Chapter 22 A Woman of Many Words and Letters #2
Ragnar huffed. “You’ve been carrying around an unmarked envelope with contents even you refused to snoop on, and when you find out it’s been holding a rune that’s been doing some sort of, I don’t know, essence-draining magic on you, you think it’s the parchment that’s weird?”
“Oh, gods,” she whispered as her finger hovered over the scrap, her eyes unblinking and frighteningly wide. “Is this…is this skin?”
It was Ragnar who did the blinking for both of them then.
“Well, yes, all parchment is some kind of—” He yanked the tan shred closer to his face and swallowed.
Ragnar was no parchment expert like Brioni, but on closer inspection, it didn’t look like an elder goat’s hide nor like the soft vellum produced by slaughtering young calves. But the color? It wasn’t demon.
Ragnar’s jaw tightened. “Who gave this to you?”
“No one.”
He furrowed his brow, tightly wrapping the eerie thing up again.
“Well, someone, obviously.” Brioni worried the hem of her skirt.
He eyed her, tying a secure knot in the shroud.
“Somedemon.”
Ragnar clicked his tongue.
“I can’t remember his name!” She threw her hands up. “Zelzor? Selnax? Zenzi? I don’t know, you all have weird names—no offense. Except maybe a little offense because it really is hard sometimes, and Elder Merangan still calls me Bibibi, which I think he’s doing on purpose because—”
“Bri.”
Her eyes squeezed shut and she took a short inhale.
“He works at the Scholar’s Hall.” Brioni let out the breath and opened her eyes again.
“Or he attends the Scholar’s Hall? Is that a place you guys work or attend?
Someone’s gotta work there, right? They called it sacred or whatever, but there must be a water closet there, so it can’t be that sacred if somebody takes a—”
“A demon from the Scholar’s Hall,” Ragnar repeated calmly, hoping to guide her back to the most important thought.
It worked a little, especially when the veilhounds and Moar lay still and watched her so intently.
“He’s…orange.”
“Okay, so it was an orange demon who gave you this envelope.” Truthfully, Ragnar could have gathered that from the color the oliderite glowed when it sensed the rune, but it was something. “And he gave you more envelopes in the past that you delivered to…”
She shrugged.
He deflated.
“I really don’t know!” She balled up her fists and huffed, genuine exasperation making her eyes go glassy.
“There’s just this place in the woods, out past that old well by the stone mason’s guild.
I don’t think anyone’s actually there unless it’s a ghost or a dead body—I mean, I guess those are the same thing if you think about it, right?
Oh, gods, do you think that rune is carved on the skin from—no, ew, I can’t even think about that! ”
Ragnar pushed away some of his own renegade queasiness. “So there’s no one else involved?”
Brioni shook her head then stopped abruptly.
“Well, there’s a red demon. He works at the Scholar’s Hall too.
Actually, I don’t know if he knows, but he seemed important, and if he does know that could make all this doubly bad.
The purple guy said the red guy represents all of them, and they’re really powerful right?
Oh, I’m going to be in so much trouble!”
“I will take responsibility for opening this.” Ragnar used his most soothing voice. “You won’t be in any—”
“Yes, I will!” Her eyes went even wider and wilder. “He was already upset with me because I was late delivering some of the others, and now I’m extra late delivering this, and he told me—he said we had to keep this letter stuff between us because the council would be mad that I broke my cuff—”
“You broke your cuff?”
“No, but I didn’t stop him from doing some weird magic to it, and now it doesn’t work.
” Her words tripped over themselves as they frantically left her mouth practically of their own accord.
“How did you think I ran all the way out into the Dreadmoor that one time? I mean, honestly, it’s kind of a plot hole that nobody mentioned it at all, but the council isn’t going to care whose fault any of it was, they’ll just see all the mistakes I made and will think I’m trying to sneak secrets back to the humans about Heck, but I wouldn’t do that!
I don’t even know any secrets! I mean, I do have a map of your whole city, and a pretty detailed knowledge of most of the residents, and I learned all the shortcuts over the last few weeks, but I still wouldn’t, I swear it to Vitae and Illustra and all of the gods! ”
“Brioni, I know, I know.” He reached out and cupped her face, holding her still despite her hiccupping breaths. “It’s going to be all right.”
“No, it’s not! It’s just like before when I messed up in Ankerick and got sent away. I like it here, Ragnar, and I like you. Please don’t make me go away, please. I want to stay. I need to stay. I need—”
Ragnar threw his arms around Brioni and pulled her body up against his own. He held on as tightly as he could as she broke down into wailing sobs against his chest. “No one will send you away, Brioni,” he swore, as sure as the moon was round and high. “I refuse to let anyone take you from me.”