Page 31 of Fortress of Ambrose
She doesn’t even know about Jordan yet.
“Dimara.” It’s Knox who speaks this time. “Willam tells me that you’re getting quite good at that pirouette you’ve been working on.”
Her bright eyes shine when she throws her arms overhead and demonstrates.
“It really is good,” I say, trying to broker some peace. Dimara ignores me, and I consider it a win, leaving the living room to find Willam. He’s in the kitchen, brooding beside a bay window that overlooks a sprawling lawn and, in the distance, the barn.
“I am grateful you were able to get Knox back to us.”
“I know.”
“But bringing him here does give me deep concern for your and Knox’s judgment.”
“I know.” That is only fair. “There is so much that has happened. You don’t understand. The world is a disaster, to put it lightly.”
He pulls open a cupboard that’s sparsely filled with nonperishables, moving them aside before pushing the wall along the back of the cabinet. It springs open. Inside the hidden compartment are piles of folded newspapers. He hands me one. Then another. I flip through the issues ofDebs Dailyfrom the last several weeks. Some with headlines I’ve seen. Others I haven’t.
The Future of Magic Uncertain
Headmistress Darragh Marionne Awaits Judgment
Corruption Abounds in the Brotherhood—Head or Heart
Begonia Terrace Taken Off the Market, Unsold
Ellery Ambrose & Elena Hargrove Nuptials on the Rocks?
Five Tips for Evading a Darkbearer
Darragh Earlise Marionne, Obituary
Magic Missing, Vigilantes on the Run
I flip to the last article and read. The report pins the rumors about the Sphere’s destruction on Jordan and the Dragunhead. Then it mentions that I, the heir to House of Ambrose,and“someone else” may know of his whereabouts. My heart knocks into my ribs. Without the brotherhood to pursue justice, the article encourages Marked citizens to be on the lookout. Sun tracking classes are being offered to track down Jordan. The words on the page blur at the rapid ram of my heart.I have to tell Jordan about this.
“Fortunately sun tracking is not easy or fast to learn,” I say. Yagrin was the only one in his class expertly skilled at it.
“Probably because it requires patience.” Willam chuckles. “News travels fast. And ambition even faster.” Willam doesn’t want anything to do with Jordan. He’s a moving target. I chew my lip, realizing I hadn’t considered that before coming here. I’m surprised he let me in here at all. Still, we are out of options to heal Jordan without his help. Then it hits me. Willam being on edge. The safe house being so empty.
I know exactly how to persuade him. I can give him something they have never had—a say.
“I understand helping us is a risk. But when has a safe house ever had the chance to shape the Order?”
Willam’s forehead creases.
“What if the Order could look different? What if the Houses could look different?”
“Spoken like the heir to a great ancestral House.”
“Don’t be mistaken. I have no interest in running Marionne. I haven’t even been back to Chateau Soleil.”
“You’re saying you don’t have plans for House of Marionne?”
I shift uncomfortably at the legacy I never asked to carry put on my shoulders. The weight of being responsible for so many others is suffocating. I can hardly keep myself alive. I’m not here to talk about a responsibility I did not want. A ship I didn’t ask to captain.
“What doyouwantto happen with the Order?”
He paces the length of the room before pointing to a paragraph in one of the articles detailing vicious attacks like the Sixth Ward in DC, on other Unmarked neighborhoods in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City.
