Page 223 of A Vow of Blood and Tears

I tilted my head, pretending to think. “Lord Bane the Rockbreaker? Doesn’t sound quite as important.”

Her eyes narrowed to a dangerous degree, but the Silver Sister saved me, slipping through the door and bowing to us briefly.

“Eldest Sister Sifka will see you now,” she said, her voice as soft as a frightened mouse.

Don’t think I’ll forget, Cirri said, the tiniest smile giving away her amusement, and she swept in like a queen. I followed; the rowan over the door was so old and dry, it hardly had a scent left. My nostrils twitched only slightly as I passed beneath it.

The inside was equally as shocking as the exterior; the tidy, rosewood-and-beeswax scented cathedral was now dusty, a cool draft slipping through a loose window, cobwebs clinging high in the ceilings.

Cirri’s face was carefully blank; she followed the Sister past the cathedral proper, into a winding warren of additions. We passed numerous rooms, the doors all firmly shut, but the Sister led us to an office high above the others, up a narrow set of stairs. I had to turn sideways to creep up, ducking under fresher, more astringent rowan wreaths into the Eldest Sister’s presence.

The old woman sat behind a desk piled with books and papers, looking more shrunken than I’d ever seen her; her silverteeth and gray gums were bared in an unfriendly grin. “Well, look who it is. Was this one a little too quiet, Lord Bane? Come to try another? As you can see, not much is left to offer.”

Cirri lifted her head, and I spoke as she did, giving voice to her words:I am the one who chose to come, Eldest Sister.

Her hands were trembling ever so slightly, her movements sharp with irritation.

Sister Sifka turned her rheumy gaze on Cirri, not softening in the slightest. “What more do you want from me, girl? We married you off to a lord. There’s nothing left here for you.”

To be a translator was to hide in the background, offering nothing but her words; it took every last shred of willpower in me not to growl as the old woman called the Lady of the Rift ‘girl’, as though she were still no more than a serving maid here.

I’m not here for what you can do for me, Cirri said firmly.I’m here because of what I can do for you.

“Is that so?” Sifka picked up a pipe from her messy desk, striking a match and lighting it; pungent smoke billowed as she eyed Cirri. “And what might that be?”

Cirri hesitated only briefly.You may have heard the rumors that the lai Darrans are all dead. I’m the only one left.

“We might’ve heard something of the sort.”

The rumors are true. This is the estate key. Cirri touched the knobbled key around her neck.Whoever possesses it now owns the deeds and rights to the lai Darran lands and fortunes.

“Well, la-dee-dah,” Sifka snapped, sending another plume of smoke into the air. The tiny room was now harder to penetrate than the mist of the Rift; from the pungent scent, the quality of her tobacco had gone the same route as the rest of the Cathedral. “Are you here to rub my nose in it? I gave you away, and now you need your last laugh? Good for you! How wonderful that you’ve inherited yet another vast fortune on top of your marriage! Is that what you want to hear?”

No. Cirri unclasped the chain in one quick motion, holding out the key.I’m here to give it to the Sisterhood.

Sifka stared, frozen with the pipe at her lips, as Cirri held it out. A long, still moment passed. My wife finally gave up, dropping the key on top of a stack of papers, and Sifka leaned forward with sudden snake-like quickness.

“What in the Lady’s name makes you think I wantyourcharity?” she spat. “Do you know what they say now, when they say your name? That even the Sisterhood’s acolytes love the vampires.”

To my surprise, and the Eldest’s—Sifka reared back in affront—Cirri rolled her eyes upwards for a moment.

It’s not meant as charity, she said, signing with sharp, snappish gestures.And I can’t help what they say. I’m here becauseI want nothing to do with those lands—I have no good memories, nothing tying me to them. But they’re rich in farmland, in apiaries and silkworms. It’d be irresponsible to let them fall into total decay.

I’m offering it to the Sisterhood as repayment for my education. I owed you fifty more years of indentured work. If not for that education, I wouldn't be where I am now. The Sisterhood ensured not only my life, but my life’s work, then gave me away with the debt intact, and I’m trying to repay that.

Sifka sucked her lower lip, gimlet eyes peering at Cirri over the fug of pipesmoke. “Repayment, eh?”

There was another long silence that stretched between them, but this one was less awkward, and more of a silent understanding.

You know the vampires are here to stay, Cirri said.The blood shops grow ever more popular. I’ve heard some weddings have even taken place here. The Sisterhood as it stands now will die a slow death. But you don’t serveyourselves; you serve the Lady of Light. If I can repay my fifty years of debt with this key, then I too serve the Lady in my way. Bring the Sisterhood to the estates and start over. It’s good land, good money. There’s no need to cling to a dying tradition in this city when it’s already moved on without you.

Sifka made a face at that, her wrinkles deepening for a moment, but she puffed the pipe in contemplation.

When the silence stretched too long, Cirri sighed.It’s not charity. It’s years owed for an education. The Sisterhood did save my life once; now I can repay that.

“No strings attached?” Sifka asked sharply. “I won’t have you as our overseer.”

No strings, Cirri promised.Rename the estate what you want. Make the most of it. It’s no longer lai Darran land and I have no desire to see it, nor hold a single coin of its profits, ever again.

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