Noa spent the rest of the banquet in silence. No one spoke to her, which suited her just fine. After what she’d just seen, her appetite had fled. A few of the guests looked like they felt the same, but most had gone back to their meals. What had happened was entertainment to them, all the more so because it had been frightening, and the glances they shot at Julian were half anxious and half admiring. The boy next to Mite decided to amuse himself by throwing oyster shells into her cup, which made the girls across the table giggle. Mite stared at her plate the whole time, blinking rapidly. Noa eventually rose, pulled on the boy’s collar, and poured her sesame coconut custard down his back. He yelped and sputtered, but Noa might have gotten away with it had Mite not taken inspiration from her and dumped her beetles down the boy’s shirt, too. He leaped screaming from his chair, tripped, and landed in the creamed kelp with such a splash that it spattered the guests at that end of the table. Noa was still standing up, so everybody stared at her as the boy screamed the way you would scream if you were being slowly eaten by a shark. Even Julian, miles away at the other end of the table, sat frozen in confusion. General Lydio rose to his feet and made his way over, and Noa remembered, too late, that the awful blond boy was his son.
So she did the only thing that made sense, and stormed out of the hall.
The salty wind was cool against her face, and it helped to chase away the kelp smell that clung to her hair. Noa marched along the rocky shore just outside the hall, smashing mussels and barnacles with her boots, until she became aware that she wasn’t alone.
“Go back to dinner, Mite,” Noa said over her shoulder. “Julian will be mad at you.” This didn’t make much sense, given that the sister he was more likely to be mad at was the one who had apparently tried to murder General Lydio’s son, but Noa didn’t care.
“I don’t want to go back.” Mite’s face was flushed. “Can’t I stay here with you?”
“No,” Noa snapped. “You can’t. I need to think, and you don’t help.”
“But—”
“Mite, for once in your life, will you leave me alone,” Noa snarled.
Mite’s mouth trembled. She turned and fled.
Noa felt a flicker of guilt, but it was no match for her anger. She kept walking, then she sat on the rocks for a while, watching the breakers. After an hour or so, she got cold, and she also realized that if Julian was looking for her, she was missing her chance to make him feel guilty. She walked back toward the castle and sat on the rocks within view of the balcony.
Julian found her a little while later. His fancy cloak was gone and his hair was disheveled again, so Noa took it that the banquet was over. He sat down beside her. “General Lydio’s son has finally calmed down,” he said. “You can visit him in the morning and apologize.”
“For what?” Noa demanded.
“For what. He said you put something down his shirt. I know you don’t spend much time with other children, Noa, but I had hoped you’d at least try to get along with Matty.”
Noa glowered. Who made such a fuss over a few insects? She’d sooner put beetles down her own shirt than apologize to that crybaby.
Julian rubbed his face. He looked exhausted, and Noa wondered if he’d been hiding it before. “What was it that you wanted to tell me?”
Noa unclenched her fingers, which were beginning to ache from gripping the rock. “I saw Mom,” she said in a flat voice.
Julian froze. “What?”
“I saw Mom. She came to tell me something important—I think it’s about the Lost Words. I’m going back to Death tonight to talk to her.”
Julian said nothing for a moment. When he did, his words were almost frighteningly calm. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Noa did.
“I don’t know who you spoke to,” Julian said. His face was the same shade as the distant breakers. “But I doubt it was Mom.”
“What?” Noa stared at him. “Why wouldn’t it be Mom?”
“Mom was happy when she died.” Julian’s voice was so quiet she could barely hear it. Noa couldn’t remember the last time he had spoken about Mom. “She knew she was going to be with Father. You know those so-called legends I told you about? The ancient mages who visited Death? They all say that the ghosts they met linger there because they’re unhappy. They’re still tied to their old lives.”
“She was happy?” Noa’s heart thudded in her ears. “She was happy leaving us alone? I don’t believe you. You’re lying.”
“Noa—”
“I don’t believe you!” Noa cried. “You weren’t there—you didn’t see her. I did, and I’m going to see her again.”
“No, you aren’t.” Julian’s voice was cold. “And you’re certainly not going to do the bidding of the dead. Do you know how dangerous that is? Mom would never ask you to put yourself at risk—”
“So you’ll believe your books before you believe me?” Noa demanded. “Julian, it was Mom.”
He pressed his fingers against his eyes. “If there were some way to go with you, some way I could protect you—”
“I can protect myself.”
“I haven’t seen much evidence of that lately,” Julian snapped. “Noa, I’ve had enough of watching you put yourself in danger.”
“Well, maybe I’ve had enough of being your spider!” Noa yelled.
He blinked. “My what?”
“You know. The brains. Because you hardly ever use yours.” Noa leaped to her feet.
