Page 29 of No Greater Sorrow

THE WHISPERERS

“Scrying is a particular talent of the Otherlanders. They have an ancient saying among themselves:Bones are not as silent as they seem.”

—Excerpt fromTen Myths of the Otherlandersby Emiel Nasir.

“Why the hellwould shelet me go, Nic?” Aleja said, waving a bandaged hand. Her wrist was sprained, not broken, but the motion still made her wince.

“The Messenger has always hated you, Aleja, and I can say from experience that she loves mind games. She had a reason to keep you alive, and it wasn’t out of a sense of fair play. I don’t like this. It feels like she was taunting you. Letting you in on the fact that they know more than we’re aware of,” Nicolas told her.

“All the more reason Violet needs to scry. Is it true that Val won’t be able to plant falsehoods for her? We can trust him even less now,” Aleja said, but he knew her well enough to see the silent indecision playing out behind her eyes. He’d watched that same internal battle for years, every time she was forced to send someone she cared for into danger.

“The librarians confirmed it, but I’ll have them check again.”

Our Lady of Wrath and Fire looked every bit like her moniker as her dark red hair shone in the lamplight. “Good. If she wakes up,convinceher. She’ll listen if it comes from you. Bonnie was asking for me. I’ll be right back.”

Fifteen minutes later, Violet finally stirred. Her eyes fluttered open and immediately shot to Nicolas, widening in surprise. “Where’s Aleja?” she asked, kicking the sheets of her cot.

“She asked me to watch over you until she returned,” he told her. One of the healers, who was puttering around in the tent, nodded and disappeared through the flaps.

“Is thatthingstill here?” Violet pushed the covers aside and attempted to stand, but the healer’s potions were still at work on her. She wavered and made it no farther than a seated position.

“Val is secure and under constant watch. I’m happy to ask one of my officers to accompany you to the palace if you would feel safer there.”

“You don’t understand. When I drank the well water, I saw into the creature’s mind. Theyhateus. They want to wipe us all out. Whatever Val told you, he’s not on our side.” Violet rubbed her forehead. Nicolas had been the recipient of the healer’s tonics on many occasions. They worked wonderfully but left one hell of a hangover.

“I don’t completely disagree, but unlike the lower beings in their realm, the Principalities are not forced into servitude. They have a society of their own. It’s possible Val is telling the truth.”

“Then what’s with the masks? Why aren’t they allowed to show their faces?”

Nicolas wondered how she had come across this tidbit of information, but there was always plenty of gossip floating around the camp. “Their faces are difficult for us to perceive, but you’re right, there is a cultural aspect to it as well. A reminder that each of the Principalities is beholden to the greater good of the Astraelis. If you want a deeper explanation, you’ll have to ask one of them.”

“You’re here to convince me to scry, aren’t you? I can’t believe that you, of all people, would trust him.”

“I’m going to tell you something now. Something only Taddeas, Aleja, and I know. Something you need to keep secret. The real question is: can I trustyou?”

Violet’s expression was difficult to read, but she nodded.

“Val is the Messenger’s son. We need to know what else he hasn’t told us. For that, I need you. If you still think he’s lying afterward, he’ll be dealt with.”

“You mean executed.”

“That decision will be made by the council of Dark Saints.”

She sighed. Violet was so pale that the lanterns seemed to shine through her skin but surviving the first Trial had returned something of her old self. She was no longer the listless sleepwalker they had rescued from the creature in the Unholy Well. “Fine. How can we be sure that Val won’t feed me false information?”

“It’s impossible to lie through scrying. We’ve brought bones from the creature beneath the well—the one you remember from the human realm. If the Authorities are truly connected, those bones will be enough to provide a link to whatever Val wants to show us. Confirming whether he’s telling the truth would go a long way in helping us make our plans.”

“I really don’t want to hear their thoughts again,” Violet muttered.

Nicolas’s jaw clenched as he prepared an argument, but before he could answer, Violet spoke. “But if I’m going to be a Dark Saint when this is all over, I guess I owe you. I’ll do it. I have only one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You tell me why the hell you lied to my best friend about whatever is going on with your chest.”

He’d almost forgotten that Violet was present when the Second had mocked him about the unfulfilled bargain.

The pain had been strangely muted in the Third’s realm, but it was back now that Nicolas didn’t have adrenaline pumping through him. He understood the magic of bargains better than almost anything else; he knew he could calculate how long he had left if he simply paid attention to how quickly the poison was weakening him, but he hadn’t done so. For the first time since gaining the title, the Knowing One didn’t want toknow.

---