Chapter 33
Before I knew it, two weeks had passed.
My ankle improved. At least, I could climb the stairs without gripping the handrail so hard it felt like I was trying to strangle a small creature with my hand.
Selena moved my studies to her set of rooms. An unfortunate change, as her apartment sat directly beside Thaan’s.
Sitting curled in my chair across from her, I reviewed the textbook from that morning.
A knock sounded from behind us, and we glanced at the closed door. Footsteps receded away. I narrowed my eyes, knowing who lived on the other side.
Selena scooped up the book. “We’ll call it a night and pick this back up in the morning. Why don’t you head back to your rooms. Do you need help finding them?”
“No,” I said, pushing to my feet.
She nodded, reaching for her cup of tea, which she threw back in a motion very unlike herself. Then she disappeared through the door, leaving me alone at her table.
“What is it?” Selena’s voice snapped through the other side of the wall.
Something crinkled in response, like paper being unfolded.
A brief silence came and went.
“She’ll hear us here. Is your office empty?”
“I believe so,” Thaan’s drawl answered.
A door opened and closed, muffled under the barriers of stone and glass.
I hesitated where I stood. Then I followed.
The hallway was empty. I tiptoed down the narrow corridor, slowing as I reached the top of the stairs. They’d already descended. I could faintly hear their hearts beating and knew they could hear mine.
But I’d spent enough time in the palace to have some idea of where Thaan’s advisory office lay. Waiting for them to gain enough of a lead that I could no longer hear them, I let my feet lead me toward the eastern wing where I knew they were headed.
The sky was a deep blue that verged on black as I stepped outside, taking the long way over the parapet wall. A hint of lighter cerulean splashed over the western ocean in the distance, the stars just waking up from their sleep. A soft wind grazed my cheek. It was the best kind of wind, strong enough to dance with wind chimes, gentle enough to avoid trouble. I scanned for Selena under the cover of the arched gables and caught the sheen of her violet dress through the window of a sky bridge just as she tucked under a door and disappeared.
They’d been faster than I thought.
Ignoring the young couple who gazed at me with curiosity, I hurried down the stairs after them, my mind churning for a way to eavesdrop without my own heartbeat giving me away.
It turned out to be fairly easy.
The palace secretaries outside Thaan’s office were still hard at work, filing notices and copying letters. Thaan’s office door was shut, but his name was scrawled over the wood grain, easy enough to find. I sat on the bench just outside, pretending I was waiting for him.
“We should have waited for the glass box to reach completion,” his voice said, his tone devoid of emotion.
A tense silence followed.
“How could we?” Selena snapped. “We don”t know Maren’s birth date, and she says it was around this time of year. The middle of the wet season in Leihani. And how do you expect her to learn to swim in a box?”
“I recall the reason. How convenient it was for Maren to reach the age of maturity so soon after finding her,” Thaan said.
“If you feel the need to accuse me of anything, by all means, do so outright,” Selena said, her voice a low warning.
“I accuse you of nothing your conscience does not already recognize as guilt.”
“My conscience is clear,” she hissed.
“Are you finished, then, or is there anything else you wish to say before we move on?”
No reply came. The small sounds of office work filled the room. Pen nibs scratching against paper, chairs creaking. I wondered if the secretaries were always this quiet.
“It would be wise to assume it’s a threat, since if we ignore it, they may put words into action,” Selena said, drawing a large breath into her lungs.
Thaan considered her words before replying. “They cannot make demands of my Siliqua Domus.”
“They can when you send members of your Domus into their sea. They know we’re there. I’ve seen them watching us.”
“Has Maren?”
“No, I don’t think so. She’d have said something. Let me read it again.”
A paper rustled gently inside Thaan’s office. He cleared his throat, waiting. My eyes connected with a pretty face across the room, and I quickly sent my gaze elsewhere.
“I don’t see a way around it,” Selena said over the sound of the paper being folded. “Either introduce her to them or we halt our lessons in the Venus Sea. We aren’t on fair terms with Anatola, but it’s certainly better than your relationship with Sidra.”
“Yes, unfortunately, our positive connection with the Venus Videre has faded in recent years, a tangle caught in the rope I did not wind.”
The scent of heated metal edged out from under the door.
“Are we finished?” Selena asked, her voice tight and controlled.
“Nearly,” Thaan said, though what he went on to say, I didn’t hear.
“Can I help you?” asked a soft voice.
It was the face I’d seen a moment ago. Pretty in a way I could only describe as classic beauty. The image of a young Calderian woman I might’ve conjured once as a child, had I closed my eyes and tried. Her hair shone ginger-gold, a braid twisted just below the curve of her head, subtle curls falling freely down her back, her eyes a pale, frothy green. Frocked in a satin gown of gray-blue, the skirt widening smoothly over her hips, she looked like a little dove.
I stood, dusting my skirts. “No,” I said, keeping my voice low.
“Were you waiting for Lord Thaan?” The look on her face implied she knew the answer.
“Yes—” I said, already moving away. She followed smoothly, walking me toward the main office exit, hands clasped at her waist.
Were the secretaries instructed to keep visitors out?
“Would you please let him know that—” I paused, quickly searching for a name ”That Nola was here for him?”
“Of course,” she said. From deep inside the room, I watched Thaan’s office door open.
“Thank you.” Hurrying back to the mouth of the sky bridge, a thought occurred to me. I turned to glance at the young woman again, but she’d already disappeared.
All the other secretaries had been dressed in black, with ruffled white aprons. The same clothes palace maids wore. But she’d been dressed as a noble woman.
Odd.
I took the long way again, turning a corner, crossing the bridge, darting into a darkened corridor—and almost slammed into Selena. The Naiad gazed in surprise at me, her cerulean eyes dark in the faint light.
“Out for an evening walk, Maren?” Selena asked, the richness in her voice returned after her tense words with Thaan.
My foolish mind raced for a reason to be here, so close to the advisory. But I came up short. “Yes.”
Selena studied me for a moment, intense eyes burning into mine. I straightened, raising my chin, and met Selena’s gaze head-on.
“Well, the south-west side of the palace has better views. It’s just farms and treetops from here. Though, sometimes you see cows.” Selena turned away, graceful hands sliding up the railing as she climbed the stairs. “I like the cows.”
I watched her go, strangely certain Selena had been amused.