Page 102 of The Bone Season

‘I don’t think so,’ I said.

‘Good.’ He nodded to the bowl. ‘If you wish to remove the blood.’

‘Why?’ I said. ‘Does it give you a twinge of guilt to see me like this?’

‘I take no pleasure in it.’

My eyes had stopped bleeding. I dipped the cloth in the hot water and wiped my cheeks.

‘Gail will see to the leak.’ Warden clasped his hands. ‘You must be hungry.’

Of course I was hungry. No amount of bread or porridge filled the gnawing hollow in my stomach.

‘No,’ I said.

‘I find that difficult to believe.’

‘Don’t ask me a question if you won’t accept my answer, Reph.’

Perhaps I did have a death wish.

Warden considered me with a frank and level intensity, as if he could see past my eyes, straight into my dreamscape. It was disquieting.

His own eyes burned on a low flame. The firelight drew out the structure of his face – the solid line of his jaw, his strong cheekbones. He could have risen from the ashes of the monarch days.

‘If you wish,’ he said, ‘I can have a meal brought up for you.’

‘You’ve barely looked at me for weeks. I honestly thought you’d forgotten I existed,’ I said. ‘Why do you suddenly care if I eat?’

‘I left instructions that you were to be provided with breakfast.’

‘Was a second meal too much for you?’

‘Given its small number of humans, Magdalen does not have a great deal of food in its larder,’ Warden said. ‘As to my indifference, perhaps I hoped an interval would teach you patience. It seems not. Your restraint is still lacking; your pride continues to cloud your judgement. It was foolish of you to attack Suhail.’

‘I know you don’t like me. You resent me for threatening you. I understand,’ I said coolly. ‘But I will not stomach a lecture from you.’

‘You have no choice.’

I stared him down.

‘There is another reason I have not summoned you to train,’ Warden said. ‘From what I have observed, yours is a taxing gift. It places a significant burden on both your body and your spirit. I am loath to overstrain you at this stage. In any case, you were plainly not in the frame of mind to spend time in my company.’

‘Trust me, I’m never going to be in that frame of mind,’ I said, ‘but we have to train eventually. Should we not get on with it?’

‘Are you so eager to wear a red tunic, Paige?’

‘No, but I don’t want to lose any more of my strength.’ I raised my eyebrows. ‘Suhail will punish the red-jackets for not finding me today. If they corner me for payback, I need to be able to hold my own.’

‘I doubt they will accost you. These are not the streets of London.’

‘You can’t be everywhere.’ I searched his face. ‘I’m not taking my second test, am I?’

‘Why do you say that?’

Liss had given me a secret. Now was the right moment to confront him with it.

‘Nashira has guardian angels,’ I said. ‘I heard they used to be voyant. That she can use the gifts they had while they were alive.’

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