Page 60 of Her Shadow so Dark and Lovely
“Noela,” he says with a gentle growl. “Let the healer see to her while she’s still breathing.”
I make a huff of noise. Sogentle. I turn away to confirm my suspicions— the dead scribes have been long dead. They have been placed here, but for what purpose? And how did Mercias’ trainee end up in the middle of them?
Mercias eventually comes to stand beside me as the Cupbearer is finally allowed to see the injured scribe in Noela’s arms.
“These are the other missing scribes,” he says.
“Other? You did not say.” Though it explains why they all look a week dead or more.
“Hmm, did I not? Possibly because the last time I saw you, you were taking one of the missing scribes into the Library’s Heart,” he hisses, low. There’s a sharp, painful tug at my heart.
“That was unrelated,” I tell him, scowling.
“And then you almost died on the way out,” he continues.
“That is possibly related,” I say, frowning down at the corpses. At least there will be more hands available to clear this mess up.
“I figured,” he says. “Fuck, this is brazen. Even for them.”
“Court-sanctioned, perhaps?” I turn my attention to the Lightkeepers. What is left of them, in any case. There is necrotic tissue damage still eating at their skin. “Impressive.” I nudge one with my toe, glancing back at the trainee. “The Heart must have liked her.”
“Perhaps the Heart knows something we don’t,” suggests Mercias.
I suppose the Heart knows I intend to leave. It will need to do better than a trainee if it hopes to replace me.
“Yes,” I say softly. “It probably does.”
“I don’t understand though,” Mercias continues. “Every time there have been Lightkeepers so far, your scribe has been at the centre of them.”
Something like ice drops through my stomach. I look at him in alarm. Because he’s right. She has. There is a tugging sensation again, sharp and painful.Dark Lady have mercy on me.
“I’ve left her alone,” I say, my skin prickling. For the first time in a long time I feel nauseous. Properly vile. There should be nowhere safer than my rooms. They should not even know she is in them. The Heart’s bargain strains again, a sharp pain shooting through my chest.
But these were people who had delved into the Library, only stopping short of stepping into the Heart itself.
“Sila—” Mercias reaches out to me and I grab his arm, my long nails digging into his skin.
“I need to return to my rooms,now.”
Mercias makes a very pretty picture in his alarm. A bell begins to ring through the Library’s halls.
“No,” he says, surely thinking of his own lover.
I turn and I run and as soon as I am able to reasonably do so, I shift into the shadows. I slide through all the dark spaces back to my room, hoping I have not made a terrible mistake.
Chapter 36
Lorel
I hadn’t ever thoughtI would see the inside of the Keep again. It is another world, with its austere walls carved into regimented blocks, its plain wood doors, and the tall imposing ceilings. All the ornamentation is saved for the Dawn King’s palace that sits above, bloated with all the gold and beauty it denies everything below.
I don’t catch any of the words that pass between my captors, but I can tell that we are ascending. That worries me. To be in the Keep is bad enough— to end up in the palace would be a nightmare.
My captors turn off to take me into a plain, unmarked room, and relief sweeps through me. I do not wish to come to anyone’s attention here, least of all the Dawn King’s.
I’m dumped unceremoniously on the floor, and I hit it hard, still tangled in the sheet. With the sedation still in effect, all I can do is lie there and stare at the sigil hearth. No dull, insipid lights here. Only the best and brightest will do.
The Dawn King only knows why they’ve dragged me back here.
