Page 70 of The Bone Season

Warden helped me back to my feet. When I promptly keeled over again, he hooked my knees over his arm and lifted me against his chest. My eyes throbbed as he opened the enclosure.

‘I need life support,’ I slurred. ‘If you want me to do that again.’

‘I can request it,’ Warden said, ‘but the decision lies with Nashira.’

‘You might as well bury me now, then.’

‘That would be self-defeating. We still have far too much to do.’

He walked towards the sally port. I closed my eyes, hating every moment of being in his arms.

Thuban had gone a short way from his post, but watched us leave. When Warden approached the sally port, Ivy fumbled to let us out.

‘Thank you, Ivy,’ Warden said as he passed. Ivy stared after him.

He carried me through the haunted outskirts. I almost dozed off in his arms, my heart flapping like a bird with a gammy wing. Nick would be aghast to know how hard I had just pushed myself.

Warden set me down at the end of Observatory Street. ‘Can you manage from here?’

‘Yes.’

‘You touched the ethereal fence,’ he said. ‘Show me your hand.’

After a moment, I did. The thin mark had turned milky, my fingertips grey.

Warden took out a glass vial and tipped a clear droplet into my palm, spreading it over the mark. Before my eyes, it melted away, leaving no trace. I snatched my hand back.

‘What was that?’

‘The nectar of a certain plant,’ he said. ‘A plant from the Netherworld.’

I watched him tuck the vial into his doublet. His breath didn’t cloud in the cold, as mine did, but for just a fraction of a moment, there was something human in his face – something pensive, almost sad.

He caught me looking, and it vanished.

‘You must rest for a few days,’ he said. ‘We will return to Magdalen.’

I was too tired to argue with him. This time, he let me walk at his side.

The training had been unexpected. I had steeled myself for rampant brutality, but Warden had never laid a finger on me. No doubt this restrained approach was a trap, designed to lower my guard.

Liss had been confident that Nashira wanted my gift. To get it, she would have to kill me. Perhaps the idea was for me to die fighting the Buzzers – but that seemed unlikely. If she was some manner of binder, she would need to be close to my spirit to catch it.

I would get to the bottom of this. Even if it had been gruelling, I had only been here a few days. I could afford to bide my time.

Warden took me on a long route back to Magdalen, avoiding the Rookery. When we reached Carfax Tower, he stopped. A red-jacket was on the corner of Fish Street, pacing with folded arms.

When she saw us, she quickly composed herself. Shadows hung under her bloodshot eyes.

Warden crossed the street. ‘You should not be alone with an Emite loose,’ he said to her. ‘Where is the rest of your company?’

‘They’re close, my lord. We’re fine.’

‘Whose blood is that?’

Her lips parted. She looked down at her tunic, seeing the handprint on her shoulder, darker than the red fabric.

‘There can be no secrets in this city,’ Warden said quietly. ‘Better to make a clean breast of it now.’

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