Zoey wished Prince Sadi had asked instead of Lady Karla, but she called in the notebook and held it out.
Karla raised her hand, and the notebook obligingly floated on air and crossed the space between them. She opened it to the page that still had a strip of paper marking it. “Why did you ignore the notes on the back of the page?”
“Notes?” Zoey shook her head. “No, there was just . . .”
Karla turned the page and held up the notebook.
Notes. And the words “Needs work!” in large letters.
“We thought that was for something else,” Titian said, pulling her wings in tight.
“Uh-huh.” Karla gave them another bright smile. “My darlings, never ignore the notes that follow one of these bits of Craft.”
“May I see that?” Prince Sadi reached for the notebook. He looked at the page and swore softly.
“We just found it behind some books,” Zoey said hurriedly. “There’s no name on it, so . . .”
“I was married to the woman for seventy years,” Daemon growled. “I recognize the Queen’s handwriting.”
Mother Night! This was a book of Witch’s spells and Craft?
Zoey took a step toward Sadi. “We’ll take very good care of the notebook. And we’ll be careful. We promise.”
Sadi made a sound that might have been a laugh. “Yes, you will, because you’re not getting this back.” He vanished the notebook.
“However,” Karla said, “Daemon will review the Craft—and the notes—and select some of these spells for you to learn under his supervision.”
Sadi stared at Karla. “Did I agree to this?”
“You did.”
“When?”
Prince Yaslana made a strange sound. Zoey wasn’t sure if he was laughing or swearing. Or both.
Karla linked her arm with Sadi’s and just smiled.
As he escorted Karla to the occupied part of the Hall, Daemon wondered if any of the children had noticed that the Glacian Queen floated on air just above the floor and he was doing the walking for both of them.
“Will you join us for dinner?” he asked. “All the children will be at the table for this meal, and I’d like your opinion.”
“Any particular reason?”
“I’d like to know what you think of them.”
“I’m rather curious about them myself, so I accept your invitation,” she replied. “Besides, I doubt any of them have sat at a table with someone who drinks yarbarah.”
That was just one of the reasons he wanted her to join him and the children tonight.
“You’re going to have to find the other notebooks. You do know that?”
He almost missed a step. “I beg your pardon?”
“We all jotted down notes from lessons, as well as how this bit of Craft reacted when mixed with that level of power, and the coven used to tuck the notebooks on the shelves with the Craft books,” Karla explained. “If Zoela found one of Jaenelle’s notebooks on the shelves, it stands to reason that there are still more tucked away, since each of us filled quite a few of them. And the boyos used to keep notes too. You’ll want to find those notebooks and look through them. They might contain useful hints for the young wiggle-waggles.”
He could have sworn his brain spun a couple of times in his skull. “Do you know how many rooms qualify as a library here at the Hall? Not to mention that every social room and sitting room connected to a square of bedrooms has shelves of books. It will take weeks to check every shelf in every possible room.”
“Hardly. I’ll show you how to construct the summoning spell. All you have to do is hold Jaenelle’s notebook in one hand and the summoning web in the other. Have Beale station a footman or maid in every room that has books and watch for something trying to escape from the shelves in answer to your call.”
“You could do the summoning.”
Karla laughed. “Oh, no, boyo. Lucivar is taking me back to the Keep, and we’re leaving before dawn.”
*Coward,* Daemon said on an Ebon-gray spear thread.
*Fool,* Lucivar countered. *Ask her why she chose that particular spot for the summoning. Assuming you have balls enough to ask.*
Ah, Hell’s fire. Thinking about the apology that had ended Saetan’s spell, he had a bad feeling he wouldn’t like the answer. “Why did you choose that part of the Hall for the summoning?” Daemon asked.
Karla didn’t reply for a long moment. “Did you notice the archway?”
“I did. It’s an unusual feature.” The archway connected an interior corridor with an open area exposed to weather without the benefit of a door to keep the interior and exterior separate. It also didn’t have a perfect construction that would accommodate a door—or provide any confidence that it would stay up if you were under it.
Karla gave him a sharp smile. “When that particular spell went wrong for Jaenelle and me, the hole we punched in the wall was a bit bigger than a decorative window. But you’ll notice that the wall above the archway hasn’t fallen down, even after all these years.”
“Sweet Darkness,” he whispered.
She patted his arm. “You survived your initiation, Sadi. You’ll be fine. Just make sure you collect all those notebooks.”
NINE
Wilhelmina Benedict, Surreal thought as the estate carriage took her to Jillian’s cottage. Why in the name of Hell would Saetien want to know about Wilhelmina? And why now?
More to the point, why did a young broken Black Widow who walked the roads of the Twisted Kingdom give Saetien Wilhelmina’s name? That wasn’t something she could ignore. But how to get the information without drawing the attention of one of the Keep’s residents? Because the one thing she didn’t want to do was open any heart wounds for Jaenelle Angelline. Witch carried the weight of plenty of wounds, and Surreal didn’t want to add any new ones.
She could slip into the Keep and ask Geoffrey, the historian/librarian. Unless someone asked him what she had been doing there, he would be discreet about her inquiries. Hell’s fire, even after all this time, he could probably recite the basics of Wilhelmina’s life after she came to Kaeleer without needing to look up anything. Those who guarded the Keep—and the Queen—would have kept an eye on Wilhelmina Benedict.
She just needed to decide if providing help with this quest was something she wanted to do.
Jillian’s cottage was charming and slightly eccentric in a way that reflected the years the girl had spent with Lady Perzha in Little Weeble. The exterior fit into the village, but some rooms—like the bathrooms—had been torn apart and rebuilt to accommodate a woman of the Eyrien race. The kitchen had also been redone—and had been inspected by Mrs. Beale and her meat cleaver before the workmen had been permitted to declare the job complete. The carpets in all the rooms were from Dharo—a gift from Daemon that might be overlooked except by a person who understood that Dharo carpets of that quality were considered art, not a floor covering. Lucivar had purchased the furniture for the sitting room and the room Jillian used as her office and library. Marian had fitted out the kitchen with everything a young woman in her first home would need. And Surreal had purchased the bedroom furniture and all the linens.
Jillian still had to purchase a dining table and chairs, and the family had deliberately left out some things that the girl would buy for herself—like a bed for the guest room.
The two Scelties who lived with Jillian greeted Surreal and then disappeared, an indication that there might be an agenda behind this invitation to dinner.