Coldmaker(87)

‘The map,’ I said, with an exasperated sigh. ‘Please.’

Shilah unfolded it gently, clearing away some of the tinkering debris to spread out the page. I stepped around the table to be at her side. Together we looked over the Khatdom. ‘Why doesn’t it say Langria? It’s just the symbol. The Opened Eye.’

Shilah shrugged. Our shoulders were touching, but she didn’t pull away. ‘So. It’s kind of the same thing.’

I let my fingers caress the symbol, tracing the pupil. ‘You said that the first Khat found Desert hidden in the land, right? And then used it to poison the world.’

‘It’s just a story,’ she said quietly. ‘But yes.’

I flashed her a devious grin. ‘The best stories are lessons.’

She sighed and went to fold up the map, but I reached out and put a hand over hers, keeping the paper open. Her skin was soft and cool from the tinkershop’s Cold air, and I had to shake my head to not lose track of what I was thinking.

‘The Opened Eye represents hope, right?’ I asked.

She nodded, not pulling away, letting my fingers rest over her knuckles.

My heart began to beat faster. ‘What if this isn’t a map?’

‘It is a map.’

‘No, I mean, what if it’s not a map to Langria itself, but a map to how we can bring Langria to the World?’ I tapped my finger hard on the drawing. ‘What if there’s something hidden up North? If Sun created Desert and hid it in the land for the first Khat to find, then what if the Crier created something secret too? Something for the Jadans to find.’

I could feel Shilah’s shoulder tense beside me. She thought about it for a moment and then pointed to the map. ‘I’m not saying I buy any of this. But even if you were onto something, it wouldn’t matter. The Eye on the map is huge, the size of the other cities. If there’s something hidden in the land up North, how would we even find it?’

My head spun to the Sand Glider, looking at the clay pot still sitting on its surface. Then I found the shelf of Cold Bellows, thinking about all the cool air in the tinkershop. ‘It would be hard, agreed. But look at everything we have here.’ I waved around at all the machines in the tinkershop. ‘I think we could do it.’

Shilah folded her arms over her chest. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Think about the Charge,’ I said. ‘It’s something that the Khat wants to keep quiet.’

Shilah nodded.

‘We obviously don’t know everything there is to know about Cold. What else can it do?’ I picked up a Wisp from the table and held it up to the light of the Sinai, the surface gleaming. ‘There must be more to know.’

Three swift knocks sounded at the door.

I looked to see if I could find Shilah, but she was busying herself gathering more beakers and salt and ink at the back of the tinkershop. I ran up the stairs without her, sliding off the chain.

Cam burst in, kicking the door closed behind him. His face was red and heavy breathing punctuated his words. His glasses were askew to the point of almost falling off. ‘Spout. I delivered … Decoy Boxes to Mama Jana … got back … they said something happened in the tinkershop. What happened?’

I reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Breathe, family. Everything is okay.’

Cam didn’t seem convinced, leaning around me and looking down over the railing. ‘Shilah, what happened? Are you okay? Did my brothers …?’

I turned to find Shilah at the bottom of the landing, clutching something behind her back. ‘Hello, sir,’ she said in the emotionless, uninterested tone she used around him, before marching away, her back tall and proud.

Cam frowned, his chest rising and falling in rapid succession. His voice strengthened with the kind of authority he usually only used in jest. ‘What. Happened?’

‘She’s fine,’ I said, squeezing his shoulder. ‘Listen, we have something important to tell you. I think I finally had an idea that—’

A loud moan came from Leroi’s study, and stopped me from answering. Cam’s lips thinned to a line. He paused, eyes fixed on the door. ‘Spout, is Leroi back in there again?’

I felt a pang in my stomach. ‘Well, Shilah and I were talking this mo—’

Cam swallowed hard. ‘Spout. Is Leroi back in there? I thought he was done with the anklets.’

I gave a sad nod. ‘He was.’

Cam nearly collapsed against the railing. ‘So …’

I let my chin fall slightly. ‘I don’t want to say.’

‘Why is Leroi in there?’ Cam asked in a more forceful way.

Shilah popped her head out from behind one of the clay pots. ‘Because of your Sun-damned father, that’s why!’

Cam went rigid, every drop of liveliness draining from his face. ‘My father? He was here?’

By the time I had filled Cam in on everything we’d witnessed from the grate, his face had grown so pale that I could finally see the resemblance between him and Leroi. I’d escorted him down to the infamous table, where for the last hour I’d been setting up the jars and ink and salt for an experiment, but Cam couldn’t seem to find any excitement over my new Idea.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Cam said yet again, his eyes damp at the corners.