Page 41 of By the Orchid and the Owl
I like it when you say my name,he finally chuckled.And yes, we did. For three years. But I don’t want to dwell on it any more than I have already.
Three years? Any hope that I might be something special to him deflated like a popped tire. Compared to three years, I was a speck of nothing and no one.
You are notnothing.
Right. I’m a pirate’s daughter. A pirate who abandoned me as soon as she—wait.My thoughts stuttered as the realization hit me.If my mother was a pirate, then she got through the shield undetected. And stayed for nine whole months without anyone ever suspecting her of being an outsider.
Yes,said Coen.
It had already occurred to him, of course… although he’d had a week to mull it over whereas I’d only had a few hours. The implications of a pirate successfully breaching our dome…
Do you think she’s still on the island,I asked after a breath,or do you think she made it back through the shield?
Coen’s presence seemed to hesitate. Beneath me, Emelle gave a violent snore.
I think, he started slowly,there’s no way of knowing for sure unless your father can give you more information about your birth. Perhaps you could send him a letter, asking him?
I blinked against the darkness. A letter. Why hadn’t I thought of that already? No messengers traveled between the Institute and other villages, but surely, I could befriend a bird who would deliver it for me?
Perhaps my gift had its merits, after all.
I will first thing tomorrow. And… and I’ll let you know what he says.
I couldn’t see a reason to distrust Coen. He’d saved me more than once, let me in on his secret, and led me to understand my own. We were from the same people, and in equal danger if the Good Council ever found out about what loitered beneath our skin.
Great,Coen said, as if he hadn’t heard every rationalization I’d just waded through.Then I’d better leave you be so you can get your beauty’s rest.
I pushed it way, way down—the desire to ask him to stay.
Goodnight,I said, all confidence and ease.
Goodnight. And Rayna?Coen’s voice sharpened to a lethal quiet.I can’t get the taste of you out of my mouth either.
The next morning, when the birds chirped at us to wake up as they did every morning, the other women shushed them before rolling over and sinking back into soft, even breathing. No classes today meant sleeping in for most of them.
Not me, though.
I slipped out of bed and shook Emelle by the shoulder.
“Hey, Melle, I’m going for a walk, okay? I should be back around noon.”
She waved a sloppy hand, still reeking of ale. After leaving Coen’s room last night, I’d found her dancing within a swarm of guys, swaying much too violently for my liking, so I’d brought her home and put her to bed.
“You do you, Rayna,” she said now, her words merging with another snore before she’d even lowered her hand.
I got dressed as quietly as possible, then slipped downstairs. Just as I reached the landing to the foyer, a braided, black head appeared at the top of the staircase leading downward. Dazmine. I almost stopped in my tracks, but decided to round the corner without saying anything. To pretend I hadn’t seen her.
“Watch your step,” came Dazmine’s voice, softer than I had expected.
I paused, glancing downward for some kind of obstacle on the floor. There was nothing. I whirled back toward her, where she, too, had paused on the landing.
“Was that a threat, Dazmine?”
Her eyes bore into mine. Behind her, the cuckoo clock gave a mechanic chirp, signaling that it was eight in the morning. For a second, I thought Dazmine wouldn’t answer. Then…
“A warning,” she whispered, and hurried upstairs.
I was still thinking about that as I settled into one of the polished wooden chairs in the study chamber, which was tucked away at the end of a hallway leading from the foyer.
