She took a minute before she answered, thinking back to her first days in command of her own ship. The uncertainty, the hesitation, and the fear that she wasn’t good enough. Her first voyage had worked out. It wasn’t a smashing success, but all survived and profited.
Soon, every sailor in the southern seas wanted to be on board her vessel.
“Yes,” she said, her voice firm, “I am.”
Chapter 3
Had anyone asked, he would have thought that it would be darker here. After all, the secret House moved in the shadows, never seen except by those they chose to reveal themselves to. It would be only fitting for their home to be cloaked in darkness.
Instead, Thaddeus was in a bright, light-filled chamber, comfortable furniture scattered around. It was a far cry from the decay and terror of the Rustling Elms tree. Even now, two weeks later, he was having a hard time reconciling the two.
Of course, not every room was well lit, he thought. The one he was headed to now, for instance, couldn’t be. Not with what it held.
In truth, he hated going there, but it was necessary, or at least they told him so. He supposed there was some validity to that. He needed to get past his fear, and to develop his gifts more fully. Gifts that he wasn’t aware he possessed until he was brought here, rescued from Solomon’s wrath at the last minute.
It was an adjustment, there was no doubt about that. Even the view from the windows he passed as he walked the halls toward his destination caused a sense of unreality to rise in him. There was no forest here, no giant trees with homes built right inside them. Instead, there were mountains, soaring into high peaks. Snow covered, even now, when it was warm and insects hummed in the air.
Wherever he was, and he hadn’t been told that yet, he was far from home.
And yet, it held all the comforts of home. He was given spacious chambers, flooded with light from large windows that opened onto stunning views. Clean, loose fitting clothes in bright colors were provided, and for the first couple of days meals were brought to him, until he felt strong enough to join the others in the dining hall.
Subtle Hemlock was a small House, smaller than any he knew of outside of here. But they made it up for it in other ways. Every one of them had great magical ability. The things the Advocate did were mere parlor tricks, and since being here he’d seen magic performed that he never would have thought possible.
And their slyness made that of Whispering Pines seem like a joke. Subtle Hemlock had fingers and eyes in almost every House. Except for Towering Oaks. They were making inroads there as well when Solomon returned, and any attempts at infiltrating his House ceased immediately.
For reasons Thaddeus still wasn’t entirely sure of, House Subtle Hemlock was terrified of Solomon.
His thoughtful meanderings were cut short when he arrived at his destination. He stopped and glowered at the door in front of him. It looked the same as all the others, with no way to tell what was behind it.
Taking a deep breath, he opened the door, stepped in, and closed it behind him, letting in as little light from the hallway as possible.
Even that amount was enough to make the black shape in the room shrink to the back of its cage and hiss.
The laughter that followed was light, sounding out of place in the cold and dimly lit room.
“Don’t you love it when they do that? It means they’re afraid,” the voice said. Soft, feminine, and slightly raspy, the sound of it set Thaddeus’s heart beating more than the caged Soul Gaunt did.
“Melanie,” he smiled. “I hoped it would be you today.”
She approached him. Red hair, rare for one of the Folk, hung shoulder length. Green eyes, dark in this light, were fixed on his own. She wore simple clothes that clung to her figure in a way that Thaddeus had a hard time ignoring.
Not that she wanted him to.
She pressed up against him, kissing him passionately. He returned it, his arms going around her and pulling her even tighter against him. Somewhere, the sound of the Soul Gaunt hissing its displeasure barely made a dint in his consciousness.
“Of course, it’s me,” Melanie said, breaking the kiss and stepping back. “I traded to get this duty. Not that I was fooling anyone.”
“I’m glad you did. But…can we get in any sort of trouble for this?”
“For what?” She laughed and walked to a table on the other side of the room.
“I don’t know,” Thaddeus said. “Is there some rule against student and teacher…or….”
“Don’t be naïve. You’re hardly a child. You’re older than I am.”
True, Thaddeus thought. But if Malachi believed that he wasn’t taking his studies seriously…
“Besides,” Melanie said, as if she could read his mind. “Do you think I’ve been going easy on you? No one believes that because I’ve invited you into my bed, I’ve been shirking my responsibilities.”
“No, I guess not. And you certainly haven’t been easy on me.”
“Good. Because today you’ve got work to do. As cute as I think you are, you did horribly yesterday. Today, you need to do better.”
He nodded. “I understand. It’s just that this whole side of things is new to me.”
“Still, you need to do better. If you can’t get this simple act down, I’m not sure they’ll allow you to stay.”
“Then what?” Thaddeus laughed bitterly, picturing going back to Whispering Pines on his knees, begging for forgiveness. “I become the Greenweald’s first beggar?”
Melanie turned to him, a black candle in her hand.
“You can’t believe that’s what would happen. Or are you really that naïve? I
