Thirty-Seven An Uncommon Remedy

THIRTY-SEVEN

An Uncommon Remedy

MARY

M y cell lay in an appropriately sinister region of the Ess Noti headquarters, complete with iron-banded doors—all locked—and the muted glow of under-populated dragonfly lanterns. Hae conferred with two guards in a side room, holding my arm all the while like one might an unruly toddler, then accepted a key and led me to the end of the corridor.

He unlocked a door and prodded me through into a startlingly large, clean room, which I saw from the floor as I promptly tripped on the carpet and went sprawling. The pain was obscene, and when my vision cleared, Hae watched me from the doorway.

Or rather, he looked through me, his gaze suddenly so intense, so vicious, gooseflesh prickled up my arms.

I knew that look, though on Samuel it was gentler. He was in the Dark Water. What did he see?

Not me.

I lunged towards him, intent on knocking him to the floor and—well, I hadn't thought further than that, but any form of violence seemed good.

His hand shot out and closed around my throat with preternatural speed.

"Hush," he breathed, still staring through me. "I must focus."

I made a sound between a squeak and a growl, both choked off as he squeezed.

I seized his forearm for support and dug my nails into his flesh. After a handful of heartbeats, loud and trapped in my swelling face, he dropped me. I staggered back into a table, which in turn clattered into the plastered wall.

"Try to leave and I will know." Hae held up the hand he'd just had around my throat and stretched his fingers meaningfully. His eyes were focused on this world again. "Your talisman is gone, I have your scent, and there is nowhere you can go where I will not see."

The slam of the door cut off any response I might have made.

I had been a fool. More than a fool—I had been the highest kind of idiot to think Ben and I could go near the Ess Noti, let alone find Samuel's cure.

Frustration lit in my chest, overriding lingering fear and pain and a plentiful dose of self-pity. I entertained those feelings for a few frustrated breaths before thoughts of Samuel and Charles overtook me.

I had to escape before they learned where I was and came after me, endangering themselves. But my leg quavered, my stomach was sour with pain, and the whole of me maddeningly weak.

First, assess my surroundings. Second, rest. Third, escape. Whether the instructions came from my subconscious or Tane, I didn't know. But I clung to them.

The room had a comfortable bed, a chest of drawers, and a bookshelf, both of which were empty except for a washbasin and pitcher of water. There were no windows save for half a dozen round, fist-sized inlets, which let in the very last daylight. Most of the light came from a dragonfly lantern, all golden males, and heat came from the walls themselves, accompanied by the hiss of unseen water.

Despite the weight of my situation, resting on a clean bed was not something I would waste. I hauled myself into the soft sheets and heavy blankets, and buried my face in a lavender-scented pillow.

See what you can learn? Watch over me? I asked of Tane as my burning eyes closed of their own accord.

Always.

Some time later, a knock came at the door. I'd just cracked open my eyes when a guard entered, holding her musket ready. A second guard followed with a chair, then a man in an apron.

The talisman maker. He looked haggard but nodded in thanks as the guard set down the chair.

I gingerly sat up.

"You can both go," the talisman maker said, unshouldering a structured bag, more like a small chest with a strap.

The guards looked from him to me.

"That is unwise, sir," one said in Mereish.

The man let out a sigh so exhausted that it trembled. "Fine, but do not bother me." He gestured for me to sit on the edge of the bed and dragged his chair to face me.

I did not move, looking from him to the guards, one of whom had closed the door. My nerves hummed. Why was he here?

"My name is Maren," the man said in Aeadine, setting his bag beside the chair. He appeared unrushed, even grateful for the chance to sit.

I recognized the name, though in my current state and the uncertainty of the moment, our connection eluded me.

"Speak in Mereish," one of the guards snapped.

Maren turned to look at him, somehow managing to look down his nose despite being seated. "She does not understand Mereish."

I eyed the guard, wondering how much they had been told about me. Would they believe Maren?

"Usti, then," the guard insisted.

"Usti from me shit," I replied helpfully in that tongue, looking appropriately chagrined and uncertain.

Maren gestured to me to prove his point, then turned away from the guards and resumed speaking in Aeadine. "Mary Firth. I met your captain in Hesten some time ago and made him a talisman."

This was Sam's talisman maker? I fought the urge to stare and tried to express fear for the benefit of the guards.

"We thought you were dead," I whispered.

"Hold your arm out," Maren instructed. "I must take your blood. It is the only way I could arrange to see you."

I had little choice but to comply. My desire to trust this man was strong, unexpectedly so. There was no sorcery around that feeling, though, in a place like this, I could never be certain of that.

"They burned your shop and abducted you?" I clarified. " Them? "

Maren set the back of my hand on his knee and fished a vial and a pin out of his bag. "Yes. Do you understand who these people are? The organization? I dare not speak the name, the guards will understand that. The Sheltering Hand. Once servants of a saint."

I nodded. "You're the one making the shot and the talismans, the ones that suppress sorcery?"

"I am not the only one, but I am the best." There was more regret than pride in his voice. He held up the pin. "This will hurt."

I held still as he stabbed my skin. Droplets of blood began to well and he squeezed my finger over the mouth of the vial. Not the most efficient method of blood-letting, I observed, but he seemed more concerned with buying time. In him, I might just have an ally within the Ess Noti.

But what would this blood be used for? Making talismans and shot to be used against ghiseau and Stormsingers?

"After the events beyond the Stormwall came to light, many of them came to Hesten," Maren explained, his tone empty and measured. "They asked questions, hunted down anyone with suspicious connections. Your captain's visit to my shop came to light, and I was… uncovered."

My stomach turned. This man's predicament was our fault. Had some of our companions from beyond the Stormwall ended up here too? Within these walls?

The brief and no doubt hopeless urge to search the other cells arose in me, though I tried to push it aside. If I made it out of here alone and alive, that would be a miracle. I had no time for daring rescues.

Still, the thought lingered, shifting towards Hart and the Uknaras.

"What are you talking about?" a guard demanded in Mereish.

"Her power, its limits, and so forth," Maren bit back. "Do not interrupt me again."

The guard spat on the floor—I frowned at him in disgust—but he fell silent.

I risked asking, "Were there others taken? Other ghiseau ? Perhaps some recently, from my ship?"

Maren nodded. "A handful of ghiseau were brought in at the same time as I. If there have been more, I have not seen them."

"Do you know who they are?"

"No. They have since been… dispersed elsewhere."

"That sounds ominous."

"It is. Mages and ghiseau , particularly foreign ones, any who cannot be trusted to use their powers, are instead used for blood and bone and experimentation. And that is very much as dark as it sounds, Ms. Firth."

Crimson droplets trailed down the side of the vial and gathered slowly at the bottom, emphasizing his words.

"So you have not heard of any new ghiseau ? An Usti couple?"

Maren shook his head and silence stretched.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, because of us," I said quietly, though the weight on my shoulders was not just for him. It was for the nameless ghiseau , whether comrades or enemies, who had come with us back over the Stormwall and been snatched away from the lives they tried to reclaim. It was for the Uknaras, wherever they might be.

Maren's smile was stilted and dry. "It was only a matter of time. I knew I walked a blade in Hesten. I spoke too freely, sold too many talismans. But until recently, these people, they were mostly just spies and meddlers." He dropped his voice. "Then Faucher took control, bringing his research and his wealth and the support of the king. Now, their advances are world-changing. I went from a loose thread to an asset to be reclaimed."

I lowered my voice, trying to obscure the name from the guard's listening ears. "Is he related to Jessin Faucher?"

Maren emitted a barely perceptible sigh. "He is his father. Which is the only reason why the son is still alive and free, considering his allegiances. He is a Separatist, those who believe the Usti should not hold the power that they do."

My mind flipped back to when we had encountered Jessin, the words he and Sam had exchanged and the papers he had given us. Could Jessin be working against his own father? Outright undermining the Mereish's relationship with Usti?

Too many connections and questions, not enough energy to unravel them.

"Jessin Faucher and the entirety of the Mereish Fleet are gathering in Ostchen," Maren admitted, raising grave eyes to mine.

"This is the Navy's main anchorage… Isn't it normal for them to gather here?"

"I speak of the fleet entire, Ms. Firth. Nearly every seaworthy vessel has been launched or recalled, all that can be without raising suspicion. They are preparing to invade Aeadine on next month's Black Tide. Surely you have seen the floodwaters? Next month it will be even greater, and the fleet will sail over the Aeadine Anchorage and straight up the swollen River Whall into Jurry. They will land their army, and Aeadine will be Mereish by the end of the year."

I felt myself pale, my cheeks going cold. I had never seen the Anchorage but knew it to be a long crescent of islets and hidden reefs that acted as a bulwark between Aeadine and Mereish waters. "Aeadine doesn't know about the tides. They won't be prepared for any of this."

"Precisely." Maren corked his vial. "We may see an end to war upon the Winter Sea, Ms. Firth. Only two powers will remain: the Usti, and the Mereish. The Capesh already follow the Mereish lead. Otherwise, they would have no source of ghistings, do you know this?"

I nodded distantly. An end to the war. Those words should have been full of hope, peace and brightness and the cessation of strife. It meant mothers and fathers and children and lovers finally being able to return home.

But not this way. Not with my people downtrodden, our Wolds harvested and our mages reaped.

"We need to warn Aeadine," I said, echoing the sentiments that had driven us down the road to Ostchen with our pockets full of stolen talismans and magecrafted shot.

His gaze flicked up. It was an unguarded moment, round-eyed, shocked, and more than a little uncertain. "We?"

I paused. I'd meant myself and Samuel and Benedict and Charles, Hart and the Uknaras, but why not include Maren? He was as much a prisoner as I. Removing him would certainly be a blow to the Ess Noti, and perhaps he could be persuaded to share his knowledge of magecraft with the Aeadine.

"I'm going to escape," I told the Mereish man, infusing my words with confidence. "I can try to take you with me. This manacle they put on me, what does it do?"

Maren blinked rapidly and made a show of cleaning his instruments. "It suppresses your sorcery."

"Does it inhibit connection to the Other?"

"It suppresses your sorcery, so yes?" His brows furrowed, though he did not look up. "That is the same thing."

"I mean in… other ways. Nevermind. Can you take it off?"

"Maybe." He shot me a tight look, still confused by my initial question. It occurred to me, not for the first time, that even the Mereish truly might not know the full extent of a Mother Ghisting ghiseau's powers. Or was Otherwalking simply a secret so guarded, even Maren had never learned of it?

Either way, it seemed I still had an advantage.

"Where do you sleep?" I asked.

"In my cell." Maren watched me with guarded eyes, his face angled away from the guards. "Two doors down, on the left."

"Do you know a discreet way out of here?"

He looked momentarily uncertain, then said, "Leave that with me."

I found a jagged smile. "Then I will come for you tonight. Be ready."