In Her Shadow(22)

"Ah, but if Weboshi is caught with the girl."

Britta shook her head. "No – no. She wouldn't help the Regnals betray her own. She hates them."

"So, who then?"

"The merchants, maybe."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I – I just intuited it."

"Not good enough. Think, girl."

Britta furrowed her brow. Was she sweating? She felt like she was sweating. "They might think the Regnals will clean up the city. They wouldn't have to pay us protection anymore, nor would they have to worry about crime – or not as much."

The Abbess of Night smiled her toothless smile. "Good. Now, where is she?"

"With access to merchant ships, they could smuggle her out of the city."

"True, but to what end?"

"You're right. They want to make a statement of some sort. Anyway, it's the obvious solution."

The Abbess's grin grew broader. "Go on."

"You told me Weboshi is a fool, but she's not. You've had her as your right hand for decades. Even if you've taught me nothing, you must have taught her a lot. She knows the best place to hide is in the open, where anyone might find her."

"She's still in the city."

Britta's lip quivered. "She's not just still in the city. She's here, in the abbey."

The Abbess of Night rubbed her whiskery chin. Her eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth to say something, but before the words escaped her lips, Britta dashed out of the room and down the hall.

***

Britta pressed her ear to the door and listened. She'd never done such a thing before, never had reason to. What had she expected to hear? She wasn't sure, and indeed, not a sound came from within. Around her, though, rustled her sisters' cloaks as they shuffled towards her. The Abbess of Night must have summoned them. Good, because if Britta's hunch was right, she couldn't stomach the idea of facing Weboshi alone.

She shushed the girls as they huddled around her. None of them spoke, their eyes darting to one another nervously. Did they know what was happening, or simply sensed something in the air?

Britta pushed the door open, leaning into it as if it needed more force than was necessary. She peeked through the crack. Ava slumped in Britta's own chair next to the window. Weboshi stood beside her, brushed the girl's hair. Was the girl even alive? Britta shoved the dark thought down inside her as far as it would go.

"Come in," said Weboshi, without looking up from her work on Ava's hair.

Britta pressed her fingers to her lips, then pointed to the floor, hoping her sisters understood to stay put unless they were needed. They all nodded, slowly. She stepped through the doorway and stood, bathed in moonlight. From here, she could see Ava's pale little face clearly. The girl's eyes were closed and her expression limp. The fear she might be dead fought its way back to the forefront of Britta's thoughts.

"Weboshi–"

"Don't lecture me. These Regnal sonsofbitches have taken everything from us – from me. Soon they'll take you. And when they're done turning you into a proper Regnal wife, they'll take this abbey too."

"So it's revenge? Did you kill her?"

Weboshi set the brush down. "I was going to. Goddess help me, I was going to."

Britta inched her way toward Weboshi and the girl. "But you're not going to now?"

Weboshi's eyes glistened with tears. "No. I couldn't. I wanted to strangle the life out of her. I wanted to take one of their daughters the way they'd taken mine. But then I saw her sleeping so quiet. Can you hear her little snores? How could I, Britta? How could I even consider it? What have I done?"

Weboshi broke down into sobs. "New Moon," she said, voice quivering, "I am undone. They'll kill me for this."

Britta threw her arms around the crying woman. "Yes." Britta choked on her own tears as the words rose in her throat. "They will."





Chapter 10


The soldiers snapped to attention when Britta returned, Ava bundled in her arms, Weboshi bundled in fetters behind her surrounded by cloaked sisters.

Captain Marcus stepped forward and said, "What's this?"

Britta pulled back the blanket covering the girl's little face.

"Sun Triumphant, is she–"

"She lives, but call for a physician right away."

Marcus sent Valex after a doctor. Britta breezed through the gate, not bothering to wait for permission, and carried the girl up into the manse.

The Regnals had worked quickly, turning the ballroom into a command center. Gathered round a table with a map in the center were the Dux, Governor and other Regnals of import. Obviously, they'd decided not to involve the locals in the search. Reasonable, Britta thought, considering it had been a local responsible after all.

They stopped talking one-by-one as they realized who she was and what she held.

The Dux rushed forward. His face showed no expression, but his stride said everything. He snatched Ava from Britta's arms and cradled her in his own.

"I called a physician," Britta said.

He glanced up from staring at the girl's face long enough to give Britta curt nod. Then he swiveled away from her, and dashed upstairs. She wanted to follow him, throw her arms around him and tell him it would be okay, but her duty was here. Weboshi had done a terrible thing, unforgivable maybe, but she'd done it for love; just as Britta felt some obligation to fulfill her duty as the New Moon, she also felt a duty to the woman who had raised her. She couldn't rush off after her future husband without seeing to Weboshi's fate first.