Shadow Scale: A Companion to Seraphina(59)

“If he’s so mighty, how did your consciousness gain ascendancy?” I asked.

He has to sleep sometime. I’ve just been rifling through his memories, and it looks like you’ve reached a dead end today. You could use my help, said Jannoula.

“You’ve possessed him while he’s defenseless,” I said, my voice rising. “I don’t want this kind of help.”

Careful, he’ll wake up if you shout, or if I move him too violently. Abdo’s dark eyes looked at me sidelong as if to underscore that last word. Was that a threat?

I only want to help you find the others, dear sweet Seraphina, she said, her voice syrupy. You’re looking for Ingar, Earl of Gasten—the one you call the Librarian. You’d know his name if you could reach out to him properly. All you can do is watch, alas. It’s rather feeble.

I plastered on a smile. “I’m lucky to have you, then.”

Quite right, she said. He’s in Blystane, at the court of the Regent.

“What’s he doing there?” I asked. “And how do I know you’re not sending me on some wild-goose chase?”

Jann-Abdo scowled. Always so suspicious. Our goal is one and the same, Seraphina. Waste your time combing the bald hills, if you prefer, or else have the courtesy to take me at my word.

I saw her melt from Abdo’s face, replaced by a look of repugnance and horror. Oh no, he said, and it was him, wide awake. Oh gods, no.

I was at his side in an instant, sitting by him on the cot, my arms around him while he sobbed into my shoulder. I couldn’t … I didn’t …

“Why didn’t you tell me you were struggling with her?” I asked into his hair.

Because it was my own stupid fault, and because I thought I could get rid of her myself, and you’d never need to know.

There was nothing I could say to comfort him. I held him in silence as long as he would let me, my own tears falling on his dear head.





I waited until the next morning to report our change of course to Glisselda and Kiggs. “We’re heading to Blystane,” I said into the sweetheart knot thnik. Abdo, who clearly had not slept well, lay listlessly on the cot opposite. “Our ityasaari has gone to the capital to visit the Regent, I’m told.”

“You trust this intelligence?” Kiggs’s voice crackled.

Abdo straightened quickly in alarm. Don’t tell them, madamina. Please!

He was ashamed that Jannoula had invaded his mind; I knew what that was like. I tried to be reassuring. I won’t mention you, but they need to know she’s interfering.

“It was Jannoula who told me,” I said. “And no, I don’t trust her. This is the only lead I have right now, however.”

There was a long silence from the royal cousins. I kept my eye on Abdo, who had flopped back on the cot and wrapped his arms around his head. Kiggs and Selda were no doubt asking themselves, How could Phina have heard from Jannoula out there in gloomy Samsam with only Abdo and two Samsamese for company?

I hoped they’d conclude that Abdo had been taken and trust that I had good reason not to say so aloud. Jannoula could be coiled passively in his head, listening to everything we were saying. “That’s all my news at present,” I added, trying to emphasize the unspoken point.

Glisselda cleared her throat. “In similar news, Dame Okra and the others arrived from Ninys yesterday. They seem well. Dame Okra is in her usual good mood.”

“We’ve arranged for the ityasaari to stay together in the south wing, where they will be comfortably secure,” said Kiggs. “If they need anything, we can attend to them at once.”

So they were keeping the ityasaari under guard and carefully watched. I supposed, short of canceling the whole project and sending everyone home, that was the safest way to proceed. I said, “It sounds like you’re accounting for all contingencies.”

“It’s just as well that you’re going to Blystane. We’ve heard nothing from the Regent in ten days,” said Glisselda. “Maybe his thnik stopped working, or … I scarcely dare think what. The knights at Fort Oversea have heard nothing from the capital, either.”

“If something has happened, we need eyes on the ground,” said Kiggs. “Report back at once.”

“I will,” I said. I wanted to ask for more detail—didn’t they have spies in the capital?—but couldn’t with Abdo within hearing. Saints’ bones, this was going to be a problem. How could I talk to them—or him—openly?

“We need to go, Seraphina,” said Glisselda abruptly.

“Grandmother has taken a significant turn for the worse,” said Kiggs.

“I’m so sorry,” I said. And then they were gone.

Abdo and I gathered our bags and headed for the stables. Abdo lagged behind, his feet dragging. The air was full of fine mist; buildings and trees hulked in the gloom.

“Has she troubled you this morning?” I asked Abdo quietly, waving at Rodya, who stood in the stable’s entrance, arms akimbo.

She’s not active right now, Abdo said, but she’s never entirely gone, either. I’m like a fish caught on a line; her hook is in me, and I can’t get it out.

We were too near Rodya to continue this discussion aloud. There must be a way to unhook you, I said. We’ll find it.

Abdo took my hand and squeezed it hard.