Page 113 of A Kingdom of Shadow and Ash

He stared at her, mouth slightly ajar, his entire being caught between disbelief and exasperation.

Wren clicked her tongue and reached up, pressing her fingers under his chin to snap his mouth shut. ‘Ya shouldn’t gape at people like that. I knew a boy that knew another boy that once met an old man who swallowed a fly becas he was standing with his mouth open. And ya might think, well, Wren, that ain’t such a crazy story, now is it? But then, wouldn’t ya know—this boy that knew a boy that knew da old man diedda very next day.’ She sighed, shaking her head in mock solemnity. ‘Could’ve been da disease that wiped out most of da town, but it does make ya think, don’t it?’

Kage pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling slowly, as if attempting to summon a level of patience he did not possess. ‘Do you ever stoprambling?’

‘No, I don’t think so.’ She flashed him a grin, completely unbothered. ‘Me papa says it’s becas I’m a Seer, so weird fuzzy things happen in me mind and I need to externalise it somehow. I don’t always understand what he’s saying, but they do say he’s real smart, so I just nod and agree—definitelyme brain, anddefinitelyda fuzzy things inside.’

Her gaze lifted skyward for a moment,thoughtful.

‘I’ve wondered sometimes what me brain looks like. Haven’t ya? If maybe it might be a different colour or size. Yers would probably be black and rather large to fit that big head ya’ve got.’ She gestured vaguely at him, smirking. ‘It’s probablysobig becas ya seem real smart.’ Kage gave her a sidelong glance, unimpressed. Wren pressed on, undeterred. ‘Some people don’t mind me talking this much, becas they are lonely and me talking keeps them company. I think that’s rather nice, don’t ya think? That yer true power in life is to make someone a little less lonely. I think that’s really nice. So I like talking.’

And so she did.

She talked the entire walk back, filling the silence with every thought that crossed her mind, every whimsical story she could summon, every stray observation she felt like sharing.

And though Kage Blackburn never once spoke—though he never responded to her endless stream of chatter—she noticed, just barely, the way the corner of his lips curled upward.

Almost—just almost—as if he didn’t mind the company at all.

…

Mal’s gaze fell upon the book Wren and Kage had left upon her table, a flutter of disappointment curling in her chest before she forced it away. She had hoped for more. More sources, more knowledge—anything that could illuminate the path forward, unraveling the curse that clung to the Eight Kingdoms like a shadow.

But this would have to do.

‘We were outsmarted by scholars,’ Wren declared, her tone carrying more amusement than shame.

Kage snorted.

Mal sighed, but a small, grateful smiletugged at her lips. ‘Well, I suppose it will have to do. Thank you.’ She settled into a chair, tracing a thoughtful finger over the worn cover before flipping it open. The title, embossed in faded gold, gleamed beneath the candlelight.

‘The History of the Eight Kingdoms.’ Her lips pressed together. ‘It could be useful. We read something similar back home, did we not, Kage?’

He nodded, though his expression was unreadable.

‘Perhaps this tome contains some different information.’

Kage did not look convinced.

Before Mal could speak again, Wren leaned over and unceremoniously yanked a black notebook from the back of her trousers, dropping it onto the table beside the history book.

‘I haven’t had da notebook in me trousers all day, in case ya were wondering.’

‘We weren’t,’ Kage muttered.

‘I went back to me room as soon as we got back and took it out its hiding place.’

‘No one asked,’ he added.

Mal ignored them both as she picked up the notebook, thumbing through its pages. The ink sprawled across the parchment was strange—uneven, distorted. Words melted into one another, like ghosts of phrases written over time, concealing something beneath. ‘It’s a diary...’ Her eyes flicked up to Wren in question.

‘Of ya maid Klara,’ Wren explained, tapping the cover. ‘Had it well hidden in her trunk.’

Mal narrowed her eyes, scanning the warped script. There was something beneath the visible words—something hidden, shifting just beyond her reach.

‘It’s been glamoured,’ Wren said.

‘Glamoured?’Mal’s fingers curled around the book.

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