Page 58 of The Bone Season

‘That does help, actually,’ Julian said.

Liss stared at me. ‘You hurt a Reph?’

‘Only a little,’ I said.

‘She’ll not forget that in a hurry, Paige. Aludra and her family are vicious.’ She put another pot of water on the stove. ‘Julian, you mentioned batons earlier. I don’t remember that from my training.’

‘I was telling Paige about them yesterday. I don’t know how, but they have ethereal properties,’ Julian said. ‘You can use them to exert control over the nearest spirits, to help you practise spooling.’

Liss frowned. ‘I don’t like the sound of that. Can amaurotics use them?’

‘Even if they could, they wouldn’t touch anything unnatural.’

‘They do employ night Vigiles,’ I said. ‘Scion has always dabbled in hypocrisy. It doesn’t really surprise me that its founders are voyant.’

‘But they built an empire that hates us.’ Julian chewed his cheek. ‘The Rephs could have done the opposite – honoured clairvoyance, not vilified it. We could have worked together as equals. And why did they feel like they had to do all this in secret?’

‘I doubt we’ll ever know their reasons for doing anything,’ Liss said shortly. ‘But I can’t see why they would broadcast their presence.’

‘Why not?’ I said. ‘Julian is right. If they’re so sure of themselves – if they’re so mighty, and we’re so weak – why the need for secrecy?’

‘They believe we’re inherently violent and cruel. I doubt they want anything to do with us, beyond what they see as necessary.’

‘They’re violent and cruel, too,’ Julian said. ‘Don’t they see that?’

‘I’m sure they do,’ Liss said. ‘They just think we deserve to be treated that way. That’s why they didn’t bat an eyelid when they murdered Seb.’

‘Poor Seb.’ Julian glanced at me. ‘Warden and Nashira are consorts. They must be able to feelsomething, if not guilt.’

‘Well, I’ve not seen them show it,’ Liss said. ‘Not in ten years.’

We finished our coffee. Liss passed us each an egg, and we ate them out of the shells.

‘I was thinking,’ Julian said. ‘What did the Rephs do for aura before they found us?’

Liss was starting to look tired. ‘I don’t ask questions like that.’

‘Knowledge is power, isn’t it?’

‘Not necessarily. Knowledge is dangerous. Once you know something, you can never be rid of it. You have to carry it, always. Even if it pains you.’

‘Unless you take white aster,’ I said, scraping out the last of the egg.

‘Even then, it’s somewhere in your dreamscape. Just … buried, tucked away.’ Liss held out a hand. ‘Here, give me your shells. I’ll powder them later.’ Seeing our furrowed brows, she gave us a thin smile. ‘You can eat them. Helps keep your bones strong.’

We handed them over.

‘You’ve been here ten years,’ Julian said. ‘Do you ever think about fighting back, Liss?’

‘Every night,’ she said, ‘but there’s no point in it.’

‘How do you know?’

‘Because all the Rephs would do is kill me, and I won’t give them my life just yet,’ Liss said, low and embittered. ‘Is it not enough they’ve stolen everything else – my freedom, my pride?’

Julian and I traded a glance, neither of us knowing what to say.

‘I know what you both must think of me,’ Liss said tightly. ‘I’ve got no backbone. I’m a doormat.’ Before we could protest, she cut across us: ‘No. I don’t blame you. When I first came here, I held on to the hope that I would escape. And then I learned about Bone Season XVIII.’

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