The Rebels of Gold (Loom Saga #3)(47)
Coletta wasn’t either. After all . . . She opened the ledger again. Even if she couldn’t understand it, the ledger was a record of where gold was being kept on Loom, moved from secret storehouse to storehouse. If Loom had squirreled away gold, Coletta was certain they’d done the same with weapons, and that meant Yveun should brace himself for a greater attack than anticipated.
“There was one more thing.” Topann summoned Coletta’s thoughts back from the ledger. “The Fen King was grateful for the organs you provided in exchange for the ledger. But he mentioned something new he would be negotiating for: Flowers of Agendi.”
Coletta paused, closing the ledger and setting it aside. Her mind pegged the information as important instantly. It was oddly specific and necessary enough to risk the request. The flowers grew only on Nova, and Coletta didn’t think it chance that the man who had only dealt in organs for years was suddenly asking for something new mere weeks after Arianna had returned from the sky world.
“Why these flowers?” They had no medicinal properties and no poisons—that she knew of. They weren’t even especially beautiful. Some Dragons held that their pollen made their magic feel stronger. But surely that wouldn’t be enough to help Chimeras stand against Dragons?
“He didn’t say.” Topann bowed her head. “Forgive me, my lady, the gliders were leaving and I had to be subtle.”
“Rise, Topann.” Coletta extended her hand and the woman scooped it up, kissing it firmly, no doubt grateful to still be in her queen’s favor. “You have done well to acquire this information. Now we must act upon it.”
Coletta looked out over the leafy foliage that surrounded her outdoor laboratory. “I have none of this particular flower. Head to the fields on the north side of the estate where they grow, and bring me ten.”
“Ten, yes.”
“Then, when you have done this, I need you and Yeaan to collect all offshoots of our great vine.” Coletta herself was the “great vine” and every offshoot was where a tendril crept in the form of one of her flowers. “You will find everywhere this flower grows, and you will destroy them all.”
“How would you like them destroyed?” Coletta appreciated so very much that such was the woman’s only question.
“Uproot them, and take them to some remote place to burn. Do it with as much discretion as you can muster.”
“Always, my queen.”
“One more thing, Topann.” Coletta thought aloud. “Have them bring wine to my chambers this night. No food. I trust you to pick a worthwhile vintage on my behalf.”
“Understood.”
“Go now, make it so.”
By the time Coletta finished cleaning up her laboratory, the wine was waiting for her on a bronze platter in the central room of her quarters. None dared go beyond that point. For if they did, it was well whispered that they weren’t long for service to House Rok—or the world.
Coletta picked up the glass, strolling into her study. The room was rectangular with towers of bookshelves filled with all manner of odd knowledge she’d acquired throughout the years. Some volumes were rare, some commonplace, and some would only be important to the authors whose hands had scribbled the words, believing they would never be read.
At the far end, past a chaise and table with a single chair, was a large desk that matched a second in Yveun’s side of the estate. Coletta set the ledger down there, but kept wine in hand as she walked over to the wall of windows. Far beneath her, the God’s Line was a swirling sea of gray, masking Loom and all its secrets.
She took a long sip, allowing the crimson nectar to sit on her tongue—one of the few things she could still taste. She debated if she would crack this Raven code, or learn all about the Flowers of Agendi first. Coletta turned back into the room with purpose, heading toward her books on plants and herbology. It didn’t matter where she started; it would all be torn apart, secrets exposed, by the time she was done.
Florence
It seemed as though she had just managed to gather everyone together, only to see them scattered to the wind once more. At least everyone was moving as a unified force rather than blowing in, one rogue tumbleweed at a time.
Her goal for the Tribunal had been accomplished.
Even still, it was exhausting to take all of Loom—who had only just been transported en masse to Ter.0—and move them again. The Vicar Raven was no doubt no more annoyed than she let on about the great exodus, but if the woman was disgruntled, she did a good job of not betraying the fact.
“Are you really going to stay here?” Shannra asked.
“Only as long as it takes to clear Ter.0,” Florence replied.
She was so very tired of cleaning out her laboratories, one after the other. But having done it multiple times in her life made it pretty short work. The experience equipped her to make simple decisions on what was most important to take with her, and what could be left behind, if needed. It was simple logic where everything went, and Florence knew it all by heart by now. Every canister, vial, gun part, and jar went in its place easily.
“I’ll wait for you.”
“No, you won’t.” Florence didn’t know if it was Louie’s influence on the girl, or if she genuinely wanted to stay. It was a question she was unexpectedly afraid of asking—or rather, she feared the answer. “I need you to help organize defenses at the Ravens’ Guild.”