Bloodleaf (Bloodleaf #1)(62)

I wanted to be angry, but standing there so far above the rest of the world, watching Zan blindly following the whims of his worthless king, I felt only sorry. For him, for the city he was neglecting, and for myself, because he cared so little for my good opinion when I would have moved mountains to earn his. Until this, at least.

I was retreating from the tower’s edge when I saw it: a tiny scrap of red, fluttering in the breeze, bright against the wilted, brown garden. It wasn’t smart to go gallivanting across the castle grounds in the middle of the day, but once I’d seen it, I couldn’t stop myself. I flew down the stairs and raced across the bloodleaf to where I’d spotted that flash of red.

Sure enough, it was a ribbon tied to the hand of an impish garden figurine. Red for north.

I untied the ribbon and walked a few paces toward the fjord but had to stop at the terrace ledge. Leaning over, I peeked down and saw a rock, mostly hidden by rotted bushes, that had been laid on top of something white. A small paper box. I opened it quickly and was stunned to pull out Conrad’s figurine, carefully twisted into the shape of a swan.

I searched my pockets, but I already knew I had nothing left to give him; nevertheless, the thought of stopping our game was intolerable. As much as I wanted to keep this token from him, I couldn’t. I couldn’t keep standing out in the wide open, either. So I turned the pieces one, two, three more times, until the animal I was holding was not a graceful swan but a noble stag. I traded the red ribbon for the one I’d come wearing—?lavender—?and left it under the rock. Then I moved east and hid the box under the overhang of one terrace stone and another.

All the way home, I let my hair fly free as I cradled that red ribbon as if it was the most precious thing in the world. Because to me it was.





?24




The next morning I found Kate in the rocking chair next to her bedroom window, humming a sad, pretty lullaby in time to the in-and-out motions of her needle as she rocked. She paused to hold up her project—?a lovely little dress—?to admire. “Not bad,” she said. To her belly, she added, “What do you think, my girl?”

I knocked softly on the door frame to let her know I was there. “With all the flower dresses you’ve made, what will your baby wear if it’s a boy?”

“Flower dresses, of course,” Kate said, smiling widely. “A baby doesn’t care what it wears, and I’ve put too much work into them not to use them. Besides, I’d never want my boy to grow up thinking he couldn’t love flowers.” She pointed her needle at me. “But still . . . she’s a girl, and until she’s born, no one will be able to tell me otherwise.”

“What does Nathaniel think of the prospect?”

Her smile dimmed. “I haven’t told him.”

Carefully, I asked, “How bad is it, really?”

“Bad. I made Dedrick’s costume—?how could I not? It was a simple design, and he paid quite a lot for it. But Nathaniel was here when he came by to get it before the ball. It didn’t go well.”

“And now he’s off chasing bunnies in the forest with Domhnall.”

“He didn’t want to go; I could tell,” she said miserably. “But I didn’t want to stop him.”

“But why? It looked like you had a moment, right before he left . . . Maybe if he had stayed you could have—?”

“This is why.” She pulled a note from her pocket. “Dedrick sent me this yesterday. My mother is coming into town at his behest. He has arranged for me to see her, first thing tomorrow morning. She believes she’s been invited to see a property my father is considering purchasing. I’m going to be waiting there, as a surprise. If Nathaniel knew . . .” She picked at the untrimmed threads on the baby’s dress, shrugging.

Something about the subterfuge felt wrong, but who was I to judge? They all thought my name was Emilie.

I said, “It’s only been a few weeks since I last saw my mother—?and we did not part on the best of terms, either—?but I’d give anything to talk to her. If I knew I could see her, I’d defy anyone who tried to stop me.” I folded my arms. “So I understand how you feel. But it shouldn’t be a secret. Nathaniel doesn’t have to like it, but I do think that he should know.”

“You sound like my mother,” Kate said wryly. “You should come meet her. I think you’d get along.”

“If she’s at all like you, it would be hard not to. But Zan said Molly used to work in the fish market on the waterfront before getting hired in the castle. Maybe someone there could tell me more about her ‘beau.’ Might even be able to get a name.”

“No magic this time? No séance?”

I shook my head. “The only thing I’ve been able to achieve with magic is to make things worse.” I looked at my hands, dotted with tiny cuts in various stages of healing. “I’m going to try another way.”

“Dedrick has a home on the waterfront. It’s where I’m going to meet my mother tomorrow.” She brightened. “We can walk there together.”



* * *



We left at the break of dawn, watching the sun send streaks of soft pink across the sky as it rose. It was almost enough to distract from the muck left from the dead plants. The sour-sweet stench of rot hung over the entire city.