Coldmaker(90)

‘I think it might be enough,’ she said.

‘I want to keep working,’ I said, trying not to let myself become overwhelmed. ‘Leroi deserves to come back to a clean tinkershop.’

Shilah put a beaker back, coming over to me and putting a hand on my shoulder. ‘Not the cleaning. I mean this discovery. It might be enough.’

Even though her touch sent a shiver through my body, I kept furiously cleaning. ‘For?’

‘Think about it,’ she said, digging her fingers into my arm. ‘If we can show everyone that the Cold is attracted to Jadans and not Nobles, they have to admit everything is a lie. We’re the worthy ones.’

I stood up, her hand coming with me, but I didn’t feel ready to face her. I kept scrubbing the wall. ‘What if it’s just a fluke? What if the cloud just found us for some reason, and not all Jadans? We don’t know enough yet.’

She gave my arm another squeeze. ‘Look at me.’

My hands didn’t stop. The powdery ink on the walls was now an offence to me, each particle mocking my efforts. I couldn’t bring myself to meet her eyes.

‘Look at me,’ she said again, in a softer tone.

I sighed, wiping the sweat off my forehead, and spun around to look at her.

Her face was glowing.

And not from some stray beam of light from a Sinai. She was resolute in her happiness, pure and free. Her smile struck me like Cold water, and her brazenly upright posture made her look as majestic as one of the Khat’s own family. Her skin seemed smoother than usual, and her eyes gleamed with hope. I wanted to run my hands over her face and feel every angle of her joy.

‘You know what I mean,’ Shilah said. ‘This is enough to make people fight back. The Crier wants Jadans to have Cold. We can prove the Drought was a lie.’

‘Shilah, this isn’t enough. You should know that too. If this gets out, the Khat isn’t going to free us. Nobles will do everything they can to hide the truth. They’ll kill us, and say you and I were just spreading the Sun’s trickery, and then probably have the Priests and Vicaress do another Cleansing just for good measure. We need more. We need something bigger. Even if Cold comes to our kind in the air, it still only falls into the Nobles’ hands.’

Shilah let her hand fall. ‘I know.’

‘I’m going to find Leroi’s secret passage and use it to see my father. I need to tell him about all of this,’ I said. I needed him more than ever now. ‘Maybe he’ll know what to do next.’

Shilah nodded. ‘Fine. But I’m coming with you. And we should probably raid this place for weapons, in case—’

Three raps on the main door. Two fast, a pause, and then another.

Shilah’s expression immediately became suspicious, but all I felt was relief. It wasn’t pleasant to see how this discovery affected Cam. If seeing Cold prefer Jadans took such a toll on a kind, sympathetic Noble, I could only imagine the rage and denial it would inspire in all the others.

I raced across the tinkershop, tossing aside my boilweed as I dived up the stairs. Swinging open the door, I expected to find my friend, but there was no one on the other side. I chanced peeking out into the hallway, but there was no sign of life.

On the ground, however, sat a wooden chest with a note on top.

‘You deserve this more than we do. I hope it will free me.’

I pulled the chest inside, noticing the odd temperature of the wood against my hands as I closed the door and slid the chain. I immediately felt very strange, my mind buckling under an odd sensation, as if I’d just walked into a barracks I’d never seen before, but somehow recognized the faces of the Jadans there.

‘Where’s Cam?’ Shilah asked from below.

‘Not here,’ I said absently, staring at the box. I set it on the landing and sat cross-legged beside it, my hands running over the smooth woodgrain. The chest was colder to the touch than anything I’d felt before, and I wondered what Cam had delivered that needed to be kept in such Cold.

But when I opened the lid, I nearly fainted.

I’d never seen one before, but even after a single glance I understood what was sitting in front of me.

‘Shilah,’ I choked out, my fingers shaking at the sides of the chest. ‘Shilah!’

Footsteps padded up the stairs. ‘What? Are you okay?’

I started breathing heavily, entranced by the lovely sheen, wonder taking over my brain. It was the single most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. It wasn’t dull like its kin but lustrous gold, more vibrant than any flower, smoother than any glass. And the centre had a gentle design, which seemed to rise to the surface in the shape of two thick lines with a third lying across the top. Seeing it up close, I knew instantly that these were the things shining in the night sky: that if I could fly, this is what I might bump into.

If there was ever proof of the Crier’s divine touch on this world, it was this.

Shilah got to the top step, but when she caught sight of the Frost, she nearly collapsed, her legs buckling at its beauty, and only just caught herself on the railing. I would have risen to help her, if not for my complete and utter shock at what had just been thrust into my life.

‘It’s a— Is that—’ Shilah sucked in a huge breath. ‘Frost.’

I had to remember to breathe too. Only the Khat was supposed to have Frosts. What was it doing in the Tavor Manor?