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Exhausted, I sank into the opposite chair.
“Soot-stained as usual, cinder-girl.” She narrowed her kohl-lined eyes. “If my fabric is permanently stained, I expect you to pay.”
“You care about the fabric but not family?” Her insults did not sting as usual. They were familiar, something to cling to as everything changed.
“Lecture someone else, kin killer. This is all mine now, and I’m not letting it go to waste.”
Kin killer. Double if Kirill counted. That one did sting. “You’re not afraid I’ll come for you next? A dangerous witch like me?”
She scoffed. “If you wanted to kill me you would have. I have hardly seen a trial with more lies and trumped-up charges. You, Vanya, my kindest stepsister, are the least of Tal’s worries.”
Somehow, my abrasive stepsister—who I had despised almost as much as Kirill—mocking the Council as much as she had me, solidified something inside.
“It was a closed court.”
Lana’s eyes glittered like her mask. “You and all others always underestimated me. Even von Lemerch and her priestesses who preach that the common people will rise when the royals fall, took one look at me, and sent me off to be your maid because I enjoy fine dresses. I’ve been doing my father’s books and diverging funds for years. The nobles who owed him now owe me, and I called in a few debts.Information is often more valuable than money when you plan to rise above Lowtown’s dirt.”
I blinked at her. She spoke with a competency I had not previously heard, except when it came to dresses and lace. Lana was vain, superior, and petty—but maybe that was not all she was.
“You don’t support von Lemerch?”
“My father lent her a very large sum of money. For financial reasons, I need her to come out on top. That’s it. I don’t like false promises.”
“It’s about money?”
Somehow, she managed to convey her derision at my ignorance with only her eyes. “It always comes down to money, and even ancient monsters need a lender. The Crown buys up half of the food that enters Tal and tax the rest. They resell it to the noble households and the rest of us bid on what’s left. Do you think people slaughtered their cattle early, giving up that sure paycheck, and came to fight for her on faith alone?”
Yes. That was what I had thought. Even Dimitri had not questioned it, perhaps believing people would continue to jump at his commands even if he did not pay. Some would, like the bone soldiers, but I should have questioned all those people leaving their farms without fighting.
“You know where the food is?”
“No.” She swept her hand over the open book. “But almost all my father’s funds are tied up in her scheme. Stupid, if you ask me. Not that anyone did. When she comes again, I suggest you make yourself scarce.”
“You’reletting me stay?” I had enough money to go anywhere, had longed to leave this house for years, but faced with the decision to leave the only home I had, the dread inside grew.
I was dead—how could I make a life? I felt the noose around my neck, Lumi’s hand in mine, the pressure of the Spirits.
“No matter what I think of you, you’re the closest thing I have to family,” Lana said. “And the house is big enough for two. But don’t bring trouble to my door.”
“And the curse?”
I had expected her to bring it up, to rant about what I had done in a fit of anger. Talking like this did not erase years of abuse. But it did make me question if I had ever really known her.
“Your problem, Vanya, is that you carry your heart on your sleeve and ignore the tools you have. Beauty, femininity and youth were useful when I needed my father to underestimate me. Beating you on Flora von Heskin’s behalf, even taking the princess’s bed, convinced them when they suspected me of going soft for not reporting your every step. After a silly tantrum, no one accuses you of conspiring against them.
“This”—she swept her hand over her covered face—“might well serve better when demanding respect. You’ve given me a weapon and reputation. Every curse can be a blessing. Every act has two sides. You think yourself kind, but have that need to help and appease, not hurt?”
Her words hit home. I had tried so hard to make my mother proud, to obey Ealhswip, then help Dimitri. It had ended with both Lumi and me dead. Ealhswip happy enough. The king dead. Me a murderer. The food still missing. The Day of the Dead still coming. And, unknown to the living, the Spirits of Tal rallying.
But you saved Dimitri,a small voice inside whispered. Would that last past the wedding though? My headache was building, thoughts sluggish.
Lana picked the pen up again. The scratch of it against the parchment reminded me of how I had struggled to put my thoughts into words. But Lana—
“Von Lemerch didn’t swear you to secrecy? You could tell Dimitri about her plans.”
“Did you not hear how all my funds are tied up with her. Beyond that, I would not betray a client. Nothing in me for that.” The pen did not stop moving as she spoke.
“Even if the city hangs in the balance?”
