was true and Mina believed her.”
“Why does any of this matter?” asked Kate.
“Your mother moved to Morvane to live in the bookshop with Artemis and your father. Mina didn’t like that. She said they would be safer in the City Below. She tried to get them to move to Fume for years, but they always said no. Your father never wanted to leave the bookshop and after what happened to them in the end . . . I suppose Mina felt responsible. After they died, she tried to talk Artemis into bringing you to the city, but we both know he didn’t want anything to do with the Skilled; mixing with them was just too dangerous. When the wardens starting hunting the Skilled, Mina got worried and—it’s true—she sent me up north to keep an eye on you.”
“Why?” asked Kate. “Because of something my mother said years ago?”
“It was more than that,” said Edgar. “The veil warned Mina that a powerful new member of the Skilled was about to be discovered and would need her help. The words in the warning were almost exactly the same as those your mother had once said to her, and she couldn’t ignore it. Artemis was about as Skilled as my left boot. Mina knew it wasn’t him the veil was pointing at. It was you. She wrote letters to him, asking him to send you to her for your own safety. He wouldn’t listen. She warned Artemis that you were in danger, but he was sure Mina was just making it all up. He didn’t believe that trouble was coming, but Mina was sure it was only a matter of time. When Artemis found out that the wardens were coming, it was already too late.”
“So that’s why you came after me on the Night Train?” said Kate. “You were just doing what you were told. Doing whatever Mina asked?”
“No! I came after you because you were in trouble. I’ve seen what Da’ru does to people and I didn’t want that to happen to you. Do you think I was just going to let Silas take you off somewhere and not do anything to stop him?”
“I don’t know!” said Kate. “Everyone else seems so sure they know what’s best for me. Why didn’t anyone just tell me what was going on? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Would you have believed me?” said Edgar. “Would you even have listened to me?”
“I probably would have said you were crazy,” admitted Kate.
“That’s exactly why I couldn’t say anything. I wanted to help you. I liked you. I hoped the ‘being in danger’ stuff was just Mina getting things wrong, but when you brought the bird back to life in that cellar . . .” Edgar’s shoulders slumped and his eyes met Kate’s. “I never wanted to hurt you, Kate. We’re friends. I wouldn’t want anything to change that.”
Kate wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that Edgar hadn’t just become her friend because someone had told him to, but she still felt betrayed. No matter what Edgar’s reasons were for traveling to Morvane, she couldn’t believe that for three years he had kept them from her. Kate always thought Artemis worried too much, but he had trusted Edgar, never guessing that he was anything more than a young boy looking for work in a new town. If someone like Edgar could lie and get away with it for so long, she was starting to think Artemis had not worried enough.
“What I don’t understand is why the Skilled trusted you,” she said, softening a little. “It’s obvious Silas has known you for a long time. You were only with the Skilled a few months, but Mina told me you’d worked for Da’ru for years.”
“I never worked for Da’ru. She bought me and my brother. We were just expected to work hard and do as we were told. If Mina hadn’t . . . If Mina had had a chance to tell you everything, then you would know that I already knew the Skilled. My parents were in contact with them all their lives, just like Artemis. When the wardens came to my town, they were among the ones taken away to be used in Da’ru’s experiments. Two days later I heard that both of them had died.”
“I’m sorry,” said Kate.
Edgar looked down at his feet. “They knew it might happen. Mina and the others tried to get me and my brother out of the council chambers a few