She couldn’t return his affectionate smile, but Clotaire seemed unbothered, continuing his rant.
“But with every tick of the second hand on the clock, the risk of someone else knowing, then someonetheytold knowing, knowledge branching beyond control faster than thought, my window of opportunity narrowed with every moment that I hesitated. I needed someone to spirit the child away. To ward her from discovery. To raise her until I could formulate a plan.Someone with at least basic oneiromancy skills. And Jada was the only person I could think of in that moment.”
“Jada.” Shoshan spoke the name dully, an old hatred in the thud of the syllables, a stale reflection of Rose’s freshly conceived loathing. “We agreed to sell her contract because she caused so many problems. Lazy, no self-discipline, lacking in ethics. Indiscreet,” she added pointedly, flicking a glance at Rose and away.
“Yes, well… I got rid of her, asrequested, didn’t I?” Clotaire heaved a sigh and, for the first time since he’d entered the room, displayed a hint of regret. “Both Jada’s pending loss of employment and moral, ah, flexibility made her perfect for the job.”
“Perfect,” Shoshan hissed, magic crackling in the air again like a cat extending lethally sharp claws. “This is not the word I’d use to describe that… person.”
“I offered Jada a way out, which earned her loyalty,” Clotaire retorted defensively. “I bought her contract, so she was geas-bound to obey me. She received a clean slate rather than having to account for her transgressions. She’d come from a farming family, so she already knew how to provide for an infant, to grow food and maintain livestock. And, in exchange for me not turning her in to the authorities for her crimes, she would keep her mouth shut about Thorn’s existence. Even with more time to plan, I’m not certain I could have found a better candidate for what I needed.”
“All this time,” Shoshan mused, quiet and lethal anger running like bloodred cracks through the air around her, “I thought she’d paid for her crimes, that she had gone away for that reason. Youtoldme that’s where she’d gone.”
“Yes, well, I lied to you about that. As I’ve admitted already, it was hardly the only or even biggest lie I told.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” she asked, eerily calm now.
Clotaire laid his palms flat on the table, straightening his spine. “I don’texpectyou to feel in any way about what I did,”he answered. “I knew then when I made my choices that there would never be forgiveness for me, not from you. Though I did hope that at least Rose would eventually understand.” He looked briefly at Rose, gave her a wistful smile. “I hope you’ll come to see what a gift I’ve given you. But, please, trust me for now. We’ve always had such a beautiful trust between us.”
His gaze went to the rose pendant at the hollow of her throat, and Rose had to fight not to yank it off. Temper wouldn’t serve her purpose. Not yet.
“What was the third reason?” she asked. At his blank look, she clarified. “You said there were three reasons you sent Thorn away and kept me close. What was the third?”
“I obviously couldn’t be sure how you’d turn out,” he said, as if she were a dull student. “You aren’t actually human. You’re a creature of the Dream and one made by an untutored sorceress. I had to keep a close eye on you, be prepared for any… oddities.”
Oddities.That word described Rose in every facet of her being. So much of her early childhood made sense now. The relentless supervision. The intensive, near-constant tutoring. Her aversion to touch and general exile from normal social activities.A creature of the Dream. Not actually human.
Shoshan seemed to gather herself, aware of Clotaire’s casual cruelty in a way he simply wasn’t capable of. She turned to Rose. “It’s not true, Rose. You’re as human as any of us.”
Rose, unable to think about any of it too closely, just nodded. “So, what is the end game in this charade?” she asked her father, needing to extract the remaining answers and be done with this world-altering interview. “That is, I assume in the intervening eighteen years you did come up with a plan at some point.”
Clotaire dipped his chin in acknowledgment, seeming to ignore her scathing sarcasm in his rush to explain. “We’re nearly there,” he said with enthusiasm. “It’s a shame that Jada has been absent of late, as you’ve mentioned. I predicted that she’d growbored and restless eventually, and it’s frankly a miracle she lasted this long, but I didn’t realize she’d been indulging in extended absences. Or I would have tightened her leash.”
Rose gave him a long look. “Were you not… keeping track of what was going on at the cottage, with your daughter’s welfare?”
Her father managed to look both impatient and guilty. “I gave the job to Jada for a reason: because I couldn’t possibly provide personal oversight. Not only am I thoroughly occupied with my many responsibilities, including fulfilling my own contracted duties, I couldn’t afford to establish a pattern of traveling to a remote cottage in the Aswad Woods. The entire point of assigning Jada to be Thorn’s guardian was to preserve the delicate shroud of secrecy that kept her safe. It worked, too,” he added with a hint of pride.
Rose opened her mouth to excoriate him on that take, but Clotaire held up a hasty hand to stop her. “I’ll deal with Jada, I promise. She’ll get her comeuppance for being so irresponsible. I left her instructions loose for a purpose, but this is beyond the pale.”
“And her abuse?” Rose pressed.
He continued as if he hadn’t heard that. “Like you, Thorn is an adult now,” he said. “She doesn’t need a keeper, so sending Jada back to the cottage, to Thorn, won’t serve anyone. You say Thorn has been learning to use her sorcery? That’s a disturbing development. Beyond careless of Jada. Fortunately, I have found several tutors for her.”
Rose wasn’t about to elaborate on Thorn’s various experiments and transgressions, especially not until she knew what her father had planned. Those were between Thorn and her. “She has learned some things, yes. Is that relevant to my question that you still haven’t answered?”
“It is relevant. Her experimentation is unwise and not ideal, but not really a problem so long as she’s contained,” he mused. “She is contained, isn’t she? I don’t think you explained how you came to encounter her.”
“She’s contained,” Rose confirmed. “I met her… via the Dream.”
Clotaire looked interested. “Not surprising, really, given your connection, but—”
“No, you’re answering my questions now, Father. I want to know what role you have planned for me. Or I promise I won’t cooperate.”
“Yes,” Shoshan said. “Do tell what future you have planned for your acknowledged daughter. Does it involve incarceration?”
He flicked her a glance. “I don’t expect you to forgive me, Shosh. At least, not immediately and not easily, but do try to be civil. I did this for all of us.” He returned his focus to Rose. “You have done so well in school, accomplished more than I even hoped you would, blended in with the rest of humanity. You were such a strange child, I worried you might not ever assimilate. But you have become an oneiromancer to be reckoned with. No one would have reason to think you’re not human. I’m so very proud of you.”
Rose forced herself to remain impassive. She really wanted to hear her father’s plan for her.Then you can leave,she promised herself,and give all of this a good long think.If not for Thorn, she would consider walking the Dream and simply staying there, her true home.
