Page 38 of Realm of Thieves

“I assumed if it was important you’d tell me,” I say truthfully.

His lopsided mouth curves into a smile. “You would be right. I have the sight—I do not need eyes to see. They have been taken out and replaced by the gold of the goddesses. Do you know about that material?”

I shake my head, more interested in the fact that he had his eyes taken out than the material itself. Why would anyone do such a gruesome thing? Even the extremist Soffers didn’t go to such lengths—although they do come close.

“I’m sure Steiner will fill you in,” he says, pausing outside an iron door that’s across from the one Andor and I exited last night into the back orchard. He knocks lightly on the door and gives me yet another patient smile, though it’s hard to read his face as anything but menacing with those two gold orbs staring at me, seeing but not seeing.

The door opens and a bleary-eyed Steiner is on the other side, amug of something hot and steaming in his hand, the aroma rich and foreign.

“I have Lady Aihr to see you,” Sae Belak says in his whispery voice. “And her loyal hound. Do you have any findings on the new growth?”

Steiner rubs his chin and yawns. “Not yet. Perhaps tomorrow. I’ll find you when I do.”

“That would be appreciated,” Sae Belak says with a slight bow before leaving back down the hall, his robes fluttering behind him.

I look back to Steiner. “Good morning,” I say to him, suddenly feeling awkward. “I’m not sure how that gold-eyed man knew I wanted to meet with you this morning, but he insisted he bring me here.”

“Sae Belak? He knows a lot,” Steiner says mildly, and then steps back, gesturing for me to come inside. Unlike the more tailored garments he was wearing at dinner last night, he’s now dressed in a black smock that covers him to his knees, burgundy red pants beneath. “Andor mentioned last night after dinner that he wanted to bring you by the lab. I’m surprised he’s not here.”

“I haven’t seen him,” I say, stepping inside the room. “Sleeping, perhaps? Everything is so quiet out there.”

Steiner smiles knowingly. “More like hiding. My father is grouchy if he’s woken up before a certain time. He’s a night owl. We all take our breakfasts in our rooms so as not to disturb him.” He looks down at Lemi. “And how is your dog with cats?”

“It depends on the cat,” I admit, lightly scratching my nails over Lemi’s head in a comforting manner. “Do you want him to stay outside? I wouldn’t want him to run around your lab and knock stuff over. He’s not used to being in delicate spaces.” I can barely see the lab myself, it’s so dark inside this room, but I have a feeling everything that’s stocked on the shelves and laid along the tables is of high importance.

“It’s probably better for him to be in here, where you can watch him and where he’s safe,” he says pointedly, and I know he’s concerned about his uncle or father doing something. “Woo-woo is outside harassing the chickens in the yard anyway. Woo-woo is my cat.”

I nod and he strolls behind me and closes the door. For a moment I feel a flicker of fear about being shut in here in near darkness, but Steiner himself doesn’t seem like he could do me much harm.

“Do you always work in the dark?” I ask, nodding at the single small candle that’s halfway across the room.

“Sorry, I forget that not everyone can see in the dark,” he says, going over to a long, low desk and lighting a couple of candles that sit in a brass holder emblazoned with a stag. “So, while I’ve got you here, do you mind answering some questions for me? I’m fascinated by Eslanders, Freelanders even more so.”

“Sure,” I say, folding my arms. “But we aren’t that interesting.”

“Ha!” he says, sitting down at his desk and pulling out a bound book with blank pages. “I suppose we’re so used to ourselves that we don’t know what it’s like to view ourselves from the outside. You’re interesting. Your dog is interesting. And Andor’s plans for you are very, very interesting.”

“He’s told you about them?”

“Not particularly,” he says, opening a drawer and searching with delicate movements. “But it’s Andor, and he’s always thinking outside the box—even when the world outside the box can get you killed. Ah! I think purple ink would be best for this. Purple, like your hair.” He pulls out a vial of purple ink and a feather pen. “Might as well start with my first question. Your hair. Does it mean anything? Were you born with it?”

“I take it that my hair color isn’t very common here,” I say.

“Not really. The lighter hair colors, the brighter hair colors, those are more of a Sorland trait. It’s been a thousand years since the first clans left Sorland and came to this continent. Over many generationswe grew taller, our skin grew paler, our hair darker. Occasionally you’ll see someone with blue hair, or green. But they tend to be dark in color. I’m just curious if your hair was like that at birth or if the suen gave it to you.”

I frown at that. “I’ve had it since birth. Suen can change people’s hair color?”

“Sometimes,” he says. “I’ve been studying suen since I was twelve, since the day I first took it, and I’m still discovering new things. No one is really sure how it works.”

“Because it’s magic…”

“Some say it’s magic,” he says with a shrug, writing in long elaborate strokes, his writing an art form in itself. “Some say it’s science. I say it’s both. Whichever one explains it is the one I will follow.”

“So it’s equal science and magic?” I ask, curious as anything since the subject of suen ingestion was considered blasphemy in Esland, and the Freelanders didn’t seem to talk about it often. Probably because no one could afford to buy it. I could have made a killing selling it myself instead of to House Dalgaard, but I would have ended up dead very quickly. The syndikats hate competition.

“Until my experiments prove otherwise. Why, what are your thoughts on it? How do your powers feel to you?”

“I don’t have any powers,” I tell him, hesitating to finally speak the truth. “Suen has no effect on me.”

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