Page 63 of Siege of Shadows

“You just said I trust too easily.”

“You do.” Natalya pointed once more at my neck with her sword, but said nothing. I touched the steel brace, confused for just a moment before I snapped out of it. It was a trick. I couldn’t let her distract me.

“That’s why I don’t believe you,” I said, my chest tight.

“About what?”

“About Rhys.”

“He killed me. Do you believe that, Maia?”

The question I couldn’t escape, ghosting my every step, screaming at me from within every time I stared into his dark eyes. Rhys’s secrets frightened me. But the dizzying feeling of meeting his gaze and the thrill of his touch was too real, as real as Natalya’s will to live again. It didn’t matter what Ireasoned. It was what Ifelt, the way my heart clenched as his tears fell. He wasn’t bad. I knew that. I believed it. The boy who fought beside me, protected me, teased me, laughed with me. That was the Rhys I was sure of. The only Rhys I wanted.

And so I decided.

“No,” I whispered finally. “Idon’tbelieve that.” My voice had started to rise dangerously, but when I saw the glint of readiness in Natalya’s eyes, I held myself back. “Rhys is too kind, too gentle. He’s not a murderer.”

“Heiskind,” Natalya said, looking up at the sunless, cloudless sky. “He’s too gentle, I agree. His heart is pure. And also...” Her scar-covered hand gripped the hilt of her sword more tightly than before. “He is a murderer.”

“I don’t believe you,” I repeated. I couldn’t hide the strain in my voice.

“I can never lie to you, Maia.” It was strange. Her grin felt as menacing as it did sincere. How was it possible? This woman I had once worshipped... that my sister, June, had once adored. The noble warrior. Looking at her smile now, I felt like retching.

No. I reallydidfeel like retching. My body was beginning to buckle and bend. It was too difficult being here. It took too much energy, too much willpower. Every second I was here in the mist, I could feel my mind breaking down. I could feel something hooking me from the inside, pulling me back out.

“If you do not believe me, I will give you a sign of goodwill.” Shutting her eyes, Natalya lowered her head. “Naomi.”

“What?”

“Naomi will know. But, Maia...” A breeze swept over the strands of her short black hair as she looked at me. The nobility, the fierceness etched into her face, was as powerful in death it was in life. “Your enemies are all around you,” she said. “Are you really not aware?”

“Maia!”

It was Belle. I’d fallen over and now was actually retching. Belle and Pastor Charles helped me back up to my feet.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know that when Natalya was here, it was also an intense experience for her. Especially the last time she came.” He shook his head. “I don’t envy the burden you Effigies bear.”

“What do you mean? What happened when Natalya came?” asked Belle as she propped my arm around her shoulder.

“Oh, she was just... distraught about many things. She never clearly mentioned why. She referred to a girl called Alice.”

“Alice...” Wiping my mouth, I lifted my head.

“She asked me about Emilia Farlow’s writings, about the leader of the traveling sect. Mentioned a man named Baldric.”

“Baldric. Who is that?” Belle asked. “She never mentioned him before.”

“I don’t know. She never explained. She said so much—too many things to remember. But one thing I do remember clearly is the symbol she drew. She asked me if I recognized it, but I couldn’t help her.”

“Do you still have her drawing?” Belle asked.

“I can get it from my office.”

After we returned to the main hall of the church, we only had to wait a few minutes before Pastor Charles returned with a torn piece of notepaper. Though my head was still swimming and my body still languid from scrying, I rose to my feet anyway, fast, holding the back of the pew for support as I stared at the picture of a bright, flickering flame.

“She didn’t know what it was herself,” said Charles. “She told me that she’d seen a glimpse of it while scrying into an earlier Effigy’s memories: Marian, she called her.”

“Marian,” I whispered. The girl both Nick and Alice were really after. The girl inside me.

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