Maren Goldweaver's Arc

Chapter 23 of 42

Morning light came through the shutter slats in thin gray bars. Maren splashed water on her face from the basin. Her eyes were swollen. Miller was already dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed with his boots laced. He passed her the heel of last night's bread. She ate it standing up. Downstairs, a kettle rattled. Somewhere in the village, a bell rang the hour, and she thought of the notices nailed to every post between the tavern and the well. Her face. A copper coin. She could not walk to the market. She could not ask a fisherman about ship schedules. She could not step outside this room without a hood pulled low, and even then, Topper's mouth was a door she could not lock. Gisela came in without knocking. Kato followed, closing the door soft behind him. Gisela sat on the floor with her back against the wall and pulled her knees up. The winged cub padded out from under the bed and curled against her boot. Miller latched the door. "Not Topper," Maren said. "Not Topper," Miller agreed. Gisela looked around the room. "Who do we trust. Besides us." No one answered. Kato scratched his jaw. Miller shook his head once. Maren counted the room and stopped at four. The list was that short. "I can't walk down there," Maren said. "My face is on the post outside the kitchen door. I saw it when we came in. I can't ask about transfer schedules. I can't ask about anything." "Then we need people who can," Gisela said. She pulled a folded scrap from her vest and smoothed it on the floorboard. Three names, written small. "Rebels. Not the leader's people. People who hate him the way I hate him. Two days south. Maybe less." Kato leaned over the paper. "I know the second one. He's real." "We can't live our whole life on the run," Gisela said. Flat. "We failed the ledger. He'll send someone. But these three won't. If we go to them and ask what we have to do to earn a place, that's one door that isn't a trap. One party on our side. One." Miller looked at Maren. Waited. "South," she said. "We go south." Gisela folded the paper and tucked it away. Kato stood. "What about him," Miller said. He tipped his head at the wall between their room and Topper's. "He comes," Maren said. "We tell him we're moving. Nothing else. Not where. Not why. Not the names." Miller nodded once and unlatched the door.