed. “Um, Lorelei? What areyou...?”

After everything that had happened today, she had no energy left in her to yell. Slowly, Lorelei sat down in the middle of the street. The cold of the cobblestones seeped into her skin, and above her, the stars set into the pitiless black of the sky seemed to be laughing as they twinkled.

I’m ready, she thought.Just strike me down now.

God, however, was cruel. Sylvia von Wolff’s face appeared in her field of vision instead. “Please get up. People are beginning to stare.”

She refrained from pointing out that they had already been staring. “I don’t care.”

Sylvia sighed, as though Lorelei were being very unreasonable indeed. She supposed she was, but she could not bring herself to care. “I can’t do anything about the equipment,” Sylvia said, “but I can handle our lodgings.”