Page 86 of The Book That Wouldn't Burn

Livira said nothing. She’d heard that one too.

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They reached Yute’s house only a few minutes later and Livira thought that three silvers was an outrageous price for so brief a service.

“I’ll watch the street.” Malar nodded at the door.

“Gas lights even here...” Livira quite liked the effect. The surrounding houses were so tall that their upper storeys vanished into the night while the lower levels basked in the new lighting’s warm glow.

“Nothing stays the same for long in Crath City.” Malar glanced back the way they’d come. “That’s what makes it so dangerous.”

Meelan went to knock on the door.

“Go easy on the librarian,” Malar told Livira. “It’s a bad day for him.”

Salamonda had the door open almost as Meelan’s knuckles made contact with the wood. “Livira!” She looked past Meelan. “And who’s this? You’ve traded in your last boyfriend for one that’s a prince?”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” Livira hurried up the steps and pushed Meelan past Salamonda.

“You should fix that,” Salamonda said in a too-loud whisper as Livira came through. “He’s lovely.”

Livira scowled at the woman, noting for the first time that there were streaks of grey in the tight bun of her hair.

Salamonda picked up a bowl of biscuits from the kitchen table. “I suppose you’re too old for—”

Livira snatched three. “I’ll be too old for biscuits when I’m dead.” The knot in her stomach had loosened as soon as she entered the kitchen. She nudged Meelan. “What? Afraid of getting crumbs on your lace? Try them!”

“I’m not wearing any lace,” Meelan growled. He took a biscuit. “My thanks, madam.”

“Salamonda,” Salamonda said. “And you’re Sirrar Meelan. Yute talks about you all the time.”

“About me?” Meelan’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“He talks about all the trainees.” Salamonda nodded. “Sit! Sit! He’ll be down in a moment.”

Livira sat at the table, so amazed at the idea of Yute even knowing who was in the trainee class that she forgot to chew.

Salamonda turned away to stir something on the stove. “And that’s what you’re wearing, is it?”

Livira didn’t have to ask to know that Salamonda meant her. “Unless you’ve got something better upstairs?” Even a mouthful of biscuit didn’t take the sharp edge off the words. She’d had enough of being told she was a mess.

“I’m afraid we don’t.” A voice spoke from the stairs, which hadn’t had the decency to creak a warning. “We lost Yolanda when she was about the size you were on your first visit here.” Yute came into view in his dark robes, white-faced and sombre.

“I’m sorry,” Livira said. And she was. “I wasn’t thinking.”

Yute forced a smile and lifted a hand to ward off further apology. “It’s fine. I’m fine.” He paused, thoughtfully, and looked back up the stairs as if he could see all the way to his daughter’s room at the top of the house. “Hurts don’t stop, but they fade into shadows of what they were. That’s sad. That something so vital, something that bit you so deep, can be eroded by time into a story that almost seems like it happened to someone else. Any hurt. The years have taken away her meaning. It lessens us.” He paused, as if realizing that his words had carried him away, then shrugged. “It is what it is.”

Salamonda watched him, bright-eyed with sympathy. “Yute...”

Yute brought his white hands together with a sigh as if trying to wring some warmth out of them. “So, we’re ready to depart? Livira’s attire will serve.”

“You’re in robes too!” Livira realised for the first time. She’d only ever seen Yute in robes so the fact that he wasn’t dressed up to the nines like Meelan hadn’t registered.

“I am.” Yute crossed to the street door. “I have an official duty to perform!”

Livira’s heart sank again. She wanted to ask the whats and whys, but in the face of Yute’s old loss it seemed petty to focus on troubles partly of her own making. She could have kept her head down, played by the rules, waited until she was entitled to know the answers to all those secrets that taunted her. Yute’s sombre mood promised nothing good. Deputies Ellis, Synoth, and Acconite would be waiting for him to bring her to the vote.

Once out in the street, Yute began to lead them down into the city. Malar fell in behind them, one hand on the hilt of his sword.

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