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Chapter thirteen

Nerys

“Be nice, Fina,” Idris said, not looking up from his hand.

“I’m the nicest one at this table,” Fina muttered. Idris smirked and ignored her.

Nice? Hardly. Even if she was acting out of concern for Nerys— if —her methods…could use improvement.

“Are you trying to lose?” Idris asked Nerys, giving her a wink over his hand when Fina wasn’t looking. Alright. Things had changed with some people, at least.

“What do you think?” Nerys asked.

Fina bit her lip and didn’t look up from her cards.

With a sigh, Nerys inspected her hand. While her mind was filled with more useless knowledge than ever—when else was she going to have to remember what colors, fabrics, and symbols were appropriate for which occasions or rank? —there was still so much to learn.

At least the act of killing the R?ll would be easy. Nerys had more than ample experience with slaughtering animals—what was a man but an animal? If a bit more…fleshy. But unlike the innocent animals, the R?ll deserved it.

Idris selected a card from his hand and set it face down on the table, and then replaced it with a new one from the deck. “You’re actually asking me what I think?”

“Unfortunately.”

“I think you have a knack for self-sabotage that can’t be overlooked. ”

Nerys softly groaned. “What makes you say that?”

“Oh, nothing new. Other than the troubling gaps in your memory,” Idris mumbled.

“Like what?” Nerys needn’t have bothered asking—she knew all too well what was going to come out of his mouth next. Or, at least, the ten most likely candidates.

“There’s your tendency to use your underskirts as a napkin, for one,” Idris said. “Which is quite impressive, considering they’re under skirts.”

“Um…”

“How about when you called the ‘fish fork’ a ‘sea trident’?” Fina asked.

“Well, it is!”

“Oh! Oh!” Fina tapped the table. “How about when we practiced greetings and she addressed the R?ll’s bastard as “Your Corpulence” instead of “Your Grandness?”

“Well, they are corpulent in their grandness,” Nerys muttered.

Idris grinned at Fina. “At least she stopped calling out for more at dinner when she wants another serving.” Nerys sighed. That was an honest mistake. How was she supposed to know that noble ladies weren’t supposed to ask for more of a dish? The whole point of being rich was to eat.

No matter their plans, Nerys wasn’t about to listen to them play yet another game of “ridicule the Nerys.” She coughed, gaining their attention.

“How do you two know so much about the Ca’mailian court anyway?

You know everything. Down to the Kor’yitz’s dessert preferences and how she likes to hunt.

Alone.” A lot of knowledge, even for spies.

“We’ve made a point to know,” Fina said, inspecting her nails.

“Yes. I understand much. But why? How ?”

“When it comes down to it,” Idris said, “most of the kingdoms’ courts are very similar, Ca’mail’s obsession with using pieces of ancient languages besides.” 76

“Alright.” She was going to have to try another tactic. “How do you know so much about court etiquette?”

“We paid attention to our governess,” Fina said. “We learned something, rather than argued with her.” Fina moved a strand of hair away from her face and gave Nerys a pointed look. “In peacetime, the courts interact a fair amount—it’s worth learning some things.”

Nerys figured as much— the two of them oozed high birth like swamps oozed mud—and she wanted details. “So, you’re Cerdorani nobility?”

Fina looked at Idris. “Of a sort,” he said, focusing on his cards. For all he reacted to the question, Nerys may as well have asked him what color his hair was.

“Of a sort” meant “yes.” Interesting. Too bad she already guessed as much.

“What kind? You’re—”

“Not going to get another answer,” Fina said. She gave Nerys a rare look of apology. “We can’t afford to let this be known, in case…”

Nerys sighed. “In case I get captured, trussed up, and roasted.”

“More or less,” Fina said, giving what might have been an attempt at a sympathetic smile. She failed.

“Lovely.” Nerys would make a lovely roast, limbs bound together with an apple in her mouth as she rotated on a spit like a suckling pig. They could baste her with butter, too. Her stomach rumbled. Dammit, now she was hungry.

“Why don’t we discuss some of the other kingdoms?” Idris asked. “You may encounter one of their representatives—in fact, I can guarantee you will—and it wouldn’t do to have you faint at the first sign of a Resurrected.”

“I know what the Pelian necromancers do,” Nerys snapped. “I’m not stupid.”

“No, but that doesn’t mean you’re smart,” Idris said. “With certain things.” He had a point, as much as it stung to admit.

They played their game for a few minutes, but the cards seemed less important with every passing moment. It was just a practice game, and soon she would be playing for real. Would she meet one of the Pelian Resurrected? She had heard of them—who hadn’t?—but meeting one?

“What do they look like?” Nerys asked, tapping the ends of her cards on the wooden table. “The Resurrected.”

“It depends,” Fina said, adjusting the cards in her hand and taking her turn. “The ones at court are rather…fresh. So, it’s likely you won’t notice anything different right away. Unless you know what to look for.”

“Ah, I’m not sure if that makes me feel better.”

“It shouldn’t,” Idris said. “Magic is used at court for two reasons. The first is to serve the R?ll, which is the main reason most of Ca’mail’s Sight Bearers are there. The second is for the kingdoms to show strength. ”

“So, the Resurrected are power symbols?” Raising dead people and parading them about was a lot of trouble for the magical equivalent of an over-stuffed codpiece. “That’s…dedication.”

Idris snorted and grinned, not looking up from his own hand. “How about we first discuss something closer to home?”

“What do you know about Ca’mail’s Sight Bearers?” Fina asked, watching Nerys’s reaction.

Nerys hesitated. “I know they can see…things.”

“Like what?” Idris asked.

“I don’t want to tell you.” Nerys picked through her cards. This was pointless. No matter which one she played she had a losing hand. She’d have to choose the best of bad options. Seemed like she had been doing that a lot lately.

“Why not?” Idris tossed a card to the center of the table and focused his attention on Nerys. “What’s wrong?”

Nerys swallowed as her body flushed. Something about his gaze, even such a casual one, made her feel exposed, but in a way that made her…

want. “Because no matter what I say, your response is going to be ‘peasant tales.’ And what does it matter what they see, anyway?” Nerys tapped her feet. “It’s not like I can see anything.”

“You’re wrong,” Fina whispered. Idris gave her a warning look.

“What?” Nerys asked.

“Ignore her,” Idris said. “She’s trying to get you to slip. And it’s working—and excellent practice for court. Let’s wait until our host arrives, who can explain everything correctly .”

“Why? Does my new ‘guardian’ have the sight?” What was going on?

“She has the sight, yes, among other things,” Fina said. “Common sense, for one.” 77

Nerys nodded, relieved. She wasn’t about to tell them she’d heard all sorts of tales of what the Sight Bearers could see—angels, nymphs, pixies, ghouls, and even long-dead relatives.

She heard a rumor that Ca’mail used to have an undead court, where the deceased themselves decided estate issues.

78 But it was all rumors. If she told them she’d heard that royal Ca’mailian children sat up to watch fairies deliver their gifts at midsummer, they’d laugh at her. 79

The clock chimed—it was far past when Nerys normally went to bed. “I think we should be done for the night,” Idris said, tossing his hand on the table. “No point in doing this further.”

The game wasn’t finished, and both Nerys and Fina looked at him in surprise.

“Idri?”

“We’re almost—”

Idris shook his head. “I think Nerys could use the rest.”

“I’m fine,” Nerys insisted. “We didn’t finish the game.” The one she was about to lose. He was the one who brought up the sight. What was it? Did he want to stop them from discussing their “host”?

“I insist,” Idris said, settling the matter. “Unfortunately, our days aren’t going to be getting shorter anytime soon.”

“Yes,” Fina said, agreeing with Idris. “I think we all could use the rest.”