Antebellum Awakening (The Network Series #2)(48)

“Yes, Your Highness.”

She studied me for several long moments, then let out a quiet sigh and turned to Papa.

“Derek, please send for Merrick. I would like to talk to him in private. Stella, please remain behind. I have something to speak to you about. The rest of you may go.”

The paper that had disappeared earlier reappeared in the High Priestess’s hand. Papa put a hand on my back and escorted me away as the High Priestess handed the paper to Stella, a frown on her face.

???

All my friends waited for me in the Witchery.

Camille paced back and forth across the width of the turret, tugging on the ends of her hair in agitation. “You’re okay!” she cried as soon as I walked inside, throwing her arms around me.

“Relatively.”

She pulled away with tears in her pretty hazel eyes. “We’ve been worried sick! We searched the crowd forever trying to find you before they did something terrible. They were chanting and screaming. I was so scared.”

“We were really frightened,” Michelle said with a little shiver. “I caught a glimpse of you just as they started dragging you toward Clive. If Leda hadn’t told Merrick, I don’t know how we would have gotten you home.”

“Leda?” I asked, whirling around. She sat on the edge of the divan, her pale hands folded in her lap.

“I saw glimpses of it,” she said. “I was in the middle of talking to Janss—in a meeting, and I just up and left without a word of explanation. Luckily Merrick and Brecken were on the Wall, talking. As soon as I told them what I thought might happen, they transported.”

I collapsed onto one of the large piles of pillows, surprised to find my knees so weak. The images of the rabid crowd and being thrown around flapped through my mind, wanting to be processed, but I wasn’t ready and pushed them away.

“Thank you,” I said, meeting her gaze. “I don’t really know what happened, but I don’t think I would have gotten out of there alive without Merrick.”

She moved over and sat next to me on the pillows, a sure sign that she had been worried.

“All I saw was a bright white light,” Camille said, joining us. Michelle came next. The three of them surrounded me. The Witchery walls closing in around us settled the rankled fear in my heart. Safe. My muscles began to relax, and I felt exhausted. “A lot of people started screaming, some started to run. Then Brecken showed up. He pulled Michelle and I away. Merrick slipped past him into the crowd to find you.”

“The last thing we saw was Merrick pulling you from the ground and the two of you running away. Brecken walked us back to the castle,” Michelle said.

“I don’t remember half of it,” I said, shaking my head. “But I’m glad that the two of you made it out okay.”

“What did the High Priestess say?” Leda asked.

I recounted everything. When I finished, Camille’s look of disgust reflected my feelings.

“Clive is a horrid man!” she cried.

Michelle’s upper lip curled a little. “At least you didn’t get work hours with Mrs. L,” she said in a quiet voice. “At that point I think you’d want to renegotiate for exile.”

The four of us looked at each other, then broke into smiles. The knot in my chest released just enough that I could breathe freely for the first time that day. When Camille and Leda’s conversation dwindled into algebra lessons and simple potion making, I closed my eyes, leaned back against the pillows, and let their words and voices lull me into a safe place again.





Not Entirely Mad

“Papa, where’s Merrick?”

I stood outside Papa’s office in the quiet Gatehouse that night. He looked up from his scattered, messy desk. Candles bobbed in the air around him, shedding light on books and paperwork. Outside the sun sank into the horizon, fading behind the shadows of Letum Wood.

“I haven’t seen him,” he said, his eyes looking bloodshot and fatigued. “Not since he spoke with the High Priestess a few hours ago.”

My teeth bit into my bottom lip. That conversation was the reason I wanted to find him. “Did he get in trouble because my powers aren’t under control yet?” I asked, fearing the worst.

Papa hesitated and slowly shook his head.

“No.”

The reserved tone in his voice told me all I needed to know. Merrick’s fate was as tied up in whether I regained control as mine was. It was a terrible burden.

“Any news from the Borderlands?”

The drawn, tired lines returned to his face.

“Yes. The West has successfully started to draw water from the river. The High Priestess is following the directions in the Mansfeld Pact and sending a formal message to them tonight.”

“Is this the first she’s sent?”

He shook his head again.

“No. They’ve ignored all the others.”

“If they ignore this one?”

“Then we defend ourselves by whatever means necessary.”

I had so many more questions but kept them to myself. I’d caused him enough stress already.

“Thanks, Papa,” I said and pushed away from the door. Tiberius grunted at me when I passed his sparse office, which was filled by a table large enough to seat all of his Captains of the Guard. He sat in a large seat in the middle, paperwork belched out around him. I wanted to ask him if he knew where Merrick was, but he waved me away.