Chapter 22 Kit
Kit
Aweek after Rosie and Tessa returned from their second Oath, Penny talked me into attempting dinner at the tavern again.
He promised Tessa wouldn’t be working and that Rosie had no reason to happen by, so we should be able to enjoy our meal uninterrupted.
Considering the tavern always drew a crowd on cold winter nights, I had my doubts about how peaceful our meal would be.
I closed up the forge a little later than I’d planned and tucked a new skillet under my arm to deliver to the tavern kitchen. But the long shadow cast by the Ossuary drew my eye as I stepped out from beneath the canopy.
It had been almost three weeks since Merrick raided our house and took my father’s journals.
Penny had been relieved to have them out of the house, and though I appreciated their foreboding presence no longer radiating from the bookshelves by the fireplace, there was lot I hadn’t had time to learn from them.
Given that I’d burned so many of them after I left Ashpoint, it was unlikely the ones that remained contained the information I was seeking about the later Oaths.
That didn’t mean I should pass up the chance to look.
Levitt said he’d instructed one of his underlings in the library to catalog the journals for study, and transcribe any relevant information so the originals could be returned to me.
However, when I’d attempted to see the man at the library a week before to ask after his progress, the librarian said he’d already gone home for the day, and taken the journals with him.
A glance at the setting sun assured me I could spare a few minutes to try again without keeping Penny waiting too long.
The air inside the atrium was almost as frigid as it was outside.
I didn’t bother to greet the pair behind the table in the entryway as I turned down the hall to the left and wound my way back to the room that housed Ashpoint’s library.
Lit by sconces and scattered candles, it was crowded with rough-hewn bookshelves that stretched from floor to ceiling around the perimeter of the space.
Narrower cases packed the center of the room with barely enough clearance to walk single file between them.
Just inside the door, the librarian perched in a worn armchair tucked up behind a long table that served as her desk, sorting a stack of books.
“Evening, Leah.” I leaned a hip against the edge of the table.
The young woman peered at me from beneath the chestnut fringe pressed to her forehead by a black wool hat. “Mister Koesters.”
“Fletcher wouldn’t happen to be around, would he? I was hoping to see about his progress with the journals.”
She shook her head. “He’s been doing most of his work at home where it’s warm. And no estimate as to when he’ll finish with them yet. Hasn’t even let me take a peek at them, though I’ve been eager to.”
I grimaced. “Don’t be. They’re pretty awful.”
“Can’t help my curiosity,” she said with a grin.
“Even Vaughn’s name still carries such weight, and it’s been nearly half a decade since he was killed.
I would love to know what inner workings drove him to such cruelty.
” She sobered after a moment and cleared her throat.
“Apologies. I can only imagine what it was like to grow up in his shadow.”
“Don’t do that either,” I said.
She returned my sad smile. “Probably best if I don’t. But I’ll send word once he’s finished with them and brings them back in, if you’re sure you want to read them again.”
I chuckled. “Want to and need to are very different things. I appreciate it though, Leah. Hopefully I’ll see you again soon.”
“Have a good night, Kit.”
Back out in the square, I let the wind numb some of my disappointment. Undoubtedly, with so many to go through, it would take Fletcher months to complete his work. By then, we could be dead, or finished with our Oaths already.
And I couldn’t help but wonder if he would realize what I finally had the night of the raid on the house: that Merrick was the protege my father frequently referenced.
I’d used incriminating entries to blackmail the herbalist into giving me hemlock, but there were many more volumes detailing the nefarious things my father and his protege had done or planned to do.
That look of horrified recognition on Merrick’s face when he’d abruptly stopped reading aloud in the middle of my living room had been telling.
It had taken that moment for me to make the connection between ‘O’ and Merrick Oliver, but Levitt and others who had been here while Merrick was under my father’s wing wouldn’t need much time at all.
They would recognize him there in those pages.
It just remained to be seen whether Fletcher was loyal to the Right Hand, or if his sympathies lay with the Shroud Warden.
I hoped it was the former.
The sound of boisterous laughter and raised voices carried out into the street as I arrived at the tavern.
The sun had dipped below the cliffs and plunged the square into near darkness, but the lanterns on either side of the door promised light and warmth within.
My fingers were numb, and I was more than ready to be in out of the cold.
Inside, most of the tables were full and every seat at the counter was taken. I spotted Penny tucked into a booth, but before I could make my way to him, a gratingly familiar voice barked my name from the end of the bar.
“Mister Koesters!”
Anders waved a flagon of ale, nearly sloshing it over Reimond’s head in his enthusiasm. The smaller man was pinned under Anders’s arm. He looked desperate for escape.
I fought back a grimace as I approached the bar. I bypassed my fellow initiates to hand the skillet off to the bartender, then steeled myself to suffer through what I hoped would be a brief interaction with one of my least favorite people.
Anders set down his ale and clapped his hand on my shoulder. “Heard you got back weeks ago,” he said. Reimond attempted to step away, but Anders tightened his grip to keep him close. “Should’ve known you’d show me up, old timer.”
“Not just me,” I said, “Rosie and Tessa got back a week ago.”
Anders waved a hand, then retrieved his flagon.
“We traveled with them for a while. Decided it was only fair to give them a few days’ head start, so we stopped off in Oakwell to sample some of their famed whiskey.
” He leaned in close enough that I could smell the stench of alcohol on his breath. “Didn’t seem sporting otherwise.”
He didn’t seem to notice Reimond shaking his head, and I fought back a grin.
“Another round for everyone!” Anders shouted, and loud cheers erupted around the tavern.
I took the distraction as an opportunity to escape. I wound my way through the crowd to Penny’s table and slid in across from him. He was nursing a nearly full cup of ale, and there were three untouched flagons on the table in front of him.
His face broke into a bright smile. “Took you long enough.” He slid one foot forward to rest against mine under the table. It wasn’t nearly enough contact for either of us, but it would have to do until we made it home.
“Sorry. I stopped at the library to see if I could catch Fletcher and get an update on my father’s journals.” At Penny’s raised brows, I shook my head. “Still nothing.”
He failed to hide his relief as he sat back in his seat.
“Can’t say I’m disappointed not have them back.
” Drawing a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he gestured to the collection of alcohol on the table.
“But I don’t want to talk about them. Feel free to drink to your heart’s content tonight. Anders is buying, apparently.”
I tugged one of the flagons toward me and swirled the amber liquid inside. When I didn’t readily drink, Penny set his own ale on the table.
“Would you rather have a whiskey?” He started to slide toward the outer edge of the booth “I can get you one.”
I tapped my foot against his, halting his departure. “No. I don’t think I would.”
Penny ran his fingertip around the rim of his glass and dropped his eyes. I couldn’t tell whether he was nervous or uncomfortable, but after a few moments of quiet, he dredged up whatever courage he’d been looking for in the bottom of his ale.
“You don’t drink as much as you used to.” He jerked his eyes up to mine and hurried to add, “I’m sorry, I probably shouldn’t have brought it up. I know you didn’t like it when Violette made that comment at dinner, but… I’ve noticed.”
I found myself once again wishing we’d had dinner at home and not in the tavern.
My fingers itched to slide between his, and the table between us created far too much distance for this talk.
Our only blessing was the racket the revelers at the bar were making, which granted us at least a modicum of conversational privacy.
Until now, I’d relied on whiskey to put me out for years.
It did nothing to blot out the memories and nightmares that plagued my sleep, but it dulled them enough that they didn’t persist into my waking hours.
It took the sharp edges off loneliness and solitude and made them into almost pleasant things.
But I wasn’t lonely anymore, and the world didn’t seem quite so dark all the time.
“I don’t feel the need to drink as much with you around.” I pressed my knee against Penny’s beneath the table. “You have a way of settling me better than whiskey ever did. You quiet me.”
His hair tumbled across his brow, curtaining his eyes as they sparkled with the hint of tears.
I was still getting used to how open he was with his emotions.
His anger and sorrow were often on display, but so was his happiness.
That was what I saw now, a flicker of joy as he scrubbed the heel of his hand over his eyes to wipe away the moisture pooling there.
“I do?”
I nodded. “Vi was right: it’s the one thing I picked up from my father. It’s something I’m happy to put behind me. Thanks to you.”
Penny’s smile was wobbly but sincere. He sniffled again. “You quiet me, too, you know.”
I didn’t get a chance to respond before a shadow fell over us. Expecting Anders and suppressing a groan, I looked over to find Reimond stopped beside our table instead.
“You escaped,” I said, and he sighed.
“Finally. I thought he’d have me trapped all night, though I don’t doubt he’ll try to pin me down again if I’m not careful.
” He flashed an apologetic smile at both Penny and I.
“I know you’re here together, and I’m sure you want some time to yourselves, but would you mind if I sat with you for a bit?
Thoma should be here soon, but I’ve had more than enough Anders for the last month, and I need a bit of sanity before he gets here. ”
I had known it was only a matter of time until we were interrupted, but at least Reimond’s company was more welcome than Tessa’s.
“Always happy to come to your rescue.” I scooted in to make room for him on the bench beside me, then patted the open space. “Sit.”
Penny pushed a flagon of ale toward Reimond, who took it and gulped half of it in one breath.
He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and smiled sheepishly. “Thank you. I was glad to hear the two of you made it back safely.”
“Same for you,” I replied. “Run into any trouble on the road?”
Reimond sighed and tipped his head against the backrest. “Other than Anders and his big mouth nearly getting us caught in Oakwell, no. I do have to hand it to him, he did actually have a place, and we got in and out easier than I thought.” He chuckled.
“Though not as easily as you two, from what I heard.”
Penny took up his own ale and brought it to his mouth. “I wouldn’t go that far,” he mumbled before taking a healthy swig.
Reimond quirked a brow. “What do you mean?”
“Pen got sick on the road and gave us both quite a scare.” I stretched my foot closer to Penny, brushing it against his shin and teasing out a smile. “But he’s fine now. And as far as retrieving the body, it was only as difficult as digging up the frozen ground.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Reimond told Penny.
Across the room, the door opened, and Thoma stepped inside. Reimond’s exhausted demeanor changed immediately.
“Ah, excuse me. I need to go kiss that man right this moment.” He pushed out of his seat then spared us a sidelong grin. “I’m sure you understand.”
Penny’s eyes met mine across the table. I most certainly did understand. Since the moment I’d set foot in the tavern and seen him, all I could think about was getting him home and kissing him until my lips were bruised.
Penny swallowed hard and set his ale down. “We have food at home,” he said in a quiet voice.
I slid out of the booth with a smile. “I’ll cook.”