Page 18 of Last Rites

My oldest friend was dead, and I was the reason.

Faces flashed through my mind, all the deaths I was responsible for.

Clover, whose only fault had been that I’d doted on her. Garret Lynde, who taught me more in the forge than my own father had. A dozen lost teenagers no one would ever find, and I didn’t even know their names. Add on Levitt, and by extension the man actively dying in front of the gathered crowd. If I wasn’t careful, Penny would be next, and that was one loss I wouldn’t survive.

Merrick motioned for me to approach, and Penny made to follow, but the guard at his left side pulled him back. I let my fingers linger in Penny’s as long as I could before our hands broke apart, leaving him grasping at empty air.

My guard stopped me with the crumpled form of the fur trader on my left, and then retreated. I tried not to watch when the man on the ground slumped to the side, gasping in shallow, gurgling breaths as his life faded. It was almost a blessing when Anders came around in front of me and held out the ceremonial Shroud Warden robes, blocking the dying man from sight.

I didn’t look at Anders, fixing my eyes on the black robes and starched, white collar before the taller man swung them around my shoulders. There was something I was supposed to say here, I was sure. I should have been given the chance to accept or decline the appointment, but it didn’t look like I was going to get the choice.

I fumbled to shove my arms into the wide sleeves while Anders forewent the buttons down the front to instead cinch the high collar so tightly around my neck that I could hardly breathe.

He leaned in as I hooked a finger in the ties and brought his face level with mine.

“You don’t deserve to wear these robes,” he hissed. “It should be you and your farm boy laying here bleeding out.”

It sounded dangerously close to a threat, and it was all I could do to square my shoulders and appear as impassive as possible.

Anders dropped the finger bone necklace over my head and stepped aside, and Merrick came up on my right. He didn’t so much as look at me sidelong, just kept his eyes on the townsfolk.

“I present Kitingor Koesters, your new Shroud Warden.”

There was a vow I was meant to recite before I could officially claim that title, but Merrick made no room for it. That was wise, considering everything I knew and could reveal to all of Ashpoint if given the chance to speak.

A final breath left the fur trader as a wheeze, and he fell still. No one in the crowd made a sound.

Merrick turned away from those gathered and gripped my shoulder with his remaining hand.

“Join me in my office,” he said. “We have much to discuss.”

My eyes met Penny’s, and I was relieved to see Rosie had made her way through the crowd to stand near him. I motioned in the direction of the house and hoped that was enough to send them both to relative safety. Penny made to try to follow me again, but Rosie caught his arm and tugged him in the opposite direction.

Inside, Merrick and I crossed the empty atrium and ascended the stairs. At the top, he stepped into what used to be Levitt’s office.

Already, all of my old friend’s personal effects were gone. Knickknacks had been piled in a crate by the door—presumably to be discarded—and precarious stacks of documents and letters threatened to collapse beside the hearth in wait for a fire to burn them away. All that remained were the books lining every available shelf and the heap of my father’s journals in the center of the desk.

Merrick settled in the chair in front of them and leaned his head against the upholstered back with his eyes closed. He was trembling slightly, and he swallowed hard as he gingerly tucked the stump of his arm against his chest. Up close in the bright light beaming through the eastern windows and the sallow flicker of candlelight, he looked even more pale and sickly than he had outside.

I remained standing inside the door. Shock and disbelief had given way to wariness during our trek up the stairs, and I was too jittery to sit. I wanted to pace to burn off some of the nervous energy that had made for a fitful night’s sleep, but I didn’t dare. I didn’t want to give Merrick any reason to watch me with extra scrutiny and find the weak spots in my wavering defenses. Better to look as composed as possible for as long as possible.

When silence stretched around us too long for comfort, I tugged at the strangling collar of my robes and hazarded to speak first.

“Tough night.”

Merrick’s eyes cracked open, and his gaze settled on me. He gave a dismissive wave of his left hand. “Just the burdens of leadership,” he said, sounding bored. “But I’m well-equipped to deal with them, so you needn’t concern yourself.”

His eyes closed again, and I took a deep breath to settle the ire prickling up the back of my neck.

How could he be so calm about all of this?

Sure, he’d come out on top, but he knew what Levitt and I had been planning. I was still a threat. He had to know that. What I didn’t know was why he chose to make me his Shroud Warden with full awareness that I’d been working against him.

“What are you playing at, Merrick?” It was a struggle to keep my voice even when I felt anything but. “Can we dispense with the posturing and pretense? It does nothing but waste time, and we both know this isn’t what you wanted.”

This time when his eyes opened, they stayed narrow, and his top lip curled into a snarl. He sat forward and propped his left elbow on the desk.

“You seem to have developed quite the following here. Your little band of allies spent the entire night barking at my door like a pack of wild dogs, and clearly, you’re the only one who can call them to heel.” He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and his expression smoothed. “They demanded your release, so I gave them one better: their champion in a place of power. Now, whoever follows you, follows me. If they don’t, they will be disposed of.”