Bitterblue

A smile. 'Well, they covered our noise, and the dogs were awake too by the time we reached the roof, which is what I was counting on. No one will have gotten past the dogs.'

'You know that barn.'

'It belongs to a friend. It was where I was headed when you appeared.'

'I very nearly stuck a knife into you.'

'Yes, I recall. I should've left you there in the alley. You could've driven them off for me all by yourself.'

'Who were they? It wasn't just bullies this time, was it, Saf? It was the people who tried to kill Teddy.'

'Let's talk about what's in the bag you're carrying tonight instead,' said Saf, propping one ankle on the other knee and yawning at the stars. 'Did you bring me a present?'

'I did, actually,' she said. 'It's something to prove that if you'll help me, I can help you.'

'Oh? Bring it here, then.'

'If you think I'm leaving this spot, you're mad.'

He rolled to his feet on the uneven tin so fast, so easily, that she closed her eyes against the dizziness. When she opened them again, he'd settled down beside her, leaning his back against the wall, as she was doing.

'Perhaps your Grace is fearlessness,' she said.

'I'm afraid of plenty of things,' he said. 'I just do them anyway. Let me see what you've got.'

She extracted The Kissing Traditions of Monsea from the bag and placed it into his hands. He blinked at it. 'Papers bound in leather?'

'It's something for you to make lots of copies of,' she said. 'A manuscript of a book called The Kissing Traditions of Monsea.'

Humphing in surprise, he brought it closer to his nose to inspect the label in the dark.

'It was handwritten by the queen's own librarian,' Bitterblue continued, 'who's Graced with fast reading and with remembering every book and sentence and word—every letter—he's ever read. Did you know of his Grace?'

'We have heard of Death,' Saf said, pulling the leather ties loose, throwing the leather flaps aside and flipping through the pages, squinting hard. 'Are you telling me truth? This is what you say it is—and Death is rewriting the books King Leck made disappear?'

She thought that perhaps Sparks the baker girl wouldn't know too much about the business of the queen's own librarian. 'I don't know what Death is doing. I don't know him personally. This was lent me by the friend of a friend. Death relinquished it only because he was promised that the person who wanted it was a printer who would make copies. Those are the conditions, Saf. You may borrow it, if you'll make copies. Death will see that you're paid for your labor and expenses, of course,' she added, cursing herself for thinking up that sudden complication, but not certain how she could avoid it. It couldn't be cheap to print a book, and she couldn't expect them to finance the restoration of the queen's library, could she? Would it be so outlandish for a baker girl who'd never met Death to be the courier of the queen's money? And did this mean she was going to have to pawn more of her own jewelry?

'Sparks,' Saf said. 'Tie me with twine and mail me to Ror City. If this really is what you say it is—let's bring it down to the shop, shall we? I'm going blind here.'

'Yes, all right,' she said, 'but . . .'

He looked up from the pages into her face. His eyes were black and full of stars. 'I never wished I was a mind reader before I knew you,' he said. 'You know that, Sparks? What is it?'

'I'm frightened to move,' she said, ashamed of herself.

'Sparks,' Saf said. Then he slapped the Kissing Traditions manuscript shut and took hold of both of her small, cold hands. 'Sparks,' he said again, looking into her eyes, 'I'll help you. I swear to you, you will not fall. Do you believe me?'

She did believe him. There on a roof with his familiar silhouette, his voice, all the things about him she was used to, holding tight to his hands, she believed him completely. 'I'm ready to ask my third question,' she said.

He exhaled. 'Oh, weaselbugger,' he said grimly.

'Who's trying to kill you and Teddy?' she asked. 'Saf, I'm on your side. Tonight, I became their target too. Just tell me. Who is it?'

Saf didn't answer, just sat there, playing with her hands. She thought he wasn't going to answer. Then, as the moments passed, she stopped caring so much, because his touch began to seem more important than her question.

'There are people in the kingdom who are truthseekers,' he finally said. 'Not many people, but a few. People like Teddy and Tilda and Bren—people whose families were in the resistance and who place the highest value on knowing the truth of things. Leck is dead now, but there's still so much truth to uncover. That's their business, you understand, Sparks? They're trying to help people figure out what happened, sometimes reassemble memories. Return what Leck stole, and, when they can, undo what Leck did, through thievery, through education—however they can.'

'You too,' Bitterblue interjected. 'You keep saying 'they,' but it's you too.'

Saf shrugged. 'I came to Monsea to know my sister better, and this is who my sister turned out to be. I like my friends here and I like to steal. While I'm here, I'll help. But I'm Lienid, Sparks. It's not my cause.'

'Prince Po would be disgusted with that attitude.'

'If Prince Po told me to fall off the earth, Sparks, I would,' said Saf. 'I told you. I'm Lienid.'

'You make no sense whatsoever!'

'Oh?' said Saf, pulling on her hands, grinning wickedly. 'And you do?'

Flustered, Bitterblue said nothing, just waited.

'There's a force in the kingdom working against us, Sparks,' said Saf quietly. 'The truth is that I can't answer your question, because we don't know who it is. But someone knows what we're doing. There's someone out there who hates us and will go to any length to stop us and people like us. Remember the new grave I found you standing in front of that night in the graveyard? That was our colleague, stabbed to death in broad daylight by a hired killer who's in no state to tell us who hired him. Our people are murdered. Or sometimes they're framed for crimes they didn't commit and get thrown into prison, where we'll never see them again.'

'Saf!' Bitterblue said, appalled. 'Are you serious about this? Are you sure?'

'Teddy was stabbed and you're asking me if I'm sure?'

'But, why? Why would someone go to so much trouble?'

'For silence,' Saf said. 'Is it really so surprising? Everyone wants silence. Everyone is happy forgetting Leck ever hurt anyone and pretending Monsea was born, fully formed, eight years ago. If they can't get their own heads to be silent, they go to the story rooms, get drunk, and start a fight.'

'That's not why people go to the story rooms,' Bitterblue protested.

'Oh, Sparks,' Saf said, sighing, tugging at her hands. 'It's not why you, I, or the fablers go to the story rooms. You go to hear the stories. Other people go to drown out the stories with drink. Remember, you asked me before why lists of stolen items make their way to us instead of to the queen? Often it's because no one ever even thinks about cataloging their losses until someone like Teddy comes around and suggests it. People aren't thinking. They want silence. The queen wants silence. And someone out there needs silence, Sparks. Someone out there is killing for it.'

'Why haven't you taken this to the queen?' asked Bitterblue, trying to swallow the distress in her voice so that he wouldn't sense its extent. 'People murdering people to silence the truth are breaking the law. Why haven't you taken your case to the queen!'

'Sparks,' said Saf flatly. 'Why do you think?'

Bitterblue was quiet for a moment, understanding him. 'You think the queen is behind it.'

A city clock began its midnight chime. 'I'm not ready to say that,' said Saf, shrugging. 'None of us are. But we've gotten in the habit of warning people not to draw attention to any knowledge they might have of what Leck did, Sparks. Towns applying to the queen for independence, for example. They state their case against their lords plainly and refer to Leck as little as possible. They make no mention of the daughters that their lords mysteriously stole, or the people who disappeared. Whoever our villain is, it's someone with a very long arm. If I were you, Sparks, I would tread carefully in that castle of yours.'