A Shadow Bright and Burning (Kingdom on Fire #1)(33)

There were flannel and cotton petticoats, and also a black velvet hip sheath, perfect for carrying a stave. Madame Voltiana had thought of everything.

I sat on the bed, unable to truly enjoy the presents. What Eliza had said about Gwendolyn Agrippa kept gnawing at me. And besides that, the images of yesterday’s slums kept repeating themselves as I admired the gowns. Who was I to wear such fine things when so many were suffering? “Lilly, where do you come from?”

“Miss?”

“Where’s your family now?”

The girl’s smile disappeared. “My family’s all gone, miss. Callax the Child Eater carried off my folks and sisters. Gram felt the only safe place for me’d be behind the ward, so she got me a position in this house. I’m grateful, mind. It’s safe here.” She played with the sleeve of a yellow tea dress.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured.

“The past’s the past, miss,” Lilly said, bustling to organize my vanity table. “Shall I help you dress for dinner?”

We chose the wine-red gown, and the color did flatter me, bringing out the darker tones of my skin. Lilly pinned up my hair so elegantly that it appeared almost beautiful. While Lilly arranged the ringlets by the sides of my face, she clucked her tongue. “You’re lovely, miss. Just as he said.”

“Who?”

“Rook. He’s ever so nice.” Lilly flushed a deep pink. “The others don’t like to be around him, but he’s beautiful. Even with the scars.” Her open admiration for Rook surprised me, but why should it? Rook was my dearest friend, and I should be happy she could look past his scars to see the person underneath. I really should.



“Do you like him, Lilly?” My tone was surprisingly clipped; I felt a kind of low anger. I forced myself to stop. What right did I have to be angry at Lilly? None.

“Suppose I do,” she said, lowering her eyes shyly. For some reason, my stomach began to hurt.

“Yes,” I said. “Do you know where Rook is, by any chance?”

—

I FOUND HIM SWEEPING THE STABLES, humming as he worked. The horses blustered, the happy sound they made when all was well. Rook went to Magnus’s mare and rubbed her nose.

“Hello, tricky beauty,” he said, laughing as she nuzzled at his shoulder. “Nothing for you tonight. Can’t have you growing fat, can we?”

“Hello,” I said, feeling strangely shy.

“Nettie?” Within the stalls, horses whinnied and stomped. Clearly I had disturbed them. Rook gazed at me, his mouth open. “You’re a vision.”

I’d never felt more bizarre, standing there in an elegant evening dress while Rook cleaned out the stalls.

“I missed you today,” I said.

“I missed you, too.” He moved to collect a bucket of water.

“Are they treating you well?”

“Compared to Brimthorn, what isn’t good treatment? Mostly I see to the horses, which I like. I’ve taken on a few extra tasks, just to see they get bedded down properly.” He reached out and stroked one of the carriage horses. “I give them hot water and oats at night, instead of hay. Master Agrippa’s pleased with how much better they seem. You are better, aren’t you?” he murmured, laughing as the horse whickered in response. Rook was a genius with animals.



“Don’t let them work you too hard.”

“Work keeps me sane. Always has.” Of course. It was a distraction from the pain.

“The servants are kind?”

“They aren’t rude,” he said. “Lilly’s quite nice.” He lit up. “Funny, too. Knows a million jokes and twenty card games.” The cold, angry feeling flared up again inside me for one instant. I quashed it.

“She’s the sweetest girl.” More silence. Rook’s expression when he looked at me seemed pitched somewhere between admiration and sadness. He picked up the bucket, wincing a little. When we were children, he would carry water up the long hill from the well. To help with his stiff hand, I would grab one end and he the other. Sometimes we’d play games to see who could slosh the least. “May I help?” I asked, desperately grabbing for the handle.

“No, of course not!” He pulled back. “You can’t ruin your new clothes.”

“I can carry a bucket.” The fluttering lace at my elbow tickled me. All right, perhaps this outfit was not entirely appropriate for manual labor.

Rook agreed with my thoughts. “Not as you’re dressed now.”



“These clothes are just a part I need to play for the sorcerers.” Every word seemed to widen the breach. “Nothing’s changed.”

Rook frowned. “Everything’s changed.”

The sorcerers were different from everyone else, irretrievably different. They dined lavishly while, less than a mile away, people starved; they took trips outside the ward to walk for a few hours among the impoverished, only to come straight back again. My path led me away from people like Lilly and Charley and Rook, the kind of people I’d grown up with. The kind of person I’d been. My throat tightened.

“How are your scars? Do they hurt?”

“That’s not something you should trouble yourself with now.” He dropped his eyes from mine.