for his mind seemed suddenly as ineffectual as his body. He was exhausted, too tired to string words together. His thoughts seemed to crawl through mud. He wondered if this was how most people went to sleep, drifting off easily, while he tossed and turned in the darkness.
“This is a curious piece of work,” Thorne murmured. He had picked up the mace now, and begun examining it. “Should I sell it, do you think?”
“No,” the woman’s low voice answered. “Give it to the bookmaker. A favor, to cement future dealings. Arliss is about to move topside. When you move into the Keep, we’ll need friends in the Gut.”
The Keep, Christian thought muzzily. Thorne was going to the Keep. But what business could a Creche pimp possibly have there?
Christian’s eyes sank closed.
Chapter 14
IN THE MOMENT
Youth is a time of great wonder, and more of foolishness. But the wages of even the most extreme foolishness cannot entirely eclipse the wonder. Some moments are never forgotten.
—The Words of the Glynn Queen, as recorded by Father Tyler
When Elyssa woke, she was standing just outside the witch’s door.
She didn’t know how she had gotten there. Barty was nowhere in sight, nor were any of her other guards. It was late, and the corridor was deserted. But that couldn’t be. Even in the dead of night, there were always two guards on her mother’s door, at least.
How did I get here?
She had gone to bed early. In the past few days, she always found herself sleepy in the early evening. The weather, undoubtedly; as June moved into July, the heat had climbed, and now it was almost unbearable. It had been eleven days since the night in the Circus; her mother had not summoned her yet, and Elyssa, in no hurry to hasten that process, had been taking dinner in her room. It seemed only natural to go to sleep afterward. And—
And how did I get here?
Elyssa looked around again, seeing no movement beyond the torches, flickering in their holders. The corridor stretched away from her on either side, seeming much longer than it did in the daytime. And now she was beset by an uncomfortable certainty: she was all alone in the Queen’s Wing. The entire Keep was deserted. When she closed her eyes, she could visualize the city of New London below her, eerily silent, not a soul in sight. She was the only one left in the entire Tearling, and the silence of her kingdom pressed in upon her, as though the world were a tomb.
Get hold of yourself! her mind snapped. You’ve been sleepwalking, that’s all, and tonight you had the bad fortune to do it while Barty snuck off to the john.
But there were always two guards on Elyssa’s chamber, always. And where was Niya? Elyssa could not remember a single night when she had been wakeful that Niya did not present herself within seconds. For a moment Elyssa debated going to Niya’s room and waking her up, but then something crawled over her skin, tickling, like fingers, making her gasp. There was nothing there, but she ran her hands up her arms all the same, trying to rid herself of the sensation. She couldn’t stay out here in the hallway forever; she was wearing only her shift, and she was freezing.
Go on, her mind whispered. Go into her room. You’ve been wanting to for days.
Elyssa frowned at the certainty in that voice. Ever since the heat had climbed, she had been having terrible dreams, but their substance faded far too fast for Elyssa to remember upon waking. Only one image stuck with her, and it was so fleeting that she could not describe it without sounding foolish: a pair of blind eyes, hovering over her in the dark. The vision seemed so real that Elyssa had sat up, clutching her sapphire, and for a moment, she could have sworn that the jewel had been glowing bright blue.
Without knowing it, Elyssa had put a hand on the door handle. Voices echoed in her mind. The sapphire cushioned between her breasts seemed to throb, as though it were alive.
She’s in there, waiting. Casting her bones and waiting for you.
Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.
You can have everything you want. But you must have the courage to act.
Abruptly Elyssa turned and fled down the corridor. It seemed to lengthen before her, the end retreating from her flying feet, but at last she reached the door she wanted. For a long, terrible moment she thought