Page 92 of The Study of Fire
“Because the Jewelrose Clan is famous for cutting rubies into diamond shapes. The Commander even has a six-carat ruby on a ring, but he stopped wearing it after the takeover. I wonder…” Mentioning the Commander triggered a memory. Valek was wrong, the Commander still wore the ruby but only when he transformed into Signe.
“What?” she prodded.
“Have you shown your bat to the Commander?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
She hesitated. Ah, that meant she knew.
“I know about the Commander, love. How could you believe that I spent the last eighteen years with him and not know?”
“I…”
“After all.” Valek made a scary face. “I am the anti-magician!”
She laughed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“For the same reason you didn’t.” Because it didn’t change anything. The Commander was the Commander. And if the Commander wanted people to know, he would tell them. Valek wrapped her glass bat and placed it back into her pack.
“The Commander saw the glow,” she said. “I think his body contains two souls, but I have no idea how or why it’s magical. And if he does have magic, why didn’t he flame out after puberty?”
“Two? Ambrose’s mother died during his birth and there was some confusion. The midwife insisted a boy had been born, but later his father held a baby girl. They searched for evidence of a second child but found nothing. They chalked it up to the midwife being upset about losing her patient. Ambrose used to blame this invisible twin whenever he was in trouble, which, from his stories, was quite often.”
“Was his mother a magician?”
“She was considered to be a healer, but I don’t know if she healed with magic or with mundane remedies.”
Valek drained the tub while Yelena tried to fix her ruined hair. Some sections remained long, while others had been burned to stubble.
“Let me, love.” Valek removed the brush from her hands. He rummaged around the bath area until he found his razor. “Sorry, nothing else will work.”
“How did you get so good with hair?”
“Spent a season working undercover as Queen Jewel’s personal groomer. She had beautiful, thick hair.” Too bad she was rotten to her core.
“Wait, I thought all the Queen’s servants had to be women.”
“Good thing no one thought to look up my skirt.” Valek grinned as he cut Yelena’s hair, transforming what was left of her long locks into a short hair style.
After he finished, Valek said, “This will help with your disguise.”
“My disguise?”
“Everyone’s looking for you. If I disguise you as a man, you’ll be much harder to find. Although…” He studied her face. “I’ll use a little makeup. Being a man won’t draw unwanted attention, unless they notice you don’t have any eyebrows.”
She touched the ridge above her eyes with her fingertips. “What should we do first? Try to find the tunnel to the Keep—if it even exists. Or go and rescue the councilors’ families?”
“We should—” The sound of distant voices reached him. “Someone’s coming.”
He signaled Yelena to wait while he went into the living room. Standing next to the door he peeked out, Valek sighed. The door opened. Yelena also hadn’t listened to him. Instead of waiting, she brandished her switchblade at the person coming inside.
“What happened to your hair?” Ari demanded. “Are you all right?”
Janco followed him in. “Look what happens when you sneak off without us!”
“I’d hardly call being captured and taken to Sitia inside a box sneaking off,” she said, tucking her weapon into her pocket.
