Chapter 22 River #2
wouldn’t be true. Once Thessia told me she’d set Dougal Farkenstomp to sea, I knew he’d survived.”
Some semblance of sanity returned to River, if only so she could prickle at the fact that she’d thought the same thing. It
was strange to hear her thought process echoed by Vandra. To know she hadn’t been the only one after all.
“Before you and I got paired up, I worked with him once.” Vandra leaned against the wall, sharing gossip like this was not a squat cell where River had been using an odious wooden bucket as a toilet but one of the many Deathrose Guild mixers they’d attended together.
“He told me when he’s not undercover, he still likes to use an alias—Sir Justyn Justynson.
Only took a few well-placed conversations to discover Sir Justynson had been staying nearby. ”
River tried to laugh, but it came out choked. She was perilously close to crying. This was all so absurd. The kidnapping.
The rescue. Dougal at her feet, easily sixty-five-years old, wishing to be called Justyn Justynson.
Was this another nightmare, and its shape was still forming?
“I know.” Vandra laughed, too, as she bent over to pick Dougal’s pocket for a knife to cut the ropes. She approached River,
and all her playfulness was replaced with a somber stoicism. “I told you to quit the guild.”
This was real, River assured herself. Because in nightmares, Vandra wouldn’t be this forthcoming.
“And I told you to stop wearing jewel-toned velvet on secret missions,” River said.
“I hope you don’t think I’m doing this out of the kindness in my heart.” Vandra untied her. “I’m being paid handsomely.”
“Good for you,” River said.
Vandra had to help her up. She’d been sitting for so long in such an uncomfortable position that her legs had fallen asleep.
“Don’t you want to know who hired me?” Vandra asked.
“It’s obviously the queen. You already work for her.”
“It was not Thessia.”
River could use her sleeping legs to explain away the halt in her step. But she could not account for the sudden jolt in her
heart, pressing against her bruised rib cage.
Vandra opened the heavy door she’d entered through. It was weighted to shut after each use and magicked to lock upon closing, but Vandra had lodged a hairpin in the jamb.
“I’m good, aren’t I?” she said, taking her fluttering lightwing clip and pushing it back into her long black curls.
“Galwell hired you, then,” River guessed. “You rescued him from wherever the Vestriyan guards took him, and he used his majestic
Galwellian presence to manipulate you into saving me.”
“We haven’t seen him, though we believe it’s highly likely he is with Mona Grandhart,” Vandra replied. “Do you think Galwell
and Mona have something going on? Elowen says there’s no way, but you know me. I’m a romantic. I love the idea of Galwell
with a woman like her. Perfect opposites.” Vandra stopped, pressing a magimanicured hand to her mouth in realization, as if
she’d told herself she couldn’t do this very thing—chat excitedly with River about their mutual acquaintances. “I don’t have
any more time for this game where you pretend you don’t know it was Celine. She begged me to rescue you. And I have. My work
is done. You’re out of the cell. You’re safe. Go ahead and teleport to her.”
River trained her face to stay calm. She did know it was Celine. But that didn’t mean she believed it.
“You were right,” River admitted. “About the guild.”
“Of course I was.” Vandra tossed her curls over her shoulder. She paused on an inhale, as if she was waiting for something.
The silence stretched on, until finally she said, “Nothing more to say?”
“Not really,” River told her.
“Then I need to be on my way. I have more important things to do. One of Elowen’s favorite shadow play stars is here visiting
ahead of Vestriya Now. She’s requested I go secure an autograph.”
River felt a pulse of excitement. Vestriya Now.
So she really had heard the Brethren rehearsing.
“Doesn’t Elowen want to get it herself?” she asked.
“Oh, darling. She’d rather die than admit she’s a fan of someone.” Vandra laughed. “Stubborn people. I have a way of finding
them.”
She put a hand on River’s chest. It was not a parting sentiment. It meant Stop. Don’t follow me.
“Figure out what to do with Dougal,” she said. “As you know, I’m not in the business of killing people anymore. I’ll leave
that decision to you.”
Out Vandra went, down whatever tunnel had led her to River.
In the end, River decided to leave Dougal locked in the room. He’d already defied the odds once, surviving his time on the
Sweetwater Sea. She did not expect he would defy them twice. But she didn’t care. This was a fate of his own creation.
Maybe enemies did return. But River wasn’t scared to face them.
She took her time exiting, memorizing the labyrinth of tunnels that led to her cell. When she emerged aboveground, she squinted
so hard her eyes watered as she struggled to adjust to the brightness of day. When she tried to teleport, she failed. She
was either too exhausted, or those ropes took a while to wear off.
If she wanted to get to Celine, she had to walk.