“Always, my queen.”
“One more thing, Topann.” Coletta thought aloud. “Have them bring wine to my chambers this night. No food. I trust you to pick a worthwhile vintage on my behalf.”
“Understood.”
“Go now, make it so.”
By the time Coletta finished cleaning up her laboratory, the wine was waiting for her on a bronze platter in the central room of her quarters. None dared go beyond that point. For if they did, it was well whispered that they weren’t long for service to House Rok—or the world.
Coletta picked up the glass, strolling into her study. The room was rectangular with towers of bookshelves filled with all manner of odd knowledge she’d acquired throughout the years. Some volumes were rare, some commonplace, and some would only be important to the authors whose hands had scribbled the words, believing they would never be read.
At the far end, past a chaise and table with a single chair, was a large desk that matched a second in Yveun’s side of the estate. Coletta set the ledger down there, but kept wine in hand as she walked over to the wall of windows. Far beneath her, the God’s Line was a swirling sea of gray, masking Loom and all its secrets.
She took a long sip, allowing the crimson nectar to sit on her tongue—one of the few things she could still taste. She debated if she would crack this Raven code, or learn all about the Flowers of Agendi first. Coletta turned back into the room with purpose, heading toward her books on plants and herbology. It didn’t matter where she started; it would all be torn apart, secrets exposed, by the time she was done.
Florence
It seemed as though she had just managed to gather everyone together, only to see them scattered to the wind once more. At least everyone was moving as a unified force rather than blowing in, one rogue tumbleweed at a time.
Her goal for the Tribunal had been accomplished.
Even still, it was exhausting to take all of Loom—who had only just been transported en masse to Ter.0—and move them again. The Vicar Raven was no doubt no more annoyed than she let on about the great exodus, but if the woman was disgruntled, she did a good job of not betraying the fact.
“Are you really going to stay here?” Shannra asked.
“Only as long as it takes to clear Ter.0,” Florence replied.
She was so very tired of cleaning out her laboratories, one after the other. But having done it multiple times in her life made it pretty short work. The experience equipped her to make simple decisions on what was most important to take with her, and what could be left behind, if needed. It was simple logic where everything went, and Florence knew it all by heart by now. Every canister, vial, gun part, and jar went in its place easily.
“I’ll wait for you.”
“No, you won’t.” Florence didn’t know if it was Louie’s influence on the girl, or if she genuinely wanted to stay. It was a question she was unexpectedly afraid of asking—or rather, she feared the answer. “I need you to help organize defenses at the Ravens’ Guild.”
“There are plenty of people who can help organize defenses. I want to protect you.”
“There are not plenty of people, and in fact there are precious few Revos left. Furthermore, I can protect myself. Despite the tattoo on my cheek, I am no Raven.”
“I know that better than anyone, but it doesn’t mean you couldn’t use someone’s help.”
“The Dragons won’t attack for three days. By that point I will be long on my way to Ter.4. I’ll be nothing more than a speck on the map; no Dragon will find me and no Fenthri would attack me.” Florence was fairly confident that at this point she had solidified her reputation as one of the deadliest people on all of Loom. How many others could challenge the Dragon King himself at gunpoint? Of course, that was a decision Florence had yet to fully unpack now that the initial fight-or-flight response had left her. Her hands had a tremble since the Vicar Tribunal.
“Florence, why won’t you let me help you?” Shannra rounded the table. She rested a gentle hand on Florence’s shoulder.
She moved away subtly from the offending touch, using the opportunity to stretch for a high jar and shake Shannra’s hand free. But her distractions were growing limited, and soon she would be forced to focus on the other woman in the room.
“Do you want to help me? Or do you want to help me because Louie asked you to?” Well, there it was. The question was out and there was no taking it back.
“What kind of question is that?” Shannra almost seemed offended. She walked around the table to position herself between Florence and a narrow set of shelves she had been clearing. “Do you think I have been at your side this whole time because of Louie?”
Florence thought about it for a long moment. Was this woman nothing more than a pawn in the greater scheme? And if she was, why did it matter to Florence? “Have you not been?”
“Five Guilds! That’s all you think of me, isn’t it?” She seemed torn between laughter and anger. It was a combination that fit her. Light and dark. Happiness and sorrow. Anger and joy. Shannra was all of it wrapped into one.
“I don’t know what to think of you,” Florence answered honestly, at last looking her in the eye.
“Florence.” The woman’s whole demeanor changed. “Yes, Louie asked me to come here. I told you that from the beginning. I’ve never kept my affiliation with him a secret.” Shannra shook her head. “And I have no doubt that he asked me specifically because he knew I could be of help to you, because he knew you would want to learn from me. But Louie has been here for weeks now, and I spend more time at your side than with him or any of his other . . . employees. It doesn’t matter how I came to you; it matters what we do going forward.”
She wanted to believe it was all true. Shannra’s silver eyes shone brightly in the fading light of the day. Florence wanted to believe they hid no secrets, that there was nothing within them that could even be the seed of a lie. But she wasn’t sure—couldn’t be sure, maybe ever.
Still, arguing with the woman would do her no good. If her suspicions were founded, Shannra would never admit to them. If they were unfounded, she only risked alienating a friend. Was it better to risk having a false companion than having no companion at all?
“Even still.” Florence sighed softly and let go of the argument. Her focus had to be on other places, her energy devoted to more important things than unpacking the true depths of her feelings for the silvery beauty. “You are far more useful to me getting a head start on fortifying the Ravens’ Guild and the Underground than offering protection I won’t use and don’t actually need. I will not be long behind you; all of Ter.0 will be on the move in two days’ time and I will be out with the last of them. All this is for only a day’s difference.”