Page 77 of A Trade of Blood

I stooped, picked it up, and held it close to the lantern to read.

“Hum,” I said softly.

There, scrawled on the parchment in careful block lettering, were the words:YOU SAY WHEN THIS IS DONE, ALL WILL BEFORGIVEN. YET I NO LONGER BELIEVE IN FORGIVENESS—FROM YOU, OR ANY GOD. I WILL FIND YOU IN THE AFTERLIFE AND BRING ETERNAL TORMENT WITH ME. THIS I SWEAR.

We all sat in silence in the dark, shivering trees, absorbing those words.

“Well,” said Tauri. “Whoever our killers are, I, ah, get the impression that at least some of them don’t get along.”

Chapter 20

Commander Tauri and I enteredthe Green Drover and trudged up the stairs to Ana’s chambers together. We moved in miserable silence: though the discovery of the “seam” in the forest had at first been astonishing, there had been no other discoveries, and the seam had ended some two leagues from the Burav estate, with no other hint of passage. Sighing, I knocked three times at Ana’s door, waited for her to sing her permission to enter, and openedit.

Nearly instantly, Tauri and I were almost bowled over in a coughing fit.

The air pouring out of the chamber was saturated in spice and pepper oil, so much so that you couldn’t take the slightest breath without it assaulting your sinuses. I was pushed to tears, but Tauri seemed near to fainting and swiftly buckled his mask from the wood about his face.

“By hell!” I gasped, squinting through the tears. “Ma’am! What’s happened to your room?”

“Mm?” purred Ana’s voice. “Oh, nothing at all! Your sister is simply obliging me with a littlerepast,Din.”

I peered through the gloom of her chambers. Ana was sitting on the floor as she so often did. Before her was a wide serving tray, and upon that a massive, pale blue ceramic bowl that steamed enormously, so much so that the mai-lamp above her was beaded with moisture.

I covered my nose with the crook of my elbow and approached. The broth within the bowl was a bright, startling red and was filledwith coils of pale, tuberous flesh. I watched, disgusted, as she fished out a particularly knotty tangle of tissue and slurped it up much as one might a noodle.

“What are you dining upon?” I asked, horrified.

“It’santerifehdo,” said Fotia’s voice behind me. I turned to see her sitting in a chair in the corner, smiling idly. “Cow innards, stewed in an onion broth with danith seeds. It’s quite the delicacy here.”

“And rightly so,” said Ana, taking another monstrous, greasy slurp. “Very aromatic, very savory! Though I did ask the cook to add a littleextraheat to mine. I am nigh to feeling a color in my cheeks—almost.”

Tauri stood at the door, staring at her with naked disgust. “I was unaware your palate was so…diverse, Dolabra.”

“Oh, I am hungry for allmannerof things, Commander Tauri! Tastes, textures, and tales. Tell me—what did you all find in the glade of Gaddar? I am most curious to hear of that strange wood.”

Tauri glanced at Fotia. “I am unsure if we should do so with all present. This information is highly protected by the Orbiis. Few know it exists, let alone how it works.”

“But my guess is that our killer already knowsboth!” said Ana. “And has for some time—perhaps even years. It is far, far less protected than you thought. We are at a disadvantage, sir, and besides, we’ve few allies here in Lacanthim, Commander. The young Miss Kol here has volunteered to be useful for me.”

I looked at Fotia. She avoided my gaze.

“Now!” said Ana. “Tell me what you found!”

—

Tauri dozed inthe corner while I reported to Ana, alternating between sniffing my engraver’s vial and the mint kerchief I still had in my pocket. I was keenly aware of Fotia’s faint horror as I spoke, regurgitating my experiences as if they were venom being drawn from my mind. How strangely discouraging it was that out of all the awful things we’d witnessed in the past days, one of her strongest reactions came in response to my most commonplace duties.

“So,” said Ana softly at the end of it. “There is indeed more than one killer. Two at least, if not more—averitable conspiracy. But I believe I am beginning to see a pattern here! For though our conspiracy works againstbothhouses, at least two of its members are not wholly aligned! One owes something to the other—they once sought forgiveness, at least of a sort. The one who labored for forgiveness is the one with the most experience in the web and has tutored the other murderous soul in all its applications. Summed it all up in a nice tidy little booklet, like a child learning the fucking lyre.” She extended a hand, and I gave her the booklet to paw and parse. “How quaint. And yet they must obviously despise one another, if they are leaving such poisonous notes for each other to find…”

“What do you think of that last tune listed, ma’am?” I said. “The one labeledlysis.”

“I’ve no idea. At a guess, I almost wonder if it purges the subject of the infection. For that’s what lysis is—atermination, a dissolution…I cannot say.” Another sip of broth. “Commander Tauri—have we found any other contaminated water sources?”

Tauri snorted awake. “Mm? Ohh. Ah, not yet. I spared a few of my folk to test the Armenta clan waters. They’ve orders to send a scribe-hawk to me immediately if any test positive. As I’ve not received any word, I’ll presume that thus far they’ve been spared…”

“So—we don’t know how, say, Castus Armenta got infected. Nor how inhellIppeas Armenta is infected, whereas Miss Kol here is not? That especially confounds me, for I assume you and he tend to hang about one another, yes?”

“Yes,” said Fotia. “But we’ve each our own duties about the spreads. Ip is mostly a drover like me, but he does tend to family business on occasion. Though Velona still treats him as a servant.”