“I thought as much.”
“I’ve already gathered supplies and gotten myself on as a guard in a merchant caravan heading to West Pass Watch. It leaves in the morning. Tonight, I’m going to fall very ill. I will need you to bribe or otherwise persuade a physician to claim he’s seen me.”
The familiar light of mischief shone in her eyes as she nodded. “I’ll turn down all of our invitations, make excuses for you, deliver reports, and finish our map. But I don’t want to lie to Patrick.”
“I know.” I squeezed her hands, urging her to understand. “But I need to do this. I need to do everything in my power to put a stop to the wraith before it gets to Aecor. The Indigo Kingdom isn’t any closer to stopping it, and they won’t be between it and Aecor forever.”
“Are you sure you can’t find answers here?”
“I tried. I’ve searched every office and records room, but nothing tells about the lake, or whether all the things we think we’ve learned about the wraith are actually true. I have to know. I have to see for myself.”
“Wilhelmina, what makes you think you have a chance where everyone else has failed?”
The truth balanced on the tip of my tongue, but I’d kept my magic a secret so long that the words died there on my breath. Anyway, I wasn’t even sure whether confessing my ability would be an explanation for why I thought I had a chance to do something about the wraith.
Before my hesitation stretched too long, the maid knocked and entered the sitting room, tutting about how little time we had before dinner with the Pierce family, Lady Meredith, and several other members of the royal household.
It would have been a great honor to be invited, if we’d truly been Liadian refugees.
But for us, it was simply an opportunity to study the Pierces and their extended family, and sow seeds for my upcoming deception.
“Time to work.”
“Say it again,” she said, and offered a tiny salute.
Throughout dinner, I coughed into my napkin and pretended to have trouble focusing, as though faint. My apparent condition grew worse over each course, and I forced myself to eat very little, though the food was delicious and it was all I could do not to devour every scrap of roasted duck.
“Lady Julianna?” James leaned forward, his voice low while the others discussed how the Saint Shumway Theater had been designed for magical effects, and what a shame it would be to remodel the building now.
“We didn’t rip up the palace and start over when crisis struck.” Meredith shook her head. “We should respect such a historic building.”
“My great-grandfather didn’t tear down the palace,” Tobiah said, “because all of the original fixtures could be renovated for nonmagical use. Besides, building the palace nearly bankrupted the kingdom, thanks to Kelvin Geary. Can you imagine the riots if the Pierce family constructed another palace, after the Geary fiasco?”
Meredith sniffed. “That doesn’t mean—”
James touched my hand, drawing my attention again. “Lady Julianna, are you well?”
“I’m fine,” I breathed.
“Don’t fib, my lady.” Melanie frowned and felt my forehead and cheeks. “You’ve been holding back that cough for a week now, and you’re flushed. If you don’t get some rest, you’re sure to develop a fever.”
Tobiah glanced over, wearing an odd mix of boredom and concern. Meredith abandoned her defense of the theater and began inquiring whether I was getting enough rest.
By dessert—the most delicious-looking torte with cream and raspberries that I wasn’t allowed to eat, thanks to my condition—I gazed around listlessly until Melanie begged an excuse for us, and after a round of good nights and get wells, she helped me back to our apartments.
A few hours before dawn, I got up to finish packing.
Melanie plaited my hair, pinning and tucking it so that the length could be hidden beneath a cap. A tight tube of silk to flatten my chest and a borrowed jacket later, I was William Cole, a young guard hoping to pay his way into Bome Boys’ Academy; I was reaching above my station, no doubt.
“You look very handsome,” Melanie said, adjusting my hat once more. “All the ladies will swoon.”
“I don’t think ladies are allowed on this trip.” I checked myself in a mirror. The only thing missing was a sword, but I knew where to get one. “Just don’t tell Patrick where I am, right?”
“I won’t. I promise.” Melanie hugged me. “You’d better come back on time, or I’m going after you.”
“No,” I whispered. “I don’t want you to enter the wraithland or risk revealing yourself here.”
“But—”
I shook my head. “Swear you won’t.”
She let out a small sigh. “All right. I won’t.”
It was still dark when I hefted my pack onto my shoulders and climbed out the window, leaving Melanie staring after me.
I hoped I’d been right to trust her.