Page 28 of Enchantment of Silver and Sea
Kieran’s slow smile, closely followed by Nya’s exasperated sigh, was my answer.
It was decided. I was going with them.
Nya and Kieran said they would have to return to the Strangers to present my terms. Which, despite Nya’s concerns, they were fairly certain that the other decision-makers in the group would accept. Just that word, “terms,” made me feel like a child roleplaying as someone important. But I suppose there was no other way to describe the agreement I presented:
Nya and Kieran would sneak me out of Cyllene for two days, to return at the end of the second day.
In exchange for meeting these people I had been assisting and getting to see the Outside firsthand, I would not stray from what I was instructed to do,would not take unnecessary risks, and would keep my distance during the confrontation with the Leviathan.
I would never speak of what I saw or experienced Outside, but would use that knowledge to fuel my continued support of the Strangers from inside Cyllene.
That last part had settled heavily over me. Cyllene may have been a city of rule-followers, but I hadn’t spent my childhood staying up late into the night, reading mysteries and thrillers with Irene for nothing. I knew well the concept of a double agent.
And that’s what I was now, formally and willingly, agreeing to be.
While Nya and Kieran did their part, I did mine in turn. I found an excuse to be sent down to the basement level of the Library again. Just like before, while researching the actual project Cato had given me, I soaked up every bit of information I could on the Leviathan.
Near the end of the third day, I steeled myself to find out just how skilled ten years’ worth of lying had made me. With palms sweating, I found Cato in his office. I confirmed that I had had a lot on my mind, as he had guessed. I told him I didn’t want to talk about it, but I thought I could benefit from a few days to myself. In my decade working in the Library, it was my first time making a request like that.
The conversation ended up being both easier and harder than I had expected.
Easier, because Cato believed me right away and didn’t probe. Harder, because I had to sell it like I finally trusted him enoughto admit what I needed in order to feel like my old self again. I could tell, by the compassion in his eyes and the reassuring pat on the shoulder that he gave me as I left, how much that meant to him.
Maybe one day I would tell him the truth.
And maybe one day I would tell Brielle and Zander the truth, instead of feeding them a lie about working in my room on an extremely important Library project and asking that they please not disturb me for several days. Thank goodness the two of them never had a reason to cross paths with Cato to confirm.
Everything had gone according to plan. But there was one step left, and it was going to be the most challenging one.
Nya and Kieran had to sneak me out of Cyllene.
I was dressed in my most comfortable T-shirt, black jeans, and black sneakers. My hair was pulled back in a smooth ponytail instead of a braid, which helped cool the sticky sweat that was already forming on my neck. Whether it was from the humidity that lingered after another sweltering day or from my nerves, I couldn’t say. Probably a combination of both.
As I was getting ready, I had allowed myself to look at my reflection for the first time in, well, I suppose I couldn’t even guess at how long it had been. Not a quick glance, but a truly intentional moment of observing myself. Seeing the person before me. Even the parts that reminded me of Irene.
Where did this person come from? This person who would demand to go with two people she barely knew beyond the walls of Cyllene?
As I fidgeted now on the floor of the balcony, I decided I must have been waiting for an hour or more. But in spite of the anxious energy that kept my legs bouncing and my feet tapping, I wasn’t concerned.
Nya had forewarned me that they could only give an estimate of when to expect them. One patrollingEnforcercould mean the difference between crossing the wall and having to hang back until the coast was clear.
However, I had been staring at the dark cityscape for so long that the buildings were starting to look like they were moving.
No. That was actual movement.
The shadowy shapes weaved and bobbed, all the while drawing closer. As they neared, I realized they were leaping from rooftop to rooftop. How was that possible?
