Bring Me Their Hearts(10)

“Zera, this is Firewalker”—Nightsinger points to the man, who nods at me stiffly—“and Seawhisper. They’ve come for you.”

“Little old me?” I ask nervously. “And here I am, without a single cup of tea to offer.”

“Silence.” Firewalker steps forward, thin eyes sharp and on me. “You will listen, not speak.”

Oh good. One of these sorts of men. Seawhisper chides him for me.

“Come now, have an ounce of patience, will you?” She turns to me. “I’m sorry about him. He’s a bit of a…relic when it comes to treating Heartless decently.”

“We don’t have time to waste,” he snaps, “on coddling our puppets. We need her in Vetris now. The Spring Welcoming—”

“Is in four days,” Nightsinger interrupts him patiently. “We have time at least to explain what’s going on. A confused Heartless helps no one.”

Firewalker opens his mouth to argue, then closes it. “Fine. Then you explain it. But do it now. Her carriage is waiting, and humans are known for their impatience.”

“Vetris? Carriage? Spring Welcoming?” I start. “Does he always spout nonsense or is tonight a special occasion?”

Firewalker glowers at me in a way I assume is supposed to be very intimidating, but it just makes him look constipated. Seawhisper kneels so she’s eye level with me, her gaze lighthearted, sparkling despite the seriousness of her next words.

“We think the humans are on the verge of starting another war, Zera,” she says. I shoot a look at Nightsinger, who remains expressionless. “That assassin who attacked you tonight—do you still have his dagger?”

I fish around in my bloodstained dress and hand it to her. With skilled fingers she opens the handle by a little latch, revealing that it’s hollow on the inside, a tube of white fluid there. The smell of it is acrid and bitter.

“Is that stuff why it hurt more than the usual stab?” I ask. Seawhisper nods.

“White mercury. It’s a chemical the humans discovered during the Sunless War.”

“They invented it to kill us with,” Firewalker corrects coldly. “It’s the entire reason we were weakened during the final battle at the Moonlight Keep. If we ingest even the smallest amount, our magic is suppressed for hours, making us easy targets.”

Seawhisper nods. “A human—we don’t know who—has been equipping assassins with these sorts of weapons and sending them to suspected witch haunts. We believe it’s to test the effectiveness of white mercury against Heartless, in preparation for war.”

I frown. “It didn’t kill me, or even incapacitate me.”

“It’s not meant to harm you.” Firewalker narrows his eyes at me. “White mercury suppresses magic—that includes the magical connection between witch and Heartless—so it takes more magic to heal a mercury-infected Heartless. Use your puppet brain—stab all of a witch’s Heartless, force her to heal them, and what do you have left?”

“Well that one’s easy—a weakened witch.”

He nods. “A simple kill for even the most battle-green human.”

“Clever. And nasty.” I put my hand to my mouth. “But what does this have to do with me?”

The two witches look to Nightsinger, who puts a gentle hand on my shoulder. “The High Witches have devised a plan, Zera, to delay the war. Do you know what the Spring Welcoming is?”

“Some old Vetrisian ceremony full of pomp and glitter and sweetrounds, I’m guessing.”

“Enough with the stalling,” Firewalker barks. “You’re going to Vetris. You will pose as a noble intending to marry the prince, and when you have the opportunity, you will take his heart and turn him into Nightsinger’s Heartless.”

There’s a stretched silence. I snort. “Your jokes are almost as bad as mine. Almost.”

“We need the prince as a captive,” he insists. “A ransom—a bargaining chip against the humans.”

I look at Nightsinger, but she’s quiet. Seawhisper is, too, as if they’re both waiting for my reaction. The whole idea is so absurd I can barely keep myself from laughing.

“Even if I wanted to play dress-up and commit treason, you’re forgetting I can’t go a mile and a half from my heart without becoming a useless, screaming lump. A witch would be better off doing it.”

“We cannot,” Nightsinger says softly. “The humans have erected a tower called the Crimson Lady. We aren’t sure how it works, but it can detect magical energy within the city of Vetris almost instantly. We lost all of our witches in Vetris within a matter of days.”

“They were drowned,” Seawhisper says solemnly, her smile absent this once.

“But—” I grasp at something, anything, as I start to realize they’re serious about this. “Me? I’m kept alive by your magic. That tower will detect me—”

“You aren’t a conduit of magic as we are.” Firewalker rolls his eyes. “You are simply tethered to this world by it. That infernal tower can no more detect a Heartless than the naked eye can see the wind.”

“And you decided I was best for this job? Don’t the other witches have a Heartless who knows how to dance and kiss copious amounts of noble arse better than me?”