In Her Shadow(21)

The Governor himself, however; he might have. He barely knew the girl, most likely, having lived so far apart for so long. More, Regnals didn't value daughters as much as they did sons, and he might have seen her as the key to political expedience. Was he capable of that level of cruelty? To steal his own granddaughter to use as a pretext for conquest? Maybe. Britta didn't know enough to say.

There also remained the possibility the girl had simply wandered off. But the Regnals didn't seem to be under that impression. Britta hadn't thought to ask why.

Whichever of these things were true, it did no good to stand outside all night pondering. She had to act. Britta took the steps to the porch two at a time, and breezed inside, then up the steps of the main hall and down to the Abbess of Night's room. The door cracked before she could knock, and she stepped inside.

"You've been to the Governor's manse," said the Abbess from her darkened corner.

"Yes, Abbess."

"And you rushed right here to tell me the Governor's granddaughter is missing."

"Yes, Abbess. Well, no. I know you'd know already."

"Indeed. Then why were you in such a hurry to return?"

"To beg your assistance on behalf of the Dux."

"My help? They don't suspect us having done it."

Britta shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Odd."

"Did we?"

The old woman's face resolved into form, its paleness a sharp contrast to the darkness surrounding it. "Do you think I would do such a thing?"

"That's not an answer."

The Abbess of Night sighed. "No, it's not. My apologies. I'm so used to these games now that it's difficult to give a straight answer even when I mean to. I did not take the girl."

"Then who?"

"That's a good question, one I don't know the answer to."

"How–"

"How do I not know something that happened in my own city? I'm not magic, Britta. Oracles and diviners are a lie. Fortunetelling bunco-artists all. I rely on an army of spies. Good spies. Spies that infiltrate every facet of this city at every level. From street sweepers to accountants, to first mates of pirates, I have eyes and ears everywhere."

"Which means the person who did this would have to know that. There's more, though, isn't there?"

"Think it through, New Moon."

"Someone the spies would know and trust. Someone who they knew was close to the Abbess of Night, worked closely enough with her that his or her word would be as good as your own."

The Abbess of Night didn't say anything, her lips pulled thin as she waited for Britta to work it out.

"Weboshi."

The Abbess of Night gave a slight nod.

A vein in Britta's abbey throbbed to life. She rubbed it, trying to quell the ache. It couldn't be. Britta had spoken to her just before she'd left. There was no way Weboshi could have beat her to the Governor's manse and staged a kidnapping, even with her knowledge of the city's shot cuts and secret passages. But then, she wouldn't have to do it personally. Isn't that what Britta herself had just deduced? The Governor's guard and his various ministers were Regnals, but surely he didn't import household staff. A paid off maid, cook, maybe even an actual nanny.

The vein in Britta's throbbed again. This was insane. Weboshi had been her mother, or near enough. Now Britta had to hunt her down. Perhaps Weboshi was completely innocent, but if she wasn't, Britta would have to watch the woman who suckled her from the edge of death met with death herself.

"Britta?"

"I'm sorry, Abbess of Night, I'm thinking."

"About where Weboshi might be? Have you figured it out?"

"I can't."

"You can, New Moon. Think aloud if you have to."

Britta tried, visualizing it in her mind's eye. She saw Weboshi's henchmen, dragging Ava through the streets. But no, too obvious. Plus, the girl could cry out. So perhaps they had drugged her, or gagged her, and stuffed her in a sack. Focusing on the "how," however, only distracted Britta from the more important question of "where?" There was nowhere in the city for Weboshi's accomplices to hide with a little girl that either the Abbess or the Governor couldn't find them – and if they could hide, the question of how Weboshi had pulled that off became important again.

"We have to figure out who helped her," Britta said.

"All right. Who were they?"

"I'm not sure. Other cloaked sisters? But to go against you, they would have to be especially sneaky or especially disloyal. I find it hard to believe."

"So–"

"So I think Weboshi's betrayal is an aberration. It might not even be a betrayal, in her eyes."

"So not one of us."

"No ma'am. But outside forces, people who want to see conflict between the abbey and the Regnals."

"Who would gain from that?"

"The Regnals. But–"

The Abbess of Night smiled. "Go on."

"But they wouldn't dare. Pretext isn't enough. There's no way they have enough troops to put down a riot in the city. Any move on us without absolute proof we were responsible. . ."