Page 42 of The Bone Season

‘Fine,’ I said.

Before I knew it, I was striding towards Carl. His eyes popped when he noticed me. I grabbed him by the gilet and marched him away from the oracle, off the path between the stalls. Once I had got him out of sight, I slammed him into a plywood wall.

‘Why is Nashira interested in the White Binder?’

Carl stared at me as if I had just grown a second head. ‘What?’

‘You heard me. What did she want you to do?’

‘None of your business.’

He looked clammy and pale up close, strands of hair stuck to his forehead.

‘I asked you a question, Carl,’ I said, keeping hold of his gilet. ‘I’ll ask another, while I have you. Did you rat on Ivy?’

‘She was out after curfew!’

‘I can see why the Rephs rushed you to your test. You missed your calling as a Vigile.’

‘I was first to bechosen, stupid. We’re probably testing in order of number.’

That did make sense. If he was right, I would be last in line.

‘I get it now. You’re trying to cheat,’ Carl said, his tone almost triumphant. ‘Well, you can shake and intimidate me all you like, but I’m not telling youanythingabout the first test. It’s not—’

He stopped when I dislocated my spirit and forced pressure into the æther, making it quake around us both. My vision prickled as I fixed him with a hard stare, making it very clear it was me.

‘I thought you were an oracle,’ he whispered. ‘How are you doing that?’

I smiled. ‘Doing what?’

This was a serious risk. I shouldn’t be revealing my abilities, but I needed Carl to spit it out.

‘All right,’ he gasped. ‘Please, just stop it.’ I shifted my spirit back into place. ‘I saw a pillar. That’s it. Just a pillar. I don’t remember any detail. Nashira gave me a shew stone, a good one.’

‘Why the White Binder?’

‘I don’t know.’ He flushed with sudden indignation. ‘The White Binder is acriminal. Why do you care what I tell her about him?’

Blood roared in my ears as he glowered at me. I had to fix this, and fast.

‘I don’t.’ I let go of his gilet and sighed, trying to look contrite. ‘I’m sorry if I scared you, Carl. I’ve just been nervous about the tests, and you passed so quickly. I’m a little envious. After they singled me out like that, I really need to impress my keeper.’

I could turn on the charm when I felt like it. Fortunately, the flattery worked.

‘Don’t worry. That’s understandable,’ Carl said graciously, relaxing. ‘I’m sure you’ll pass. Youarean oracle, aren’t you?’

‘Yes. That pressure can happen sometimes, before we send visions,’ I said. Carl nodded along. ‘Congratulations, anyway. Do you know what you’ll have to do for your second test?’

‘Not yet, but I can’t wait. This is a chance for our lives to mean something,’ Carl said, with conviction. ‘24 will see that, too, once she’s a red-jacket.’

When I realised he meant Ivy, I knew he was already lost. I forced another smile and walked back into the firelight, towards Julian.

Carl had reason to be proud. He was a good seer. Nashira had told him what she wanted to know, and he had scried it in a shew stone.

She had been his querent. If the æther – a vast network of spirits and dreamscapes – could be compared to the Scionet, then a soothsayer or augur was the search engine, and the querent gave the terms.

Nashira had given just the right terms to uncover a hidden truth in the æther. Carl had glimpsed the sundial pillar at Seven Dials.

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