Page 25 of With Wing And Claw

‘Hello?’ she called when nothing happened.

A dull thud sounded from an adjoining room.

Then the rhythm of irregular footsteps, limping closer at surprising speed. She whirled around just in time to see a ruffled fae male appear from behind the cabinets, his brown hair bound into a messy queue, his hands stained with ink. The blocky shape of his left boot suggested a clubfoot or some similar disability. His russet-brown wings propelled him forward with measured slaps, though, betraying hidden strengthand agility.

His white and grey clothes seemed harmless. She let go of her dress with some hesitation, the silence around them a threat rather than a reassurance.

‘Hello?’ she warily repeated.

The clerk – or at least she assumed that must be his function – came to a standstill, looking her up and down twice before he met her gaze again. ‘Yes?’

He sounded, if anything, a fraction impatient.

Hardly the welcome she had expected. It was nonsensical to feel miffed about the lack of proper regard – all the more so because she had done exactly nothing to deserve it – and yet she couldn’t help the crackle of ice in her voice as she said, ‘I’m looking for Anysia.’

‘Ah.’ He clasped his hands behind his back, clearing his throat. ‘That is unfortunate. I’m afraid she died in the battle.’

‘She— Oh.’ For some reason, Thysandra hadn’t expected the head of the court archives to have been on the battlefield of the White City at all … but then again, it stood to reason that a mage of her capacities would not stay at home waiting for the war to pass. Without doubt, the Mother had enlisted many of her civilians to temporarily join the army when the threat posed by the Alliance had grown. ‘I’m sorry to hear that. Could I see the second archivist, then?’

The brown-haired male cleared his throat once again. ‘Also dead, regrettably.’

A slow, deeply worrying suspicion rose. ‘Is Iphis—’

‘Dead as well.’ The clerk’s grimace showed a hint of nervousness now. ‘Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.’

She should feel more, presumably. These were people she’d known well, people she’d worked with for decades or longer, people she had liked and respected. But through the worries and the whizzing of her mind, there was just the hollow in her chest – the sense of too many emotions to feel at once, and the sinking realisation of even more trouble than anticipated.

‘So …’ Her glance around the deserted hall was reflexive, a last spark of desperate optimism hoping a familiar face would magically materialise in the aisles. ‘Who is head of the archives now, exactly?’

‘Ah.’ A sheepish cough. ‘I suppose that would be, um, me.’

She blinked at him.

‘I’m officially the supervisor of the education department,’ he clarified, pointing a half-hearted thumb at the section in question. ‘Which appears to be the highest position left. Of course, if you’d prefer to appoint someone else to the post, I fully understand. Your Majesty.’

The title wasn’t a jab from his lips. Rather, it sounded as though he simply realised half a second too late that he was probably supposed to attach it to his sentences.

‘Right,’ Thysandra said blankly, which was about the most insightful response she was able to come up with on the spot. She’d vaguely assumed she’d solved the worst of her problems by dealing with the army … but at least she was familiar with the military. The already minimal numbers of archivists she knew well enough to trust them had now officially shrunk to zero. ‘And your name is?’

‘Oh. Gadyon. Galynthias’s house.’ He cleared his throat again. ‘If I’d known you’d be here …’

‘Never mind about that,’ she interrupted. She hadn’t knownhe’dbe here either, after all. ‘We’ll make do. How many other clerks do we have left, roughly?’

‘About fifty,’ he said, looking cautious. ‘More than half of the fae died, and well, most of the humans left, of course. I sent the remaining fae archivists we home for the day. Most of them had family members to mourn. I figured we’d make a start at updating the population registers tomorrow, but of course, if you—’

‘No, no. That’s all fine.’ She briefly closed her eyes, suppressing the urge to rub her temples – headaches were weakness, and she couldn’t afford that right now. ‘I would like to take a look at the administration of our food supplies. Production within the fae isles, tribute amounts of the past decade, storage at the court – all the details. Where do I find those files?’

‘That’s Rhodia’s department,’ Gadyon said, even more nervously now. ‘Or well, she’s officially sub-sub-supervisor of the department, but there’s no one else left. I could go ask her for an overview, if youneed—’

‘Don’t bother.’ How was she to predict the unknown Rhodia’s political preferences? She might be Bereas’s niece, for all Thysandra knew, and even if she wasn’t, it was best not to owe anyone too many favours. ‘I’ll take a look myself for now. Where do I find the information?’

Gadyon looked sceptical, but nodded and quickly muttered, ‘Third room through that doorway, then recent years will be on your left and historical summaries on your right. And um, if you don’t mind me asking, does that mean—’

‘Please keep the position for now,’ Thysandra curtly said, already turning for the door he’d indicated. ‘I don’t have anyone else for it at the moment. And see if you can find a bunch of new clerks, considering all the administrative changes we have coming up.’

From the corner of her eye, she could see him give a half-bow, half-salute, uneasy like a male who’s never set foot on a battlefield. The irregular tap-thumpof his limping gait died away behind her as she hurried into the next room, jolting at every shadow that moved on the edge of her sight.

The third room was much, much bigger than she’d hoped – twenty-five aisles on either side of the main corridor, endless walls of drawers and shelves and leather folders, organised according to some arcane system that likely only made sense to a handful of people in the world. Still … if she applied some patience and common sense to the task, how hard could it be to find the lists and overviews she was looking for?

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