The Everlasting Rose (The Belles, #2)(54)

“The heart of our web. Our printing press.” Lady Arane enters with a flourish and runs her fingers over everything in her path. She points up. Above our heads hang drying newspapers with animated ink racing across the parchment. “This is where my ladies—and a few gentlemen—make our greatest weapon.”

“How does it work?” I ask, following Edel as she examines the odd items in the space.

“Violetta,” Lady Arane says.

She walks forward, mouth in a grimace. “We create our own parchment and animated ink, catching low-dwelling squids.” She takes a piece of parchment from a stack and places it on a long table. “We write our articles and place it in our press.” She points at the apparatus. “Just like the ones built by the Minister of News, these produce up to a hundred papers every turn of the hourglass. We’ve gotten many new followers and lots of support through the circulation of the papers.”

Lady Arane touches one of the presses. “I plan to start releasing tattlers to get to those who avoid newspapers, so I can publish works that explore the greatest challenges facing us and make sure the people see the situation as it is, whether they want to or not. Real leaders tell their people the truth, setting the tone for their subjects. Without open leadership and a benevolent queen, Orléans will not survive.”

“Princess Charlotte,” I say.

“Yes, if she will listen to us, then there’s a start. My healers have been visiting her. She’s still weak but recovering slowly.”

Her words send hope through me that we can remove Sophia from power. “That’s such great news.”

“You’ve seen her?” Edel asks.

“Yes, her and Lady Pelletier,” Lady Arane answers.

“Where is she? If we can get Charlotte to the palace safely before Sophia’s coronation, she can claim the throne and throw Sophia into the dungeon where she belongs,” I say.

Lady Arane’s mouth breaks into a smile and she nods. Our desires line up like two puzzle pieces locking into one another.

“Why haven’t you done that already?” Edel says.

Lady Arane turns to her. “She’s not well enough and we don’t want to risk being caught before we had a chance to lay our trap. We thought you could help her with your arcana.”

“The arcana can’t heal,” Edel replies.

“You woke her.” Lady Arane turns to me.

“We cleaned her blood. Refreshed it, so to speak,” I clarify.

“You could make her appear strong enough to face Sophia. She just has to make a legitimate claim to the throne. Sophia thinks she can lie to the world about her sister being dead. There’s no telling who she killed and will put on display to get away with this. So, the question is... will you help us?”

“Can you also help us?” I ask.

“What do you want?”

“My sisters.”

Lady Arane purses her lips. “Yes. We can assist with that. So, do we have a deal?”

“I need to talk to my sister in private first,” I say.

Lady Arane nods. She motions for everyone to vacate the room. “We’ll be outside.”

Once the curtains drop, Edel rushes to me. “I don’t think we should do it. Let’s just find our sisters ourselves.”

“But she knows where Charlotte is! And how will we get out of here if we refuse? I don’t think they’re going to let us march out and go on our way.”

Edel drums her fingers on the table. “But what does she think is going to happen? The whole world will be all right with living the way they do? Gray and without beauty work? What if some people don’t want to? They’re all going to fight. We’ve seen how they act at the teahouses. What happens to us? Are we going to be free? Are they going to let us do whatever we want? Or let us do anything other than beauty work? There’s no way they’re going to just let us go.”

I touch her, startling her out of the rant. “I don’t know. All I do know is that we don’t get rid of Sophia, we will be in chains. We will have to worry about the rest later.”

Angry tears well in her eyes and she works hard to hide them from me.

“We will be all right. I promise.”

“I don’t believe in promises,” she replies.

I slip my shaky hand in hers, reaching deep down to stir any bravery hidden there. “When we were little girls and you set off on your wild adventures—like swimming to the bottom of Rose Bayou to find the octopus creature or sneaking out into the dark forest behind our house—I always went with you. No one else would. I told you I would, and I did. Right?”

“Yes,” she mumbles.

“I’m telling you right now that we will get out of here and we will get rid of Sophia, then we will get to work on the future. We won’t return to the teahouses. We won’t let that happen again—not to us, not to any of our sisters. But if we’re going to succeed, we need the Iron Ladies’ help.”

Edel’s brow furrows, and she shrugs. Her way of agreeing.

I go to the curtains and snatch them back.

“We’re in agreement,” I say to the crowd of waiting women.

Lady Arane smiles. She reaches her hand out. “May our threads remain strong and our webs serve us well.”

We clasp hands.