Bitterblue

'We're not getting anywhere,' Bitterblue responded wearily. 'You're not in the way, and Teddy, you remind me that I'd like your help.'

'What can I do for you, Lady Queen?'

'Could you tell me which lords and ladies in my kingdom stole the most for Leck's sake? Do you have that kind of information? It would give me a place to start as I try to find out who's behind the killing and framing of truthseekers.'

'Ah,' said Teddy, sounding pleased. 'I could come up with a few people who have reason to be ashamed of themselves. But it wouldn't be a complete list, Lady Queen. There are plenty of towns we haven't heard from. Would you like the list nonetheless?'

'Yes, please,' said Bitterblue. If I could leave with a list, then maybe this visit could be more than a heartbreaking waste of time.

And so Teddy went to a desk to cobble together a list. Bitterblue stared at the table beside the press, not really seeing it, trying not to look at Saf. He stood too near her, glaring at the floor with his arms crossed, sullen and silent.

Then, gradually, the stacks of paper before her came into focus. It was printed material, but not Death's Kissing Traditions or Teddy's dictionary. As she began to understand what she was looking at, she said out loud, 'This cannot possibly be what you've been hiding from me all this time. Teddy? Can it?' Taking one of the top sheets in her hand, she noted that the page beneath was identical.

'Hello,' Saf said, reaching out, pushing against her, trying to take the paper from her.

'Oh, let her have it, Saf,' Teddy said tiredly. 'What does it matter now? We know she's not going to try to hurt us for printing it.'

'Find out how much Gray wants for the crown, Saf. And get off me,' Bitterblue said, giving him such a ferocious look that he actually stopped trying to grab at the paper and backed away, momentarily confused.

Bitterblue took a sample from each of the piles on the table. Rolling them up in one hand, she went to Teddy and accepted the short list of names he proffered. Then she left the shop.

OUTSIDE, SHE STOPPED under a light. Unrolling the papers, she leafed through them, studying each carefully. They all had the same title, 'Reading and Writing Lesson,' and each lesson was numbered. The Number Ones contained, in large type, the letters of the alphabet and the numerals zero through ten. The Number Twos contained a scattering of simple words, such as cat, pan, cart, rat. The words increased in complexity, and more numerals were introduced, as the lesson numbers rose. At the bottom corner of each page was printed a tiny geographic identifier: Flower District, East City. Monster Bridge, East City. Winter Park, Fish Dockyards. Castle's Shadow, West City.

Reading lessons? So much secrecy over reading lesson—

Something whacked Bitterblue so hard in the back of her shoulder that it spun her around. Someone tackled her and papers went flying. Falling, crashing awkwardly against the rise of the gutter, her arm broke beneath her and she screamed in pain.

25

THE THOUGHTS CAME clearly and with an astonishing calm. Bitterblue was being choked by a woman with iron strength who sat on her and pinned her to the ground. There were others too, other small battles exploding around them, cries and grunts, flashes of steel. I do not consent to die, thought Bitterblue, desperate for air, but she couldn't reach the woman's eyes or throat and she couldn't reach the knives in her boots, and she tried to find the one in the sleeve of her broken arm but the pain undid her. Suddenly she understood what that burning pressure was in the back of her shoulder: a knife. If only she could reach it with her good hand—she tried, scrabbled, found the hilt and pulled. The knife came away with a blast of pain that was almost unendurable but she slashed wherever she could at her attacker. Her head was going to burst, but she kept slashing. Her vision went black. She lost consciousness.

SHE WOKE TO pain. When she tried to cry out, there was more pain, for her throat was ragged.

'Yes, that woke her,' a deep male voice said. 'I'm sorry for it, but it has to be done with broken bones. It will make for less pain later.'

'What'll we do with all these bodies?' someone else whispered, a female voice.

'Help me get them inside and my friends and I will deal with them,' said a third voice that made Bitterblue want to cry out again, for it was Saf.

'Some of the Lienid Guard will stay and help you,' said the original male voice firmly. 'I'm taking the queen home.'

'Do you know who they are?' asked Saf. 'Should the bodies go with you in case castle people can identify them?'

'Those aren't my instructions,' said the male voice.

Recognizing that voice now, Bitterblue croaked out a name. 'Holt.'

'Yes, Lady Queen,' said her Graceling guard, leaning over her, coming into view. 'How are you, Lady Queen?'

'I don't consent to die,' she whispered.

'You're far from dead, Lady Queen,' Holt said. 'Can you manage some water?'

Holt passed a flask to someone above Bitterblue. Only then did Bitterblue realize that her head was cradled in a person's lap. Moving her eyes up to look into the face of that person, for an instant, she saw a girl. Then the girl transformed into a marble statue of a girl, and Bitterblue was rocked with dizziness.

'Hava,' said Holt sharply. 'Stop that. You'll give the queen a headache.'

'I think someone else should take over,' said the statue hastily. Then she was a girl again and extricating herself from Bitterblue, thunking the queen's head on the ground. As Bitterblue gasped at this new pain, there was the sound of feet scurrying away.

Holt came quickly to Bitterblue's aid, supporting her head and bringing the flask to her lips. 'I apologize for the behavior of my niece, Lady Queen,' he said. 'She assisted you quite bravely until you noticed her.'

Swallowing water was like swallowing fire. 'Holt,' whispered Bitterblue. 'What happened?'

'A team of thugs was waiting outside the shop to kill you, Lady Queen,' said Holt. 'Hava and I were here at Prince Po's request. We did what we could. That friend of yours heard the noise and came out to help. But we were strapped, Lady Queen, if I may say so, until half a dozen of your Lienid Door Guard came running onto the scene.'

'My Lienid Door Guard?' said Bitterblue in bewilderment, registering now the sound of boots on pavement, grunts as men lifted bodies. 'How did they know to be here?'

Holt put the flask away somewhere. Then, carefully, he lifted her in both arms. Being carried by him was like gliding. The parts that hurt did so floatingly, without a single jolt. 'As I understand it, Lady Queen,' he said, 'Thiel came running to your rooms tonight to check on you. When he found you gone, he exhorted Helda to send a contingent of your Lienid Door Guard after you.'

'Thiel?' said Bitterblue. 'Thiel knew I was in danger?'

'Hey,' said Saf's voice, suddenly near. 'I think that's her own blood—your sleeve is turning black with it, man.' A hand explored her back, her shoulder, and Bitterblue cried out. 'She's been stabbed,' said Saf as the world went dark.

SHE WOKE AGAIN to the murmuring voices of Helda and Madlen. All of her parts felt stuffed with wool, especially her head. A cast of some kind immobilized her left wrist and forearm, and the back of her left shoulder was on fire. Blinking her eyes, she saw the red and gold stars of her own bedroom ceiling. Through the window, light was just beginning to build. It was a new day.

It seemed safe now, with Madlen and Helda near, to believe that she really wasn't going to die. The moment it seemed safe, it also seemed impossible that she should have survived. A tear made a single track into her hair, and then that was that, for crying meant gasping and deep breaths, and it only took one deep breath to remember how much breathing hurt.

She whispered, 'How did Thiel know?'