Page 109 of Shardless

At first, I thought they had devised a way to cheat. But, no. I wish they were cheating. I wish with everything that I am, everything that I own, that they were cheating. That would be less aggravating than what I’m currently having to witness.

Allow me to summarize the situation. Skye has done something to irritate Taly—certainly not surprising considering he goes out of his way to pester the poor girl. If my translation is accurate, he’s unhappy that Sarina is allowing Taly to venture into the villageunattended this evening to meet with a young suitor. Skye is insisting that Taly bring him along even though she has now told him to “shove it” no less than 22 times.

I think tomorrow I shall begin a small experiment—purely for my own research. By now, I’m quite fluent in the language of tapping, and I think that I will start embedding hidden messages into my lesson plans and including them in their tests. I’m curious to see how long it will take them to catch on. If they can stop making moon eyes at each other from across the room, I’m guessing maybe six months.

Skye had been right about one thing. The group that now comprised the highest-ranking members of the Gate Watchers were a bunch of ineffectual, self-important dipshits. After almost an hour of pointless jabber, they still had yet to accomplish anything useful.

Taly tapped her quill on the polished oak of the conference table, doing her best not to roll her eyes as Lord-something-or-other once again reminded the room that his family would execute swift and merciless retribution on the perpetrators of this attack. The lordling’s empty promises would be far more comforting if his family and militias weren’t currently on the other side of the Seren Gate.

The delegation had decided to hold the meeting in the assembly room at the top of the main tower, a soaring, circular structure that jutted up from the center of the compound. Floor-to-ceiling windows surrounded them on all sides, offering panoramic views of the churning bank of storm clouds that now seemed to hang at eye-level. Every so often, a flash of light would illuminate the shadowy mountains of fog and smoke, but the crash of thunder never came. The air wards that had been so artfully etched into the glass to resemble coiling vines dotted with moonflowers kept the sounds of the outside world at bay.

Taly let her eyes drift over the various Lords and Ladies seated at the table. Skye was to her left. Although she had tried to hang back and take a seat by the door with the assistants, he had insisted she sit next to him. That had raised a few eyebrows, but one look from Eula, who sat to the other side of Skye, had silenced any objections.

Kato sat to Taly’s right, that mask of boyish charm firmly in place. The smile on his lips never wavered, but his eyes were cold and his responses, though somewhat crude and artless, were leading.

As for everyone else, Taly had met them all at one point or another over the years. There was Lady Lissa Riette—a lovely creature with fiery hair and a permanent sneer. Lady Reya Riette sat next to her. Taly couldn’t remember how the two were related. Cousins perhaps, but something in her said they were probably sisters. Although the second woman had dark hair and almost violet eyes, she had the same square jaw and pert, upturned nose as her companion. They also wore matching amulets around their necks—a single shadow crystal surrounded by what appeared to be hyaline carved into the shape of a serpentine dragon eating its own tail. Seated next to each other, the two women looked like the living embodiments of day and night.

Continuing around the table, there wasMr.Swift and Merciless Retribution,Lord Rask Ridic, whose sallow skin already looked flushed from all that pontificating. Beside him sat a man Taly recognized as having visited Harbor Manor just last year—a merchant’s son. A lowborn by birth, Lord Timo Paysan’s family had managed to buy a title when several highborn families migrated to the mortal realm during the Hunt. If he had managed to pass the entrance exams to the Gate Watchers, that meant he probably had a fair amount of magic lurking beneath that skinny, almost child-like exterior.

And then rounding out the group was a man that Taly knew very well—Kane Harin. A fire mage, the man had very little magic, but he was clever and managed his aether well enough to make do. Taly had met him on her first trip to the compound when she was only seven. She remembered being terrified of the swirling scars decorating his hands and face, and she still laughed every time she recalled the look of pained embarrassment on Ivain’s face when she had asked why the gruff lowborn wore a patch over his right eye. But even after almost 14 years of visiting the compound on and off, she hadn’t really gotten to know Kane until she’d befriended his son—another salvager. There had been several nights over the past year when she didn’t have enough coin for both food and a bunk, and his family had been kind enough to offer her a warm bed and a hot meal in exchange for mucking their stable.

Lissa caught Taly’s eye, and her sneer turned into a scowl.

“Don’t mind her,” Kato whispered, winking atthe hateful woman, who promptly turned away with a soft huff. “Lissa hates everyone.”

Taly covered her smile with a hand, letting her reply die on her lips. Except for Kane, every person in the room was a shadow mage, and she was sure that each one was channeling their aether, honing those enhanced fey senses to root out the things that weren’t being said.

“Shades, Skylen?” Lissa’s shrill voice rang out, interrupting Kane mid-sentence. “You truly expect us to believe that those creatures were shades? And based on what? Something ahumanfound in the Vetiri? Truthfully, I didn’t know humans had the mental capacity to learn to read the common tongue, much less Faera.”

“Lissa, that is enough,” Eula barked, her red lips set into a stern line. Beside her, Skye stiffened, and Taly could just hear that faint inhuman, fey growl—a warning.

One that Lissa did not heed. “I’m just saying—”

“No,” Taly whispered, placing a hand on Skye’s arm as he leaned forward, intent on reprimanding the vile woman. Taly didn’t mind in the slightest if these people hated her. She was used to it. But Skye needed to keep them on his side.

Taly tapped out a seemingly random rhythm against Skye’s wrist before pulling away. When she saw his lips twitch, she knew he’d deciphered her message as he relaxed and let Lissa keep talking.

Their old code. Originally devised as a way to communicate after bedtime, it had evolved over the years, enough that they had figured out ways to hold entire conversations without ever saying aword. Unfortunately, they’d had to stop using it when Ivain caught on and started pranking them during their lessons.

Actually, now that you mention it,I don’t think I’ve ever seen that woman smile, came Skye’s silent reply.Odd. The rest of her family is quite lovely.

Crossing her arms, Taly tapped out,Well, if I had a stick that far up my ass, I probably wouldn’t be too happy about it either.

Skye coughed, his shoulders shaking, and Taly noted that they had now drawn Kato’s attention. The other man eyed them with a mixture of amusement and irritation, giving Taly a playful pout when she raised a questioning brow. It seemed the older shadow mage didn’t like being left out of the loop.

“That’s all well and good, Lissa,” Skye finally said, interrupting the noblewoman’s tirade. She growled in reply but bit her tongue. “However, regardless of whether you want to believe it or not, that’s what the research says.”

“Again, based on the word of ahuman. Have you at least had it verified, Skylen?” Lissa argued stubbornly.

Growing tired of the woman’s snide comments, Taly picked up one of the books she and Skye had brought with them from the library and skidded it across the table. “If you don’t believe me, then verify it yourself.”

Lissa snatched up the book, her expression stoic as she flipped through the pages.

“Youcanread it, can’t you?” Taly prodded, smiling when she saw the fiery redhead’s face falter. “Faera? Or should I translate? I think you’ll find my accent is quite good.”

The book slammed shut, and for a moment it looked like Lissa was going to make a reply, but her strange blood-red eyes flicked to her sister, who shook her head. “Continue,” she said, anger simmering just beneath the surface of that strained tone and porcelain facade.

Skye’s eyes found Taly’s, and the proud smile he gave her made something in her chest tighten. “If that’s settled,” he said evenly, “can we move on? We need a plan. We can’t just hole up in the compound and pray that we don’t get attacked again.”

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