Page 8 of Sightwitch
Tanzi Lamanaya
Y16 D89
Ry and I cornered Hilga after the midday meal today. We went to her office in the top of the tower, where no one could hear.
WhereSister Rosecouldn’t hear.
“Please,” Ryber began before Hilga had even reached her chair. “Please be our mentor again. We know you have duties as Head Sister, but Rose is … she isn’t …”
“She isn’t very good,” I said bluntly—exactly like Ry told me not to do. “She’sancient, and she—”
“She is the oldest Sister here,” Hilga snapped, dropping emphatically onto her stiff-backed chair. She was wearing her Stern Head Sister face. “Rose has more knowledge and experience than anyone else. You should be grateful she was willing to take over after me.”
“But we want to learn more,” Ry pleaded.
This was a half lie since I had no interest in learning more. That was really only Ryber. But Iwasdreadfully sick of Rose.
She means well. Sleeper knows she does, but her Sight overpowers her most days—a common ailment for older Sisters and one of the reasons Sisters remain at the Convent their whole lives. It is too hard to live in the outside world with the Sight.
These days, it seems too hard for Sister Rose to live inthisworld. She’ll forget mid-sentence what she was teaching us, and no matter how much Ry and I try to remind her, it’s rare that she’ll ever actually circle back to finish a lesson.
Instead she always feeds us the same phrase, “You’ll understand once you’re Summoned.”
It’s so thrice-damned frustrating!
But my argument wasn’t nearly as compelling as Ry’s, so I let my Threadsister do the rest of the talking. She is the better orator, and also the more desperate party. Plus, the Rook was on his perch, and it had been a few weeks since I’d seen him last.
The Rook is my favorite person at the Convent aside from Ry. And no, he isn’t technically a person, but he acts like one. I’ve never seen an animal that understands so much of what we say—much less one whoinsistswe get his name right.
It’s not Rook, but THE Rook. He’ll bite you if you get it wrong.
“He belongs to the Convent,” Rose said this very morning when he swooped in during breakfast. “He is as old as the Crypts and will outlive us all.”
“How is that even possible?” Ry had demanded.
“You’ll understand when you’re Summoned.”
That had been the last grain of salt to flood the sea. Ryber grabbed my wrist, and I knewit was time. Finally, we were going to beg Sister Hilga for a new mentor.
After giving the Rook a few good scratches beside his beak (I love the way he purrs! Even the kitchen cat doesn’t purr with this much satisfaction), I honed in on the argument unfolding behind me.
“Surely,” Ryber insisted, “not all questions must be answered with ‘You’ll understand when you’re Summoned!’ There must besomethingwe can learn now. Fazimeh said she learned about the Standing Stones and the glamour spell yesterday. And Oriya said she learned about the Twelve and the origins of magic.
“Tanzi and I are some of the oldest Serving Sisters here, yet we don’t know anything about these pieces of Sightwitch lore. We are woefully behind, Hilga.Please.”
It was an excellent speech. Not that I was surprised. Ry could convince ice to melt. Still, I had to fight the urge to break into applause.
As if sensing my delight, Ry glanced back at me with one of her sly half smiles.
Her smile widened when Hilga huffed a sigh of defeat.
“I suppose Roseistoo old to be teaching.”
“Sheis,” I confirmed, scooting toward the desk.
“And I suppose, at your ages—how old are you now?”
“Fifteen,” Ryber declared as I said, “Fourteen.”
