It took a moment to catch her meaning, but then Sylph had tolaugh. “Thana, nobles haven’t solved their problems with murder for ages.” Shethought for a moment. “Well, haven’t solved most of their problems with it,anyway.” The quiet deaths of noble pyradistés came to mind. “What I meant was,we tell him nothing. The prince rides in the front door, but we entersurreptitiously.”
Thana blushed and stammered. She’d been thinking like a noble atlast, but Sylph supposed she shouldn’t compliment her on that.
* * *
For once, Thana didn’t have a problem with deception. Much as itpained her that Sylph had to hide from her own father, Thana was glad to keepher out of his clutches.
Perhaps that meant that after their night together, theyunderstood each other more. Dina would be smirking at the thought. She’dalready smirked quite a bit that morning, making Thana want to kick her as muchas she’d wanted to injure Gunnar yesterday.
But all the smirking in the world was worth it. She had to keepstopping herself from grinning at Sylph like a lovestruck idiot.
She forced herself to think of the task ahead, bringing her backto Sylph’s father. All the times she’d imagined having a family as a child,she’d never conceived of cruel or uncaring parents. The few accounts Thana hadgleaned of them were, “Nice enough. Kept to themselves.” It had been betterthan nothing.
Gunnar’s father had died around the same time as Thana’s parents,victims of the same illness. But records of her low-born parents were scarce,unlike those of the man who’d sired a child with the queen. By all accounts,he’d been a carefree, boisterous man, quite unlike the father of Earnhilt’sfirst child, and he’d suited her down to the ground as a longtime friend andsometime lover. Thana had often imagined her parents being just as happy.
Now she had to deal with a father of quite a different stripe. Anot at all nice fellow in everyone’s business. Unless Sylph’s plan worked, andthey could avoid him.
But if she wanted to be part of Sylph’s future, she couldn’tavoid him forever.
“Isn’t your father afraid that by treating you so badly, you’llundo everything he’s worked for after he dies?” Thana asked as they rode forMarienne.
Sylph tilted her head. “I doubt he thinks of his actions as beingbad. He sees them as lessons that I will no doubt come to appreciate.Everything else is inconceivable.”
“What if you threatened him by saying he has to let you do as youplease, or upon his death, you’ll donate all your lands and money to charity.”
Her laugh was high and sweet, as if they weren’t speaking of aparent’s lack of love. “I have plenty of cousins who would love the chance toinherit in my place.”
Thana rubbed her roiling stomach. “Ugh. You should all team upand overthrow him. Then you can split the cash.”
“You’re awfully bloody-minded all of a sudden. Is rebellion thefuture you have planned?”
Thana shrugged, hoping to seem as if she was in on whatever jokehad put a twinkle in Sylph’s eye. In truth, she had no more ideas about thefuture than she’d had when they’d decided she should be the keeper of it.
* * *
Even while riding at a good clip, they didn’t reach Marienneuntil nightfall. Even with the cover of darkness, Thana fought to control herjangling nerves.
As planned, Gunnar and Dina went ahead. They’d meet up with therest of the Order and bring them into the secret passages nearest the entranceSylph and Thana would use. Everyone bid farewell hurriedly, and Gunnar starteddown the main thoroughfare while Thana led Sylph to the right of the gate, downa few of the darker streets, where they found a hostler and left the horses.
“We’ll be less conspicuous on foot,” Thana said. They’d alreadyraided Sylph’s clothing for darker outfits and had borrowed hooded jackets fromDina and Gunnar. It was a little too warm for them, but they hoped the breezeand the darkness would give them enough reason to avoid suspicion.
Still, Thana steered them around large groups of people and keptto the shadows. Sylph gawked as if it was another world. She craned her neck topeer at people milling around taverns or chapterhouses. She slowed as theypassed various tradesmen closing for the night. Thana would have thought thewhole of Marienne a fair in her eyes.
“Are you nervous to be back?” Thana asked, trying to puzzle outher behavior.
“Hmm?” Sylph asked, engrossed in watching someone call in theirchildren for the night. “Is it always so…lively?”
“People’s lives? Usually. Apart from the graveyards.”
It was a tasteless joke, regretted instantly, but Sylph onlysaid, “Yes,” in a distracted way.
“It’ll quiet down as it gets later.”
Sylph finally looked her way and smiled sheepishly, like astudent caught not paying attention. “Most of my days have been quiet, you see,and anytime we rode out among the peas…people, they were always quiet, too. Wasthat from fear?”
Thana pulled away from irritation, her first reaction to thecluelessness of a noble, but she remembered what Dina had said about snobbery,and Sylph’s quick change from saying peasantry to people spoke of effort.
Thana took her hand and intertwined their fingers. “Maybe it wasfear. Or maybe it was more like what you’re feeling now, curiosity about what’sdifferent, each side treating the other as something glimpsed at the villagefair, except the villagers aren’t part of the body that can send you toprison…or the scaffold.”
“Yes,” Sylph said distractedly, but Thana could see by her frownthat she was listening. And her grip on Thana’s hand didn’t waver. And thoughThana had said the last part a little archly, it was just a fact of life forSylph.
Thana told herself that it was a fact of life for everyone, thatsomeone had to be in charge, and right now, she was part of a team working tokeep the status quo. At least she could comfort herself with the fact thatshe’d joined that team out of friendship and that the Umbriels were goodleaders.
Even if some of their nobles were complete asses.
Not her noble, but still.
“You can always talk to them more after you’re a duchess,” Thanasaid. “Your father must have people who act as go-betweens
