Broken Veil (Harbinger #5)(61)

“Cettie,” Adam said, drawing her eyes to him. Oh, how she longed to talk with him, just the two of them, and forget the past—no, forget the world. He wouldn’t want her back, but she needed to make amends. To see him happy again. He deserved someone like Anna, someone who had been faithful to him all the while. Not Cettie. Never her.

And yet she still wanted him. Her burden would be to always want him.

“Young man, you’ll get your turn with her,” Durrant said, interrupting him. “But as I am the prime minister, I insist on mine first. If you would, my dear, approach the Leering on the pedestal over there with me? I would like you to put your hand on it. It is a Truth Leering.”

“I know,” Cettie answered. It had the carved face of a frowning man with curly hair and deep-set eyes. She felt the magic of the Leering, sensed its purpose, and even heard the gentle hum coming from it. She nodded in obeisance and walked over to it. Stephen gave her an encouraging nod. Adam stood transfixed, his look darkening as he watched her. Did he hate her?

After she reached the Leering, she put her trembling hand on it. The soldiers crowded around her, blocking her view of Adam. Under these circumstances, it almost came as a relief. Still, she felt the loss. Durrant stood opposite her, then placed his hand on the other side of the stone facade, invoking the magic, locking them together. It was a strong bit of music, but she instantly saw how to dismantle it. If she’d wanted to, she could have pulled her hand away. She didn’t.

“State your true name, if you please.”

“My legal name is Cettie Pratt, but I am the natural daughter of the woman masquerading as Lady Corinne and a kishion, her lover, who is my father. I do not know his true name.”

Mr. Durrant’s brow furrowed even more. “I did not know this.”

“Although the real lady Corinne had no natural children, this woman bore me in a nexus of sorts between our world and that of Kingfountain. I am a daughter of both worlds. I was deceived by my natural mother, my father. I have become something I once abhorred. If I could change it, I would. I cannot. But still I hope to be useful to Sera. The Mysteries have called me to be her protector. I had a vision, Prime Minister. Just now. While waiting for you to see me.”

“You have?” he asked, his brows lifting in wonderment.

“My powers have not worked since I was abducted. But they are working now.”

Durrant looked at her firmly, his face devoid of expression. “What did you see in your vision?”

Cettie swallowed, feeling her composure rattled by the knowledge that Adam was listening to her. Judging her. She wished she could see his expression. “It was sunrise,” she began. “The vision opened over the ocean in the world of Kingfountain. Then it went beneath the waters. General Montpensier has a fleet of ships that can move unseen from above.”

“We know this,” Durrant said.

“One of the ships is the size of a hurricane.”

Durrant’s eyes widened. “That is news.”

“I overheard him speaking to one of his underlings. I don’t understand the context, but it sounds as if our admiral, someone called Grant, is about to discover a fleet of ships and destroy them. I surmised that the admiral believes Montpensier is with that fleet, but he’s not.”

The look of surprise on Durrant’s face said much. She was revealing information she could not have known.

“They passed a mirror gate at Salize. There was something said about Dahomey as well.”

Durrant nodded. “Go on.”

“They plan to attack Lockhaven. The underling doesn’t understand how it will be done, but Montpensier seems convinced they can do it, even from ships beneath the waters.”

“Salize is the name of a rock formation off the coast of Legault. It is connected to the ruins of Dochte Abbey off the coast of Dahomey!”

“There’s more. After the general spoke to the underling, a kishion approached him with the news that you’ve captured Will Russell.”

“How could word have traveled so fast?” Durrant exclaimed.

“Will Russell has been in disguise among us for years and there are many ways they transfer messages. He took the place of Rand Patchett. His sister, I believe, is also a hetaera. They assigned Will as my kishion.”

There were a few grunts of surprise at that. Cettie pressed on boldly. “They’ve ordered the evacuation of the poisoner school in Genevar. That is where I’ve been held since I was taken. From what they said, Prince Trevon is being held there.”

“Prince Trevon! His location has been changed constantly,” Durrant said. “This is good news.”

“He’s being kept in the dungeon.”

“It was your information,” Durrant said, “that revealed Sera’s maid as an imposter. Do you know where the empress is?”

Cettie bowed her head. “I don’t. I’ll do all I can to help make things right. I am loyal to the Mysteries, Prime Minister, and to Sera. But I know that I must earn back the trust that I once held. Trust is so fragile, but let me do what I can to mend it.”

“So you know where the poisoner school is?”

“I do. Well, one of them. There is more than one. But it makes sense to me that they’d keep Trevon guarded at the one my mother knows best.”

Durrant rubbed his mouth with his free hand. Neither had pulled away from the Leering yet. “Is there anything you are concealing from me? Is this information intended to deceive us away from your true aims?”