Page 60 of Dark Bringer (Lord of Everfell #1)

Cathrynne

E verfell sat atop a windy hill a short walk from cliffs that plunged down to the sea. The light had a bright, dazzling clarity and the air was never still, with a perpetual salt breeze blowing off the waves.

Cathrynne opened all the windows of her bedchamber and soaked in a copper tub filled with piping hot water.

One of the maids was about her size and had kindly lent her two dresses suitable for the warm spring weather, one white with yellow flowers, and one forest-green with a square neckline.

She chose the green one, which was a little loose in the bodice but otherwise fit perfectly.

Her ribs were still tender, so she was glad for the extra room.

The gathered skirt fell just below her knee, comfortable for walking and sitting.

Her room had a four-poster bed with a soft, faded quilt patterned with stars in varying shades of blue. A hope chest sat at the foot, while the other half of the chamber nearest the windows held a pine armoire smelling of mothballs and a vanity with a wavy three-paneled mirror.

Cathrynne sat down and studied her reflection. It had been over a week since she escaped from Markus and the bruises had healed to faint shadows. She looked more like herself again—on the outside. But so much had happened, she needed time to process it all.

The strange powers of Levi Bottas. Seeing her mother, sister, and grandmother after twenty years.

Actually speaking to a blue emperor named Borosus .

. . The last part still felt like a dream.

And the flight across the Parnassian Sea!

It had been exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

Much of the trip had passed in darkness, and she had drifted off for long parts of it, but the sensation of being carried by an angel was not one she would soon forget.

Cathrynne liked Gavriel’s home immediately.

It was quiet and peaceful, with simple, sturdy furnishings.

The only sounds were the calls of birds and chirps of insects.

She untangled her damp hair with a silver comb from one of the vanity drawers.

It had terrible knots from the wind whipping it about, and she worked through them slowly and patiently, watching the barn swallows swoop and dive beyond the window.

It made her think briefly of the illusion at Markus’s house, of the robin and the squirrel and the vast green lawns.

She wondered if the spell was drawn from a real place somewhere in the world.

It had been so perfect, so detailed . . .

A knock came. Cathrynne opened the door. It was the apple-cheeked maid, Mia, who had lent her the dresses.

“You look lovely, miss,” she said with a smile. “Breakfast is ready, and the master sent me to ask if you’ll join him on the veranda.”

“Oh yes, I’m famished. I’ll just get my boots on.” She looked around the room. “Er, if you know where they are.”

Mia’s blue eyes twinkled. “They were in quite a state, miss. The master took the liberty of ordering a new pair from the cobbler down at the village. You can wear these in the meantime.”

She handed Cathrynne a pair of stout walking shoes that looked to be about the right size.

“Ah, thank you.” She took the shoes and sat on the edge of the bed. “I’ll be right down.”

Mia smiled. “It’s nice to have company at the house. Lord Morningstar so rarely invites guests.”

Cathrynne thanked her again and laced on the shoes.

Then she drew a deep breath and composed herself.

Now that Gavriel had brought her home to Kirith, she should leave straight after breakfast for the chapter house in Arioch.

There was so much to tell Felicity Birch, who must be worried about her.

Yet she felt dread at facing the interrogation that surely awaited.

Mump and Crump would demand to have a go at her, and she needed to come up with a very convincing story about where she’d been during the time at Markus’s house.

A thrill of fear went through her. If they found out she was a seer .

. . No, there was no reason they’d ever find out, not so long as she managed to lie convincingly.

Which was the problem. She had never been good at deception.

Cathrynne chewed her lip. She decided to eat breakfast before making a decision.

It was always easier to tackle one’s problems on a full stomach.

***

A long stone veranda faced the sea and that is where she found Gavriel, with his legs stretched out and his black wing feathers ruffling in the gentle gusts that came across the moor.

He wore gray trousers and an open-necked linen shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

He looked distractingly handsome, even scowling at the broadsheet in his hands.

“Bad news?” she asked, sitting down at the table.

It was laid with an array of platters that made her nose twitch appreciatively. Poached eggs, savory potatoes with onions and paprika, thick-sliced toast and pots of strawberry jam, black tea with cream and sugar, and what smelled like heavenly cardamom scones. A proper Kirithi breakfast.

Gavriel glanced up, his face softening. “How do you feel this morning?”

She slathered butter on a slice of toast and took a big bite. “Much better. Tell me what you’re frowning at, Morningstar.”

He sighed and folded the broadsheet. “The witches have declared the Casolaba case to be solved. They are blaming Levi Bottas.”

“Who confessed that he did it,” she reminded him, adding a heaping spoonful of jam to the toast.

“Yes, but I still don’t know the exact nature of his relationship with the consul, who else is involved?—”

“Or how he managed to turn himself into a giant,” Cathrynne finished. “Oh, I think this is the best jam I’ve ever tasted! So where is Levi Bottas now?”

“No one knows. Yarl keeps a network of informers throughout Sion. They say he’s vanished. A team of witches searched every inch of the Lenormand School and found no sign of him.”

Cathrynne swallowed the last bite of toast, her appetite fading. “Do you think he’ll go after Kal?”

Gavriel shook his head, clearly troubled. “I don’t know. But I’m certain she escaped the Clear Creek mine. I met her in the tunnel only a short distance from the exit, and I saw her footprints when we came out. She took one of the roads.”

“I worry about her, Gavriel.”

“So do I. But I don’t think she wants to be found.”

Cathrynne stared out at the beaten-silver waves in the distance. She thought of Kal’s sailing ship tattoo, the dreams of adventure she shared with her friend Durian. “She’s tough and resourceful. And she pocketed more of the kaldurite stones. They’ll give her some protection.”

Gavriel nodded, studying her with an intensity that made her self-conscious.“And you? I worry about you, too, Cathrynne.”

She piled her plate high with eggs and potatoes. “I’m fine.”

“How can that be true?” His voice grew rough. He was angry, she suspected, though not with her. “After what the White Foxes did?”

She set her fork down. “Which time? Last week, or twenty years ago?”

“I mean Markus Viktorovich.” Gavriel practically growled the name.

“We do seem destined to keep crossing paths,” she said. “And I still owe both him and his mother. But thanks to them, I faced my worst fears and survived.”

Gavriel leaned forward. For a moment, she thought he might reach for her hand, but then Mia bustled over and he sat back. The young maid seemed to sense that she was intruding, for she quickly refilled the teapot and left.

“Ever since I was taken from Arjevica to Arioch by carriage at the age of eleven, I’ve had a fear of closed spaces,” Cathrynne admitted.

“Even being confined to barracks was an agony. It’s funny, because I can sit and read a book for hours with no difficulty, but if I’m told I can’t leave a room, I become terribly restless?—”

“Aha,” he said with a half smile. “And you claimed you didn’t read books.”

“You remember that?”

“I remember everything.” He noticed her hunting for the salt cellar and pushed it closer. Their fingers brushed as she took it, and Cathrynne felt a little jolt. “But please continue.”

She gazed into his green-gold eyes, trying to gather her train of thought.

“I don’t like the dark, either. Funny for a cypher, I suppose, but I dislike feeling helpless.

That was the worst part of my captivity.

At first, Markus held me in a spacious room, but I kept trying to escape, and I wouldn’t give them what they wanted, so his mother had me moved to a tiny cell under the house. ”

“That’s barbaric,” Gavriel muttered. “I had no idea the Foxes were still so brutal.”

She forked potatoes into her mouth. “Then you don’t know them very well. But my point is that I endured it without losing my mind. If I had not done that, I never could have gone down into the tunnels with Kal. I wouldn’t have met Borosus. I wouldn’t have seen the source.”

He nodded. “They tried to break you,” he said. “But they only made you stronger.”

Cathrynne liked that. “Yes.” She drained her cup of tea, feeling pleasantly restored. “Do you ever walk on the moors? I wouldn’t mind a spot of exercise.”

Gavriel grinned. “Every day, when I’m home.” He stood, tossing the broadsheet aside. “Come, I’ll show you the estate.”

A flight of stone steps led down to a kitchen garden with early spring lettuce and a few cabbages, and then to a track leading across the moor.

Cathrynne followed him down, glancing back to admire the manor house behind her.

Everfell had a pleasingly wild, untamed appearance.

Seven chimneys rose from its slate roof, and dense brambles covered its stone exterior.

Prickly on the outside, she thought with amusement, just like its master.

Yet like Gavriel, it also made her feel safe and wanted.