Mask of Shadows (Untitled #1)(24)

“Right.” I tugged off my glove—useless anyway, if she could see the sigil through the thin fabric—and offered her the ring. One thing from Our Queen and of course I couldn’t keep it. “Here. I washed it.”

She took it from me and slid it back onto her finger, grinning the entire time. “Why’d you wash it?”

I bit my cheek, fighting down my exasperation. Because I’d wrapped it in bloodied bandages and wanted to own something pretty for the first time in my life.

“Dirt.” I rubbed my left arm. “Filthy business, thieving.”

She looked me over—eyes going from muddy boots tucked under my chair to the dust clinging to the ends of my dress. “Undoubtedly.”

The ring fit her finger perfectly—a striking silver against her skin.

“Of the two of us, I’d say I know the most about the Left Hand and what they do.” Elise handed me the charcoal and wrote “cat,” waiting for me to copy her. “I grew up around Emerald and the previous Opal. I’ve known Ruby since I started studying under Lady dal Abreu. I know exactly what you and the other auditioners are doing here. What I don’t know is why you’re here.”

She did know everyone—everyone I needed to know. Maybe she was more useful for information, but she’d not tell me anything if I was an ass. I palmed the piece of charcoal, flipping it from my palm to the back of my hand and down my sleeve, and spread my empty hands out before her. She laughed softly.

Good.

“Auditioning’s better than getting arrested.” I dropped the charcoal back into my hand. “And tutoring, of course.”

Elise’s smile fell. “Then let’s get to it.”

Elise ran through the alphabet, and I followed her lead, leaving everything as it was and using the silence between writing to sneak glances at her. Smudges of charcoal darkened her delicate hands, wisps of curls at the base of her neck escaped from gold pins with every twist of her neck, and her pulse fluttered beneath the blue lace collar of her dress. She was clever and so caught up in actually trying to teach me that she didn’t notice she’d scrawled lines along her cheeks as well as the parchment when she brushed back her hair. She was nothing like any Erlend noble I’d ever met.

A knock rattled the door.

“Time’s up.” Elise dropped her charcoal back into the tin. “Same time every night. We’re supposed to be through the basics in a few days in case you make it through round one.”

Optimistic of them.

So there were rounds. That was more than I knew about the auditions this morning.

“Thank you.” I pulled out my one handkerchief, an old robbery relic embroidered with a word I didn’t recognize, and handed it to her. Time to get on her good side. “You’ve got black on your cheek.”

Elise accepted the cloth, dotting her cheek. “The entire time?”

“You kept adding to it, so I figured I might as well wait till you were done.” I grinned at her blush and nodded. It was going to be doubly easy to draw information from her if she liked me. A little flirting was nothing, even if she was an Erlend. “Looks charming too.”

Elise opened her mouth, nose crinkling, and didn’t say anything. I stood and bowed.

“Tomorrow night.”

“If you’re still alive.” Elise stilled, like the dark humor gave her a chill she had to stifle, and pulled out a fresh booklet of paper.

I nodded. “Hope so.”

“Me too.”

This would be too easy.





Fifteen


I peeked out of the nook before leaving. The one-armed soldier who’d knocked was a glaring giant who didn’t take his rune-scrawled gaze off me. The back of my neck itched with these tight stone walls and low ceilings, and I dug my fingers into the wall. Quickly built and sturdy but still rough around the edges. I climbed into the rafters.

A colony of sleepy spiders and dust motes greeted me. At least I knew no one had been up here in ages. I could stop cracking my neck to glance up every time I was in the hallway. The soldier chuckled.

I’d have the advantage in a knife fight up here no matter how much he laughed. Even Fifteen, for all his muscle, would pull back a punch and smack his elbow on the wall. I leapt down and shoved up my sleeves, scrawling my new letters along my arm in charcoal. They weren’t near as nice as Elise’s.

Of course, she’d had a childhood of practice. I brushed the charcoal off with my dress—black on black, not like anyone would notice—and peered down the hall to my room. I wasn’t going to be good at getting information from her if I spent the whole time thinking about her. I’d have to think of some leading questions.

Darting around the corner, I froze.

The door to my room was open.

I crept toward it, fingers drifting to my knife. Light footsteps paced back and forth in my room, and I toed the cracked door all the way open. Maud jumped.

“Finally.” She beckoned me into the room, fingers shaking, and raked a hand through her hair. It was a mess with the normal plait falling apart from constant worrying. “There were hands.”

“What?” I locked the door behind me and pressed my back into the far corner, well out of sight from the window. A crossbow bolt could’ve taken the shutters and me out easy. “What hands?”