Robyn emits a shaky growl. Is she laughing?
“I’m Wade Song.” He stoops to my level. “I see you’ve met my girls.”
What did Ky call Wren? Song?
Wade lifts me off Robyn’s back without pause and carries me to a hammock. Starchy fabric envelops me, drooping under my weight. Stiffness and fatigue press down. Kneading. Coaxing. The curtain closes. My eyelids sag.
Footsteps. A sigh.
“Is it bad?” Robyn must’ve morphed back into her human form.
Another sigh, long and exaggerated. “I won’t know until I’ve examined her fully—”
“Don’t lie to me, Papa. I know your ability to diagnose with a single look.” Her argument isn’t rude or disrespectful like her sister’s. Instead her words carry genuine concern. I haven’t even really met her, and already she cares more for me than Quinn ever did. “Now tell me. How bad is it?”
He clears his throat. Stalling? Shoes shuffle. Water gushes. “I’d know Haman’s touch anywhere. The damage is beyond my ability to heal. I can make her comfortable, give her Illusoden, but that is all.”
I don’t know what Illusoden is, but I’m sure I want it. Now.
“No.” Robyn sniffles. “No. There has to be something you can do for her. Did you see her face? That mark, it’s—”
“I know. I know.”
Seconds tick off in my head as I wait for him to continue. To give me some context as to why my cursed birthmark is so important. One, one thousand, two, one thousand, three . . .
“There . . . might be a way,” Wade finally says.
The suspense is killing me. Literally.
“I can’t heal her, but there’s someone who can. He’s the only Physic known to bring anyone back from something like this.”
“Is there a way to get word to him? We at least have to try to bring him here.”
Yes. Try. I have to save Mom.
“That’s the problem. Nathaniel’s been in hiding nearly two decades. The only person who might know his whereabouts is Makai, but he hasn’t returned.”
Nathaniel. I know that name. Why do I know that name?
Robyn asks the question for me. “Nathaniel? I’ve never heard of him.”
“You wouldn’t have. He’s one of the oldest Physics. Worked for the king before the Revolution. Nathaniel Archer refused to side with Jasyn, but he wouldn’t fight him either. Shame and fear sent him into hiding. He could be anywhere . . .”
Wade’s voice trails off, not because he’s stopped talking but because I’ve stopped listening. If I thought nothing else could surprise me, I was wrong. Of course Makai would have the information they need. Because Nathaniel Archer is none other than my not-as-dead-as-Mom-said-he-was grandfather.
And I might know exactly where he is.
TEN
Sudden Silence
They won’t quit arguing. Do they think I’m deaf?
It’s been hours since I told Wade and Robyn what I know about Nathaniel. Explained how I’m related to him and what happened to Mom. After that, Robyn made me comfortable. Set my soggy boots by the fire, gave me a pillow. Then Wade served me some sort of red liquid that tasted like fermented beets. My pain is gone. I’m fine. Never felt better. Let’s get moving already.
I explained the urgency of the situation, but they don’t seem to understand. Haman’s probably reached the castle by now. I shudder to think how he plans to fulfill his vow to Isabeau. How can he even promise something like that?
Cringe. I’m coming, Mom. I’m coming.
“Consider what you’re asking,” a gruff voice scoffs from the cabin porch. The open window admits every word. “You want us to trust a foreign girl none of us have ever seen before? How would she know where this Physic Archer is anyway?”
I may not have any of Mom’s sketchbooks with me, but I remember them well. Sketchbooks were my picture books. Fingertips stained with charcoal and lead, I’d sit for hours and study those renderings. Mom journaled between sketches, too, but I never read any of her entries. The pictures were what fascinated me. Back then I thought the drawings were random. Now I’m starting to wonder if they tell a story. Makai. The Second Reflection landscapes. And Nathaniel—my grandfather—standing in front of our brownstone, holding baby me in his arms.
Except something was different. Subtle variances I’d never considered until now. A planter we’ve never had. Ivy I’ve never seen. Square window frames rather than arched. Brick steps where cement ones should be. Come to find out, it wasn’t our brownstone in the drawing. It was a reflection, a replica, a copy.
I described the building to Wade in detail. His expression shifted from shock to delight. “How could I have missed it? All this time he’s been there, right under Jasyn’s nose.”
“Been where?” Robyn asked.
“Lisel Island. It’s just ruins and rubble now, abandoned during the Revolution. No one in his right mind would’ve stayed there.” Wade laughed. Shook his head. “But Nathaniel’s never been in his right mind.”
Wade excused himself to his work area and left Robyn to watch over me then. She’s been urging me to rest, but I can’t sleep. Not with all the activity happening within earshot. I lean forward, turn my ear toward the porch.
Gage speaks next. “She has the mark, plain as day. Makai’s been secretive about his business in the Third all these years. I’d wager this girl—his niece, apparently—was his business. When he sent word he’d be bringing someone with him, he didn’t mention the mark. I’m as stunned as you are, but Makai wouldn’t deceive us without cause. He’s obviously been hiding her from Crowe. Joshua’s been helping him. It’s the only explanation.”
A sardonic, raspy laugh. “Why keep the rest of us in the dark then, if they’ve known of her existence all along? Perhaps Makai and Joshua are not as loyal to the Verity as we believed.”
“Be careful, Saul. That’s your commanding officer you’ve just insulted.” Gage’s voice wavers on the border of resolve and resentment. “Our men would never betray us or the Verity.”
A pause. Creak, step, shuffle. Cough, grunt, murmur.
“Wouldn’t they?” Sheesh. This Saul guy refuses to quit. Maybe he’s related to Ky. “Need I remind you of Haman’s betrayal, not to mention the dozens of others who’ve surrendered to the Void? Decent men and women we trusted. Our numbers are dwindling, Commander. And still we wait. Do you know how many mornings I’ve awakened and wondered if today would be the day the Verity might return? Anticipating its vessel would come forward and take back what Crowe stole from us? Our freedom. Our land. Our home. How can we be sure this girl’s not a spy, a Soulless even? She was traveling with the traitor Kyaphus, no trace of Commander Archer or Lieutenant David. It all seems highly suspicious to me.”
Robyn purses her lips, casts me a sidelong glance, and steps outside. “She’s no Soulless. Her eyes and skin remain unaltered.” My new friend’s support salves my blistering uncertainty.
A harrumph wafts through the window.
“I do not believe she has reached her eighteenth year yet,” Robyn adds. “The Void could not touch her if it tried.”
“She has the mark.” Gage again. “That’s good enough for me. As for Commander Archer and Lieutenant David, they made their choices. You have made yours. Our oath as Guardians is ‘To the Crown until Death.’ I stand by my vow, just as Makai and Joshua do. We must hold out hope we’ll see them again.” Another creak, a few stomps. They’re gone.
He misunderstood my silence earlier. Gage thinks his men are still alive. How can I tell him the truth?