Page 163 of A Tribute of Fire

She was the one the priestesses prayed to. The one treated like some living incarnation of the goddess. I couldn’t imagine that she would want there to be anything out there that could undermine her authority.

But it couldn’t have been someone from the temple who had found it. The book was a forbidden object, and I would already be out in the streets of Troas if someone here had found it. There were people just waiting for an excuse.

It must have been the men who had attacked us last night. Was this why they’d done it? Maybe they had come here not specifically to kill me but to retrieve the book that I’d stolen.

That seemed impossible, too. How would they even know?

My heart came to a complete halt as I realized that the only person who knew I had the book was Jason.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

When my adelphia did finally return, I told them everything that had happened. The questions I’d been asked, the accusations. As I’d suspected, they had also been interrogated, but we’d all held to our version of events.

If they were risking themselves and their places here to help me, I was at least going to tell them as much of the truth as I could.

“There’s something else,” I told them. “When I was in the city, I went into the records office and found an old book about the temple. The last page was full of entries of priestesses getting married and the temple providing them a substantial dowry.”

We were all seated on our own beds and everyone looked at me in utter astonishment.

“You can read?” Ahyana asked.

I’d been expecting this question. “All women in Locris are taught to read.”

“Priestesses getting married? That can’t be right,” Io said, sounding extremely upset. I knew how important the temple and her faith were to her, and it made sense that she would be more sensitive to what I’d said than the others. “Abstaining from relationships and marriage is one of the fundamental vows of the goddess.”

“I know what I saw,” I told her.

“Maybe you misunderstood it,” she said.

“I didn’t. It was very clear.”

“You said you didn’t know how old the book was. Maybe it was from a really long time ago,” Ahyana said with Suri nodding.

“No,” Io interjected. “It can’t be possible.”

The attachment she felt to the goddess and the temple would make it nearly impossible for someone like her to believe me. I wished I still had the proof.

Part of me suspected that even if I could show her the book—and she could read it—she might not be swayed.

And that worried me. “I don’t know what happened to the book or who took it. I’m guessing it was the men who attacked last night, but I don’t know how they could have known about it or why they would want it.”

Zalira tapped her fingers against her leg. “When we returned to our room after seeing you, I did notice that everything had been thrown around. I assumed it was because of the fighting, but now that I think on it ...”

I felt bad, as if I were causing them to question everything the same way that I was. Making them more suspicious by nature.

“The mystery of the book aside, I am going to try and break into the treasury tonight.” I held my breath, not certain what their response would be.

“You’re injured,” Ahyana observed.

“Which is actually a perfect cover. If someone realizes that the key is gone or that the treasury was broken into, who would suspect us? Especially me?”

“You know as well as we do that Antiope will increase the guard,” Zalira pointed out.

I nodded. “I also know that everyone will be in a heightened state, expecting another attack. I think we can use it to our advantage. I have some ideas.”

“I thought you didn’t like plans,” Ahyana teased.

“Tonight will be a special situation. We don’t know exactly what we’re walking into.” At least before, with Theano’s office, we’d known the general layout of the building and what we might expect. We had no such information for the treasury. None of us had ever entered the building.

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