When Eris didn’t answer, Safire lifted the wooden object by its slender end, holding it up.
“It’s the spindle,” she mused aloud. “It somehow allows you to disappear.”
Eris smiled with just one side of her mouth. “Why don’t you give it to me, and I’ll show you if you’re right.”
Leaning over the back of the chair, Safire smiled back. “I know I’m right. Without it, you’re nothing more than a common thief.”
Eris’s elegant jaw hardened. “So this is what you do with all your captives, right before you march them to their deaths? Taunt them? Gloat over them?” She shook her head, disgusted. “It’s beneath you.”
Safire smarted at those words. She sat back, her cheeks reddening with heat.
But what did she care about this lowlife’s good opinion?
She did care, though. She cared that Eris was right: taunting and gloatingwerebeneath her.
I’ve been spending too much time in the company of criminals,she thought.
Still, Safire rose from the chair, unsettled, and walked to the small porthole. “I’m not marching you to your death,” she said softly, looking out to the harbor in the distance. She could just make out wharves and fishing sheds and boats moored to docks. Beyond it, the city sprawled out and up the mountain at its back. “The empress will give you a fair trial.”
Eris snorted. “You’re a fool if you think that’s true.”
Safire turned in surprise to face her. “What do you mean?” In Firgaard, every criminal had a right to a trial. Things hadn’t always been this way, but they were now, under Dax and Roa’s rule.
“If she puts me on trial, I’ll tell the truth. And Leandra doesn’t want me telling the truth.” Eris’s eyes were unnaturally bright. “Trust me, princess. I’ll get no trial. She’ll take me up to the immortal scarps and dispose of me—like she does with everyone she hates most.”
Safire crossed her arms, turning back to the porthole, watching the smoke from Axis’s chimneys curl into the distant sky. She needed to be careful here. She knew Eris was perfectly capable of manipulating her.
Hesitant, she asked, “And what’s the truth?”
“You’ve already decided what it is,” said Eris in a small voice.
Safire turned to face her. “Try me.”
So Eris told her.
Seven Years Previous
“We’ve hidden her here as long as we can.”
Eris hadn’t intended to spy. She’d only come to Day’s room because the weavers were out of purple dye and had asked her to fetch more scarp thistles. She’d come to tell Day she was going up to the meadow.
Day liked to know where Eris was at all times.
When Eris heard voices inside the room, she immediately turned away, knowing how her guardian felt about eavesdropping. But at the sound of her own name, Eris stopped.
She couldn’t help herself; she turned and listened at the door.
“The Lumina are getting stronger.” It was the Master Weaver’s deep voice. “If she stays any longer, she’ll bring sorrow upon us.”
“I understand,” came Day’s soft answer.
“You know how I feel about the girl. How we all feel. But... I’m sorry, Day.”
The door opened suddenly. Before Eris could hide, the Master Weaver halted, the silver tassels of his robe swishing. His clear black eyes stared down at Eris, full of surprise.
Day stepped out beside him.
“Eris...”
