Mask of Shadows (Untitled #1)(62)

“Early evening—and yes.” Maud pulled me up into a sitting position and pressed a tin cup into my hands. “We need to talk about dinner.”

I glanced at the tray of food filling my room with the savory scents of browned onions and olives. “Looks good.”

“Not this. The real one.” She rose and crossed to the clothes in the corner. “You’re meeting with the Left Hand, and Two’s servant, Catia, was prepping an elaborate outfit in the washing rooms.”

I sipped the tea. The tang of lemon snapped me awake and warmed me from the inside out. The ink on my arms had dulled to storm gray. “What am I supposed to do? Steal a nice outfit before dinner?”

“Play to your strengths.” Maud set the tray onto my lap. “I washed the clothes you wore here, but I wouldn’t suggest wearing them tonight. Or ever again.”

“For the best.” I traced the lip print on my palm. “What are Two and Five wearing?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Catia had a leather uniform with bracers. Dinah didn’t bother washing Five’s clothes before tonight, and officer’s uniforms always dye the water blue anyway. They’re only for parties. Completely useless.”

I speared a boiled egg with my knife. Of course Five was an officer. He’d been trained with a spear, sword, and bow since childhood, and killing came easy when it was all you knew. The war was still alive but in skirmishes and courts. Unrest was rampant in the north where the lords who’d ruled Erlend still loomed. He’d grown up thinking civilians were the enemy.

Such a surprise.

“I was going to enlist, you know.” I plucked up an olive and squished it between my teeth. “But I’d have been a foot soldier. Nothing fancy.”

She sighed, spirals of steam from the food flushing her cheeks. “My orphanage sells work contracts to the highest bidder. You can’t leave till you work enough to pay back the bid.”

“Five pearls are enough to keep four fed and housed.” I tucked into the meal and offered her a slice of bread. She shook her head. “So how many orphans you trying to buy?”

“Three.” She picked at her nails and took a deep breath. “My mother died when my siblings were born—triplets—and the orphanage will sell their contracts to whoever needs a servant soon as they turn nine. I have to buy them first.”

That would do it. No wonder she liked rules after living in an orphanage and being responsible for a trio of toddlers.

“That’s it though.” She stood and walked toward the door, fixing me with a stare.

“How about your name for mine?” I asked. It wasn’t worth asking what she meant about papers. She must’ve lied about her age when they took her in so she could get out and buy her way out sooner. “Our real ones?”

She paused.

“Knowing my face could do more harm than me knowing your name.” I tapped my nose.

“Maud de Pavo.” She smiled at me over her shoulder. “And your face was more punishment than privilege.”

“How can you be afraid to tell me your name and be so mean to me?” I tried to frown, look at least a little threatening, but she kept smiling. “Sallot, but you can call me Sal in private till I’m Opal.”

“You’d better be Opal after all we’ve gone through.” She gestured to the food. “Eat. I’ll find acceptable clothes. You have tutoring with your lady after all.”

I froze.

I turned my arms over and shoved my sleeves up. The ink was crinkled and cracked, and the lines blurred on my fingers. My gloves had saved most of it, but it was fading. I kissed my palm with the memory of Elise’s lips still seared into my skin.

I was fishing the amber dregs of honey from my tea when Maud came back. She set the tray by the door and herded me toward the washbasin. I tugged my mask off.

“New mask.” Maud held up a new mask with a pearl-white “23” stitched on the forehead. The number was small and unobtrusive, completely unlike the giant ribbon on my face now. She pulled a brush out of her pocket. “Two’s outfit is armor. It’s red and gold, and it’s got an insignia—an arrow shooting through flames.”

“Of course it is.” I sucked on my teeth, wincing at Maud’s rough hairbrush ripping through my hair. “Carnival of Cheats—a family of fighters and thieves and daredevils.”

What other circus taught people how to throw knives as easily as punches? A traveling carnival full of people doing dangerous things, most putting their more dangerous pasts to use and teaching their kids every trick of every trade, was the perfect breeding ground for assassins. And trust.

Perform together, die together.

“Five’s wearing his officer’s uniform, isn’t he?” I asked.

Maud nodded. “He must have torn the pin off tonight, but I saw it when he arrived. Lukan was his last name.”

“Lukan?” I patted down my untangled hair, trying to think of an outfit I could wear to compete with Two and Five. “That’s not a noble name.”

And everything about him screamed noble.

“No, but Dimas has heard of him. He killed his valet. They only found out after they’d invited him, and Dimas nearly quit. Emerald said the rules would be enough to keep Five from hurting us, but I wouldn’t have kept on if I’d drawn his lot.” Maud sat next to me, grabbed my hands, and cleaned my nails, careful to avoid Elise’s ink. “I hope you’ve got an impressive costume to break out.”