she slowly advances across a shallow part of the stream, and the hem of her sapphire-blue dress drags against the rocks in the water.
She joins me on the pebbled ground. I set down my knife with trembling fingers. I pray she won’t notice the new addition on my shoulder necklace among its shells, beads, and graceless shark teeth. But Odiva misses nothing.
“What is that pendant you are wearing?” She affects an indifferent tone, but a ragged edge of suspicion cuts through it.
“My new grace bone,” I confess. She must realize that much.
“It looks like Ailesse’s pendant,” she muses, wetting her bloodred lips as she traces the crescent moon I’ve carved from the golden jackal femur.
“I wanted it to match hers.” And I carved it into a pendant so the bone would be unrecognizable.
“I presume it’s not also from an alpine ibex.” Odiva arches a humored brow, but her eyes bore into me like the eyes of the Chained.
I force a thin smile. Why has she come here? Why isn’t she reprimanding me for running away? “No, I haven’t managed a journey to the northern mountains and back again in the last few days.”
“Of course you haven’t.” She takes my hand and dips it in the water. Her touch is gentle, but her sharp nails scrape against my wrist. “You’ve been wandering through the catacombs instead.”
My eyes fly up to meet her gaze. Cold sweat flashes across my skin.
“Your dress is covered in silt.” She answers my unspoken question.
My muscles tense with the urge to run, but there’s no use in denying where I’ve been. “I had to. I can’t bear to think of Ailesse down there. I’ve looked through so many tunnels and walked past so many bones—human bones.” I swallow and shake my head. “Maybe she isn’t down there. Bastien could have taken her into Dovré or sailed away on a ship with her and left Galle completely.”
Odiva holds my hand under the water. Blood swirls from my wound. “Three grace bones do not make you invincible, Sabine. You need to be careful.”
My defenses flare. Did she hear a word I said? Ailesse is the one she should be worried about.
“You’ve proven to be a good huntress over the past few weeks. The other Leurress should take note. The golden jackal still evades us.”
“No one’s found him?” My voice cracks, but I try my best to sound surprised.
“Not even his shadow.” Odiva’s eyes drift to the bubbling waterfall. “I was so certain Tyrus was ready for me to have him back.”
Back? I open my mouth to ask what she means, but then her eyes refocus and examine mine. Can she see through me to my deceitful heart? Can she smell the jackal’s carcass where I buried him in this very hollow?
“Let us hope we find him before the new moon. I have told you what the Chained will do if they are loose for too long.”
I shiver under her heavy stare. The full moon is in three days, which means the new moon is a little over two weeks away. I have that long to decide if I should ignore the silver owl’s warnings and dig up the jackal to take another femur bone. Odiva would still have time to carve a new flute.
She pulls a slim hunting pack off her shoulder and removes a rolled strip of cloth, an item any good huntress carries in case of wounds. “I have tracked you here for a solemn purpose, Sabine.”
Misgiving spools inside me. “Oh?”
She takes my hand again, dips it once more in the water, and begins to wrap it. “It is about Ailesse.”
All my nerves stand at attention. “Did you find her?”
Odiva’s eyes fill with sorrow—too late for me to believe. “You need to prepare yourself. I know how much you care for my daughter.”
But how much do you?
She sighs and looks down. “Ailesse is dead. I am sure of it this time.”
My hand tenses, but she doesn’t let it go.
“Tyrus gave me a sign.”
The god who won’t tell you where his jackal is?
“I trust him. The bond between a mother and a daughter carries a grace of its own. I’ve searched myself deeply, and my attachment to Ailesse is gone.”
Was there ever one to begin with?
Odiva finishes binding my hand. “I am sorry I had to be the one to tell you. I can see how shocking it is.”
“Yes.” My voice scratches on a whisper. Ailesse isn’t dead. I know it just like the first time Odiva spun