Page 44 of Mistress of Bones
She bid her shadowing guard to wait outside, then took the steps and entered the building. Azul had an inkling Enjul assumed she needed the whole body to bring someone back to life, concluding that a single visit in plain daylight wouldn’t be enough, and nothing would be lost if he allowed her that much.
He had only seen her use her gift on Zenjiel. He had no way of knowing she could simply pocket a piece of a bone and bring the person back later unless Nereida had told him, and Nereida wouldn’t risk their agreement. She and Nereida had escaped Enjul before, and Nereida must know Cienpuentes well. Together, they would get rid of Azul’s shadow and escape Enjul, as they had done before. And after Isadora was back, she’d return to face his rage, as she had promised.
Unfortunately, it took no time to realize the ossuary kept no bones. It was a shell of a building, full of cramped rooms and faded rugs and ugly fern-green walls.
Azul turned to the man assigned to deal with her inquiries. “This is the ossuary?”
A suffering sigh escaped him. “Yes, sirese. Again, this is where your loved ones’ remains are dealt with.”
If that was true, how come the building didn’t feel any different from her brother’s house? Her fingers ran across the rim of her hat. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, sirese.”
“So, why won’t you allow me to see them?”
“As I explained, for that you will have to go to the Temple and make an appointment with the dean. There is a procedure for these things. We are not an exhibition you can enter at whim to satisfy your morbidness. A deceased’s remains aren’t something to be gawked at.”
“But the bones are here? Where?” Far underneath, she suspected. There was no other explanation. With how many bones the ossuary must contain, she would’ve been aware of them if they were nearby.
“This is the entrance, yes.”
“It doesn’t seem big enough,” she pressed.
The man would not relax. “I am certain. Between us and the Temple, we host from the poorest of citizens to the late queen.”
“The Temple is another ossuary?”
“Go and ask them,” the man snapped.
Azul studied her surroundings once more, stuffy, green, and smelling of old age. “Thank you, I think I will.”
Once outside, she recalled what she had seen of Cienpuentes on her way in, and where she guessed herself to be—on the wrong side of town. She grimaced in annoyance. She could still taste the old dried herbs and stale air from the ossuary. The sun was now in full display—so much wasted time. Ignoring her following shadow, she guessed her way.
She had taken a handful of steps when she spied a woman on a horse in conversation with someone else.
“Good morning, sirese,” Azul greeted her. “May I give you coin for a ride?”
The conversation halted as the rider inspected Azul curiously. “Where do you wish to go?”
“The Temple.”
The woman rubbed her chin, her eyes distant for a few moments. “I will do it, countryface,” she finally answered, offering a hand.
Azul took it and hoisted herself behind her. The woman smelled of horses and freshly baked bread, reminding Azul of Agunción. She held on to the woman’s waist and jolted when the woman clicked at her mount and urged it on. With a last look behind, Azul tipped her hat toward her guard. She felt no guilt and no illusions at leaving him behind—she was sure the man knew her destination, just as Enjul must’ve known she’d find no easy access to her sister’s bones.
As they made their way through the crowded city, Azul closed her eyes and tried to find the link she shared with the beings she brought back, and found that the mouse had done in its instinct what Azul had hoped deep in her heart.
To no one’s surprise, the Emissary of the Lord Death was no longer in her brother’s house but busy traversing the streets, the mouse in pursuit. Virel Enjul meant to know where she went, but didn’t wish for her to know where he visited.
She opened her eyes, and the sight of Enjul’s quickly dirtying heels disappeared. Azul tightened her grip on the woman and hoped the emissary didn’t notice the mouse, and that the Temple proved to be more helpful than the ossuary.
Azul might have some freedom while Enjul conducted his own business, but the reprieve wouldn’t last long.
XVITHE COUNT
THREE YEARS EARLIER
De Anví found Nereida de Guzmán in one of the Heart’s grand ballrooms, dressed in her usual colors of deep blue and gold, with her glorious midnight-black hair gathered at the back of her head and adorned with pearls as beautiful as the stars. She was watching the couples twirling on the floor under the candlelight as if they were strange specimens she wished to study but couldn’t quite bother to understand.
