Coldmaker(80)

‘I need to talk to Spout in private,’ Shilah said in a way that answered at least one of my questions – I’d been wondering if she’d overheard my nickname while following me around the city. Her voice was quiet but serious as she added begrudgingly, ‘Sir.’

She looked as if she’d just waded through a pit of Sobek lizards. Her robes were torn and bloodstained, and her eyes were bleary. She looked even worse than I had when I’d showed up at the Manor, which explained why Cam had been so ready to give up my hiding place to a stranger.

‘Of course.’ Cam bowed respectfully, his face flooded with concern.

He backed away, gesturing for Leroi to do the same. The Tinkerer seemed transfixed by Shilah, fixing her with an unwavering stare, but eventually he pulled away, crossing the tinkershop and joining Cam at the top of the stairs.

I took a small step back, worried about why Shilah might be standing in my new home, rather than halfway to the Great Divide as she’d sworn to be by now.

Shilah surveyed the tinkershop. Her eyes flicked from the rotating gear-pool, to the glass pyramids, to the magnet-clocks then back to me. ‘You look good,’ she said, at last. Her arms twitched out awkwardly, and for a moment I thought maybe she was having some sort of spasm until I realized what she was doing.

I stepped close and drew her into a quick embrace, breathing in deeply while we hugged. I inhaled the lingering scent of fire.

‘What happened?’ I asked, my heart in my throat as we parted. ‘Is Abb okay?’

‘Yes.’ Shilah straightened up. ‘And I am too, thanks.’

‘Sorry. It’s just …’ My hand went over my chest, my pulse desperate. ‘You scared me.’

Her hand went to her pocket, revealing a handful of black ash. ‘How’s that for scary?’

‘What is it?’

She paused, clenching her jaw tightly. ‘Little Langria.’

‘What?’

‘They followed me that night, from Arch Road,’ Shilah said, her eyes full of so much anger that there was no room for tears. ‘I thought I’d lost them, but that Sun-blackened pustule called a Vicaress followed me to the outskirts. She brought dozens of taskmasters and they searched the southern sands for days, from the barracks to the Kiln. I kept ahead of them for a while, smoothing out the tracks from the Rope Shoes, but she knew I was out there. It was only a matter of time.’

I swallowed hard. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘I don’t have anywhere else to go now.’ She let some of the ash fall from her fingers into the grate. ‘It’s all gone. Everything I built. All so I could save you.’

The accusation struck a nerve. ‘I don’t know what to say. I’m really sorry.’

She met my eyes with a fierce look. ‘Say you’ll go with me. To Langria. Today. Now.’

‘But I’m happy here.’

Shilah tossed the rest of the ash into the grate. ‘Happy in a place where they keep you in the floor?’

‘They don’t keep me down there,’ I said, smoothing my clothes. ‘That’s just where I hide in case anyone comes.’ I hesitated, but felt compelled to ask, ‘Weren’t you supposed to be on the way to Langria already? Why did you stay in Paphos?’

Shilah glanced sideways, her eyes going to the tub with the Draft bobbing on top. ‘Why are you staying here?’

‘Leroi’s teaching me. I’m creating things. Better than the Rope Shoes.’ I could barely believe what I was saying out loud. ‘Cam treats me like a brother. Better than a brother.’ I reached out to touch her arm, but she pulled away. The heat of her skin lingered on my finger. I’d almost forgotten how scorching the world was outside the tinkershop. ‘It’s safe. Stay with me. There’s room for two assistants. There’s food, and as much Cold water as we want, and clean clothes, and—’

Shilah gave a scornful huff, cutting me short. ‘Listen to yourself, talking like this. You’re just a slave in a different uniform.’

‘I don’t want to have this argument again,’ I said. I actually liked the robes Leroi had given me. They were thin and clean, and the dark colour didn’t show any oil. ‘I’m useful here.’

Shilah’s jaw tightened, its angles smooth and beautiful, and I suddenly feared this might be the last time I would ever see her. She didn’t say another word, just turned her shoulder and returned to the stairs, her back like a blade as she climbed to where Leroi and Cam were standing. She moved quickly and quietly, and I couldn’t understand how the Vicaress had been able to follow her into the sands. I trailed after her, trying to think of the words that would make her stay. She was the loneliest person I’d ever met. Part of me wondered if she’d burned down Little Langria herself, just to try to convince me to accompany her.

For an instant, an image of a Jadan paradise flashed through my mind, the way she’d described it before, but I knew deep down that it couldn’t be possible. If we wanted freedom, we had to make it.

‘Please let me out,’ Shilah said, standing in front of the door, hands clenched at her sides.

Cam had his hand on the chain, eyeing her warily. ‘All good?’

I nodded. ‘She won’t say anything. You can let her out.’

Shilah stood tall and defiant, her hands still filmed in black ash. ‘Sir,’ she said, her voice a sandstorm, ‘may I go now?’