When the sun began to disappear behind the steepled rooftops of homes, Anelize struck a match and lit a candle half melted in its holder beside her bed, the warm glow grantingher enough light to add more observations she’d made of her own patients today. She continued her pondering, sketching the markings she’d seen on Mihai’s body to the best of her ability, until her eyes grew tired, an ache for sleep finally catching up with her.
A quick incessanttap, tap, tapfrom the window pulled at her attention before she could slip into a fast sleep. She looked to the window where she caught sight of a raven perched on the sill, its black beady eyes watching her as it tilted its head curiously. Frowning, she stood to shoo the bird away and popped the latch of the window open.
“What do you want? Go on, be on your way,” she murmured when it refused to do so. It merely watched her as if she were the one intruding on it. Releasing an impatient sigh, she made to reach for the raven. “I said, go, mangy bird.”
The raven released a deep croaking sound from within its chest as if in reproach before diving off the ledge, taking flight at the last moment before it reached the cobblestones. Anelize braced her hands atop the sill, watching it glide down the street until it soared into the darkening sky. It was then that she caught sight of movement around the corner of a home. Long golden hair swirling in the wind before the figure disappeared down another street.
Dread suddenly fell over her like being doused by the frigid water of a bucket. Anelize didn’t want to believe it. Not when it was foolish beyond all reasoning. Still, something possessed her to leave her room and head down the hall, her steps hurried.
“Enid?” She knocked, but when there came no answer, she tried the doorknob and listened to the gentleclickof it opening. She pushed the door and peered into the room,finding Enid’s bed neatly made, empty. Heart sinking, she hurried downstairs. “Enid!”
“What’s all this ruckus?” Magda stepped out from the kitchen with a steaming cup of tea in her hands, the linden blossoms a sickly-sweet scent wafting toward her.
“Where’s Enid?” she asked, pushing the woman aside to look in the kitchen next, then the garden through the frosted window, the single tree and plants covered in thick layers of frost in the back. Nothing. She wasn’t here. Panic made Anelize rush for the door, yanking it open and letting a blast of cold air shove its way past her. She stepped onto the landing, scanning the empty streets, her voice drowned out by the howling winds. “Enid!”
“Anelize, close the door at once! Have you lost all sense?” Magda said, grabbing her arm and pulling her back into the house, and hurriedly shutting the door. Without wasting a second, Anelize spun on her heel and yanked the thick cloak she’d left draped over the stool behind the counter, wrapping it around herself. “Where do you think you’re going?” Magda demanded.
“She’s gone out there to go find Wellyn, no doubt. The sun is still going down, if I leave now, I can find her in time.”
“If you don’t, you’ll condemn the both of you. It will be her own saint’s damned fault.”
“I don’t care. I’m not letting her be taken by the Watchmen orworsebecause of the cruelty you spewed at her,” Anelize said through gritted teeth, unlocked the door and yanked it open, Magda’s words lost to the night as she ran in search of her sister.
4
In the silence that claimed the port at night, Anelize’s footsteps sounded entirely too loud even as she treaded through the thick blankets of snow gathering around her. Her eyes scanning for any sign of her sister was only overruled when she heard the trailing voices of Watchmen nearby, all of them out on patrol.
She’d made her way past the main road, watching for the warm glow of their torches dancing along the walls of homes wherever they went. Sticking to the narrower streets that led toward the market square, her heart thundered as her eyes frantically scanned for any sign of Enid. She silently hoped her sister had kept herself hidden in the shadows before any Watchmen spotted her. If they suspected she was a Vedran, if what lurked in the cover of night found her first…
Panic started to sink its greedy teeth into her. The mere thought of Enid being harmed—no, she did not want to think about it. Knowing that losing herself in worries and possibilities that may never come into fruition was a waste of time, she pressed on.
Enid was careful and smart regardless of how often her heart was the true ruler of her desires and wishes. Anelize would never be able to imagine a world where Enid wasn’t in it, let alone her meeting a similar fate as their father had. It wasn’t something she’d ever allowed herself to think, not withthe way they’d always been careful.Alwaysso careful. At times, Anelize wondered if she’d been austere with her sister when it came to protecting her. If she’d frightened her over the years with her constant warnings. Her lectures on the importance of hiding from the world. The same way their father had ingrained his own worries within Anelize. But what else could she have done at only eleven name days, taking on the responsibility of taking care of a child when she’d been one herself? Survival was the only option they could be afforded when their aunt proved all but useless herself when it came to caring for them.
Anelize thought Enid knew why she was always so insistent on staying out of trouble. Clearly, she’d failed if this was the result.
She needed to find her. There would be time to worry about everything else later.
The faintest sound of rushing footsteps made her pause, pressing herself closer to the shadows gathered around a closed merchant’s stall. Peering around it, she spotted shadows moving down a street to the far right. The sound of men speaking, angry and impatient, somewhere nearby. They soon turned into distant murmurs as they ventured farther away toward the other side of the square.
Releasing a breath, she pushed away from the stall, continuing her journey across the market. The Dobrins’ tavern was one of the tallest structures in the port district, located just on the other side of the market. From here she could see the thatched roof, the faint glow of candlelight emanating from one of the windows.
Please be there.
She managed to make it just past half the square when sheheard it. The sound of feet scuffling coming from the darkened alleyway to her left, voices arguing too faint to distinguish. Turning to face the darkened alleyway before her, her heart began thundering in her chest. A distinct sense, a pulsing warning humming in her chest that became impossible to ignore. A call she knew not to disregard, out of instinct or sheer panic. It was an effort not to sink her nails into the palms of her hands in answer.
Regardless, she could see it.
A faint light emanating from the darkness. Swirling tendrils urging her forward before they faded away, like whispers caught and whisked away on a wind.
Flexing her hands, Anelize hurried into the alley—fear already coiling its way up her throat with what she might find—when she came to an abrupt halt at the sight before her.
Amidst the shadows, a man dressed in a black cloak loomed over a woman, standing a breath away from her as he held a dagger in one hand. Enid’s golden hair and her tear-filled eyes as she gazed upon the man before her had Anelize rushing toward them, fueled by an acute need that ignited her entire being.
She called out, “Hey!”
He barely managed to angle his head toward her before she threw a fist as hard as she could, her knuckles meeting his face with a hard, meatythump. Pain bloomed over her hand instantly at the same time she heard the crunch of bone. The man stumbled backward until his back hit the wall, clutching his face as he sank to the ground with a muffled curse spilling from his lips.
“Anya!” Enid cried out in surprise, rushing to her side.
