Page 11 of Tides of Shadows

“Do not believe all you hear. Most is overblown,” he said, leaning a little nearer, “though I confess some tales amuse me.” After a heartbeat he added in a half-voice, “But on the Plague there is no excess. What we heard today is only the beginning.”

I studied him more closely. There was no mockery in his eyes, only gravity.

“You think it will grow worse?”

“I do not think. I know,” he said without pause. “In the south we have seen things not spoken today. Water, crops, beasts, those can be managed. It is not only wildlings that press toward the Dominium. You heard Iskareth’s tales about wolves. There are creatures worse than wolves in the south.” His tone was iron-cold, yet honest in its chill. “Cassandra will bargain, delay and spread the burden over days and weeks. The Plague will not wait on her games.”

For a while neither of us spoke. His words were heavy.

“And you?” I asked at last. “Why are you telling me this?”

He regarded me with a slight smile that never reached his eyes, “Because you look like one who knows not all secrets may be hidden forever.”

Before I could answer, he bowed and was gone, leaving me to wonder whether he spoke of the Plague, or of me.

I left the central square and made for my chambers, my thoughts a tangle. Mirabel trotted at my side, chattering without cease of the coming ball, of gowns, and how we must find something worthy for me, or the ladies would flay me with their looks. A cold wind stole through the arcades like the breath of a crypt.

I cared nothing for it. Dricus’s words on the Plague stayed with me. Just what I needed for my long list of troubles.

But then three ladies stepped forward, as if they had sprung from the darkness. They stopped, blocking our path. All three looked similar, though one wore more diamonds than the rest. She was the same lady who had sat among the Salvadore family and had fixed her eyes on me during the Gathering. Golden-haired, delicate frame, accentuated breasts, hair braided in a crown, blue eyes gleaming cold. As if painted by a master of court portraits. If I had sought my opposite, I could not have found a better one.

“We heard someone is in sore need of a gown for the ball,” she said, her voice dripping spite. “A hard task for one who looks to have spent her days in a harbor rather than in ballrooms.”

Her companions giggled mockingly.

The Salvadore heiress let her gaze travel down my leathers.

“This is no Lady’s dress. This is a workwoman’s wear. Look at those shoulders,” she said, lifting a brow. “The shoulders of one who has hauled crates on a quay, not one highborn.”

Laughter again.

I stared at them, one thought in my mind: Gods, what childishness. These were to be future Family heiresses? They looked and acted like fifteen-year-olds who had never seen real life.

“What exactly is your problem with me?” I asked, cool and level, meeting her eyes. “I do not know you, and I have no dealings with you.”

The gold-haired girl smiled, all frost.

“My problem? That on your first day you spread your legs for the Regent’s son,” she said, triumph in her tone. “They saw him leaving your chambers like a brothel”

I laughed softly to myself, truly impressed by the stupidity of what I’d just heard.

I debated whether to explain anything. But seeing the flame of hatred in her eyes, I realized she was filled with jealousy of young Cavareth, and I forwent explanations. It wouldn’t change anything.

“If you’re stupid enough to believe such rumors,” I said slowly, “then I can only pity you.”

I swept my gaze over the three and walked on, slipping between them as I would shoulder through a crowd on the docks of Thalrock.

The young Salvadore drew back with an offended hiss, her friends muttering under their breath. Mirabel, wide-eyed, near stumbled over her own feet, then hurried after me.

I won’t lie, such rumors didn’t serve me well. But fighting gossip in the White City palace is like fighting the wind. As I walked away, I heard another hiss behind me, a blade driven straight into my spine:

“Run along, island beggar. You have nothing but a body to barter, so barter it well.”

The companions giggled, their laughter echoing off the arches.

I stopped for a beat. I clenched my fists, my nails digging into the skin of my palms. One nod, one thought… and I would have drained her tiny body until she was a dry shell.

But I drew a deep breath and walked on.