Grace and Fury (Grace and Fury #1)(11)

Nomi smiled. “You had me read it to you so many times, you memorized it.”

Serina’s face fell as she stared at the words she couldn’t read. The past pushed at her, a weight on her heart. “I wonder if I still remember?”

Nomi smiled. “Try.”

Serina closed her eyes, sending herself back to the candlelit corner of Renzo’s room. “Long before our ancestors’ ancestors were born, there was no land here,” she murmured, the memory still living in her mind. “Viridia didn’t exist, and the ocean washed unceasingly across the wide expanse of nothingness, with no shore to throw itself against, no rocky cliffs to force—”

The bedroom door opened. Serina’s eyes flew open, the words still falling from her mouth: “—a break.”

“Nomi, you’re supposed to be—” Ines stopped abruptly, staring at Serina, at the book in her hands. One of the white-clad men stood right behind her. “What are you doing?”

“We were…” Serina began, and then faltered. What could she say?

The Superior’s man stepped forward.

“Come with me, Serina,” Ines said, her face hardening.

Serina slid off the bed, the book dangling from her hand. The man snatched it away.

“Wait,” Nomi said frantically. “You don’t understand. It’s—”

But before Nomi could finish, Serina was torn away, her hands grasping at empty air. As the Superior’s man hauled her from the room, she twisted toward Nomi. She fought against the hand on her arm. Fought for one last glimpse of her sister.

Nomi hugged herself as tears streamed down her cheeks. She looked too small in that big room by herself, dwarfed by the huge, curtained bed. Serina realized she’d never seen Nomi without someone by her side—Renzo or Mama, or Serina herself. Nomi had never before been so painfully, inescapably alone.

With a thunderous crash, the bedroom door slammed shut between them.





Serina waited for word of her punishment in a small, dim room in the depths of the palace. She thought it unlikely the Superior would let her remain as Nomi’s handmaiden. But perhaps, after a probation period of some sort, maybe he’d be willing to reinstate her. Or maybe he’d have her flogged and let her continue her duties.

Serina had never dreamed she’d pray for a flogging.

She hadn’t revealed that the book was Nomi’s, or that Nomi could read. Ines had already caught Serina in a compromising position. All it would do was bring them both down.

If I’d hidden the book right away—

If Nomi hadn’t stolen it in the first place—

The pointless ifs circled through her mind, dogging her as she paced the small room.

“Serina Tessaro.” A tall man in green unlocked her door. “The Superior will see you now.”

Her heart stuttered and lurched.

She followed the man into a part of the palace far from the Graces’ chambers, but even so, Serina couldn’t help glancing through doorways and around corners for Nomi.

At last, the servant slowed. She expected a receiving room, something imposing. But instead, he led her into a small room lined with bookcases.

The library.

The Superior sat in a leather chair near the window. His face had a grayish tinge, and he was so thin, his bones looked as if they were trying to tear through his skin. But his eyes burned.

“Serina Tessaro,” he said, his voice an icy wind. Gooseflesh rose along her arms. “My Head Grace says you can read.”

Serina dropped her gaze to the tiled floor. She couldn’t move, couldn’t respond. Could barely breathe. He’d said nothing threatening—yet—but he watched her like a falcon would. Like she was prey.

“Who taught you?” he asked, a little fire creeping into the ice.

“No one,” Serina whispered.

The Superior shifted, and Serina heard the pop and crackle of his bones grinding against each other. She swallowed down bile. “Your father? A cousin?”

Oh, Nomi. What have you done?

Serina shook her head miserably. She had to say something. She had to lie. She couldn’t let him punish her family. “I—I taught myself,” she stuttered. “I stole books.”

For a moment, the room was silent, the only sound a faint crash of waves from outside the open window.

Leather creaked as the Superior sat back. “Like you stole mine.”

Serina hung her head, terrified. In this moment, every breath the Superior took felt like an arrow, and she was the target.

“And your sister? Does she share… your proclivities? Sisters often share, I’m told.”

Mutely, Serina shook her head. Part of her wanted to say yes, to let Nomi face the consequences of her choices. But she couldn’t do that to her sister. It’d only mean they’d both be punished. “She can’t read, Your Eminence. She didn’t even know I could until today. Please… please. She had no part in this.”

“Hm.” For a few minutes, the Superior said nothing.

Serina couldn’t bear to look up, couldn’t take the even hiss of his breath, in and out. In and out. She prayed.

A flogging, please, a flogging.

But before the Superior even announced her sentence, instinct told her it would be so much worse.