34

 

“You have a strong arm for a woman. Your aim is terrible, though.”

Quinn squealed, though her anger didn’t sound genuine to Eden. She threw the knife with more vigour, only for it to fly completely wide of its mark this time. Her pitiable attempts simply brought out another bout of guttural laughter from Eden, who was sat on a wall watching her efforts.

"Strong arm for a woman indeed. You do the work I do, day in day out, and not have a strong arm, Captain Eden of Sevenspells."

Eden jumped off the wall, striding confidently over to Quinn. He was under instruction now to teach Quinn to defend herself, from his father and from his king, and surprisingly also, from the baron himself. He was relishing the chance. Quinn was, as he had both hoped and feared, far more than the rumours that surrounded her allowed. Like all women in Everfell, however, she was appalling with weapons.

Under had taught him that in Sha'sek, if a woman chose to bear arms then that was her choice to make. She would train alongside the men, and she would fight alongside the men. Many of the battles in the last war were won because the men of Everfell did not know how to respond to or face women on the battlefield, though many of them had also died alongside their kinsmen.

Eden had assumed that Quinn would already have some basic grounding in weaponry, given that her father was Sha’sek. Quinn didn’t even know how to hold a knife properly. Eden immediately took his role as her protector and mentor seriously; it seemed that he had learned more of the Sha'sek traditions and histories from his brief time with Under, than Quinn had learned over her entire lifetime with Sammah.

"Here. You need to throw like this. Bend your arm. Don't release the blade too early. Bend your knees slightly. You need to relax and breathe evenly."

Eden took up one of the knives and, with very little waiting or aim, released it. It whistled through the air, thudding into the outer rim of the wooden target. Quinn shook her head in admiration.

"How can you do that so easily?"

"The same way I heal wounds so readily. Years of practice."

Maertn placed his fist around the knife Eden had thrown, yanking it hard from where it had embedded in to the board. It took two tries; Eden had a solid arm. He then moved around the yard, collecting the knives where Quinn had tried, and failed, to hit the target.

"But it looks so simple! At least when you clean wounds it looks horrendously complicated."

Maertn paused, appearing to consider this. Eden, too, seemed confused. He tossed a throwing knife in to the air, catching it easily by the hilt as it came back down. "If it were a simple thing, every man would be able to do it. Quinn has shown us that is not so. Truly, every man that comes across the throwing knives in the courtyard says the same thing. It is a hard art to master. Harder than the short and broadsword. Harder to get right than handling a pike, even. Here, you try, Maertn.”

 

* * *

 

Maertn shrugged. Placing the rest of the knives on a wide worn oak table reserved for their practice weapons, he tried to copy what he had already seen Eden doing; he did not want to look like a fool in front of either the guard captain or Quinn. He hefted the blade in his hand. He wasn't sure what he was meant to be expecting or judging. It felt about the same weight as a small lump of clay. It was balanced just above the hilt, a small way down the blade. Maertn knew this might be important, but not in what manner he should adjust his throw in response to this knowledge. Sending up a message to the spirits, he gripped the end of the blade and hurled it in a direction that was mainly that of the target. Maertn closed his eyes and tried not to sigh with relief when he heard the clunk that meant the dagger had hit home. Opening them again, he saw that it was buried in the top of the target, barely making it home. No matter. It was there. Maertn turned to Quinn, a brilliant smile on his face. She stuck out her tongue at him, but returned the smile in kind.

For a moment Eden felt isolated, left out of their friendship and their fun. It was in that moment he remembered that he was seeking a murderer, and these two had already been the subject of one murder attempt.

As soon as Eden's attentions had focused on Quinn, Maertn, too, had appeared to stay close to his friend, like a hawk. More now than ever, though, Eden was sure that their relationship was nothing more than friendship. He had started to hope that he saw Quinn looking at him with curiosity, and perhaps even some kind of growing affection. She was familiar with Maertn, but their relationship had run its full course; they were never going to be anything more to each other.

 

"I have to speak to you both. This isn't easy for me. I..." Quinn looked around, suddenly nervous of her surroundings. Her nightmare about Sirah had set her on edge. She felt uncomfortable parting with this information in rooms assigned to them by Sammah. Anyone could be in the hallways listening. They didn't know where Sammah was, either. Likely that he was bending the ear, and the morals, of either the king or Shiver. Quinn didn't want to take any risks.

"Come with me."

Quinn left the room without another word, expecting that both men would follow her. They did. She almost ran through the castle, ignoring the looks thrown at her by the workers she darted past. Even Yvette was given short shrift, Quinn almost barging in to the woman as she opened her mouth to make an unguessable snide comment. Eden and Maertn were never far behind her, but all three were forced to come to a stunned halt when they met the impassive figure of Ross standing cross-armed in the hallway.

"Now here, where would you three be going in such a hurry? You're not exactly going in the direction of the feast."

Quinn looked alarmed; she couldn't have seemed more guilty than if she had dropped to her knees to begin a confession. Maertn stepped in and saved the day this time. "We have to get to my workshop. We were talking, and I remembered I'd left a pot on the boil, if we don't get to it…."

"Why all three of you?"

"It's a big pot? Please, sir? We need to hurry!"

“And the captain of the guard is needed why?”

“Because he’s meant to be protecting Quinn, sir?”

Ross chewed at his cheek for a second, and Quinn thought for a horrible moment that he wasn't going to buy their little story. Then, with a shrug of his shoulders, he moved to one side and let them past. Eden thanked every spirit watching them, though he felt Ross's gaze on his back until they were out of sight. This wouldn't be the last they would see of the suspicious chamberlain. Out in the empty expanse of the courtyard Quinn turned on her heel to face them both. They almost ran straight in to her.

"Woah, Quinn, a bit of warning next time!"

"Sorry, I...I was just going to talk to you out here, but now I suppose we have to go out to your workshop."

"Why?" Maertn looked confused.

"Because Ross will be looking for us there, and he’ll find out if we don’t go there. Come on. Let's go."

The friends trotted off to Maertn's apothecary, trying to keep up the pace they had shown in the hallways so they didn't arouse any suspicion. No one knew where Ross might be looking from; the healers' rooms were overlooked by many parts of the castle. This made them less than ideal for a secret meeting, but isolated enough across the other side of the courtyard and away from any outbuildings, that they should not be overheard.

Maertn lead the way as soon as they got in, making sure to make a show of putting out the fire that burned in the hearth. Smoke billowed up and out of the chimney; this would be enough to satisfy the casual eyes of any onlookers the chamberlain had set onto them. Looking in each room to make sure they were alone, Maertn pulled cloths over each of the windows and turned to Quinn.

"Right, what’s so important to hear that we have to be out sitting in the cold?"

"We'd better sit down."

Maertn rolled his eyes, but obediently collected together some chairs. Quinn noticed that he didn't expect Eden to help when she made any of these little requests. A natural reaction from birth, of their role to serve, and Eden's role to rule.

"Okay, we're sitting down," Maertn waved everyone to follow his lead as he perched on one of the room's uncomfortable and rickety wooden chairs. They were cheaply put-together and functional. Healers didn't care about their own quarters; they cared about their tools and the patients that came to see them. "What is this amazing news?"

Quinn opened her mouth, but no words came out. Now she was presented with actually telling someone the truth about herself, someone that didn't know already who she was, she didn't know where to begin explaining it. She tried and started in her head different sentences. You might have always thought I'm different, but… Listen, I know this is going to sound weird, but... Eden, please don't kill me straight away, however…. Nothing she could think of sounded any better than ridiculous. She rubbed her palms together. They were hot and clammy. Quinn took a deep breath, and reached out to both of the men sitting in front of her. Both wore creased frowns on their foreheads. Their eyes showed worry and concern. Their hearts matched their eyes. Quinn’s hopes were lifted by this; both of these men cared for her, and they had her best interests at heart. If she couldn't tell these two who she really was, she would never be able to tell anyone. Then, she would have to accept living under Sammah's sinister shadow for the rest of her life. She couldn't keep living a lie.

"I'm the Satori."

Short. Simple. Shocking, apparently. Her friends' jaws dropped. Quinn blushed. Her heart, though she hadn't thought it possible, started beating faster. She started to fidget, the adrenalin coursing through her, waiting for them to respond. Since they were apparently unable to speak, she went to reach out for them in another way; the way that was so familiar to her now, as easy and effortless as breathing or seeing. Then, she retreated. Instinctively, she realised that now they knew who and what she was, she shouldn't search out their feelings without their permission. Quinn immediately felt ashamed that she had ever done so, especially with Maertn, who had been a forgiving and unyielding friend for so many years.

Maertn's mouth started working up and down; he was apparently nearing being able to vocalise some words.

"I...Quinn...did you? Are you?"

"Spirits no, please, no, I haven't killed anyone. I couldn't kill anyone."

Quinn rushed the words. Eden just nodded in response. He, too, was working towards finally responding. "This makes sense. This makes so much sense. Everything about you. But Quinn...why didn't you tell anyone? Ever?” He looked over to the healer, to reassure himself that Maertn indeed was just finding this out. Maertn looked as stunned as Eden felt. “Not even Maertn? Who else knows this?"

Quinn blushed deeply, her shame growing. She should have told Maertn long before this. Why hadn't she trusted him? She had been ashamed of herself, she knew. She hadn't wanted anyone to know what she was, because she had been taught by Sammah that to be as different as she was, was wrong. She didn't have a gift or a blessing; to be an empath was to have a curse.

"Only Sammah knows."

"Then why is he telling everyone that the Satori...wait...are you saying Baron Sammah is behind the killings?" Maertn almost yelled this, with both Eden and Quinn hushing and waving him down. Maertn looked absolutely furious.

"He has to be, doesn't he? Doesn't it just make sense to you?" Eden was calm, quiet even, but his words were tense with loathing. "He keeps Quinn quiet to do his bidding, then when...what? When you grow up, he needs to get rid of you?"

Quinn shook her head. "I don't think so. I think it's because I tried to leave. I...wait...neither of you care? That I'm an empath? That I can read you? That my father..."

Eden waved her down. "That isn't the important thing now. Am I hurt? Yes. I'm more than upset, Quinn. But what's more pressing now, is that, not only am I meant to be dragging you down to the cells, we know that you are not guilty of what they’re accusing you of. Who is guilty? The Sha'sek ambassador. Do you know what that's going to look like when we tell the king?"

Eden was running his hands furiously through his blond hair, which was dusty and dirty, unkempt with the sleepless days he had spent on the search to impress his unimpressible father. Quinn reached out to Eden, and felt her heart clench when he waved her away. He pinched the bridge of his nose. She suspected she had just given him a migraine.

"Would you have rather heard this from someone else?"

Eden laughed maniacally. "Spirits, no! Who else would tell me? Sammah? And he wouldn't just tell me, either. He'd hand you over with the ropes already in his hand and you'd be dangling off the side of the castle walls by sundown."

Quinn felt physically sick at the thought. Maertn saw her pale and left his chair to kneel in front of her. He placed his hands on her knees, squeezing just enough to let her know he was there, and he cared. "Don't listen to him Quinn. We'll get you out of this. You don't have to be scared at who you are. That doesn't change anything. Not to me."

Quinn looked down to meet Maertn's honest gaze and immediately burst in to tears. Maertn yelled at Eden, distraught at what he saw.

"Look at what you've done now! Spirits be damned, Eden, why did you have to talk like that?"

"I'm sorry Maertn, but it's true!" Eden stood and kicked out at his chair. A leg fell off, and the useless collection of wood collapsed to the floor. "Why mince our words now? The entire kingdom is out to kill the Satori because they believe he—no, she—is a killer. We know Quinn isn't a killer. Who else is going to believe us? No one knows Quinn. She's lived here all her life and you're the only friend she has. We have to keep her safe whilst we make a plan to convince the king and the entire court that not only is the deadly Satori one of their maids, but one of their most trusted advisors is their actual murderer. And, whilst they're at it, executing him will lead to a new war. How's that?"

Maertn faced up to Eden. Quinn bawled at them to stop. Her voice was so hoarse, so broken, that they turned to her immediately.

"I'm not crying because of what Eden said. I want to, but I can't. Because it's true. I'm crying because I've been a terrible friend to you, Maertn. I couldn't keep on lying to you. I can't be what you want me to be. I know that you love me, Maertn. I know it in the same way that I know Eden loves me. But I don't love you. I can never love you in the same way that I love him. So stop it, both of you. My choice is made."

Maertn's shoulders collapsed and, to the astonishment of both Eden and Quinn, a huge grin crept across Maertn's face. He knelt back in front of her, joy dancing around his eyes. "Oh dear Quinn, is that what you thought? Is that why you've been avoiding me? Oh no, I don't...I mean I do...I do love you Quinn, with all my heart. Here. Look again. I give you permission. Tell me what you see."

Quinn met Maertn's eyes again. They were glittering with tears. She sniffed, hesitating at first, but emboldened when he lifted her hand and placed it on his heart. Quinn sent out a thin thread of curiosity, focusing on Maertn's heart for the first time. What she found there brought the tears back again, unbidden, but so joyful. She felt so warm; her body sang with the heat and joy that she found there. It was a calm warmth, like laying on a stone that had taken in the day's heat. She felt everything Maertn felt for her, and nodded. Then he pointed at Eden.

"Now do the same with him."

Eden took an involuntary step back. Quinn, at that moment, didn't want to do the same for Eden. He was so new to her, and his love for her would feel so incomplete compared to the totality of what Maertn had given to her. Then Eden spoke. "Do it, Quinn. I want you to know. I need you to know."

"Now that you know what I am?"

"Especially now that I know who you are. Not what, Quinn. You are still human."

Quinn nodded, pleased by his words but not quite believing them. She rose from her chair and Maertn moved to one side, the wide grin now a smile that was pushing up both sides of his cheeks. Her hand faltered as she moved it to Eden's chest, the palm hovering just above the cloth of his tunic. She could feel the heat rising from his body. Eden refused to move the hand for her. Quinn didn't even know if touching his heart would make a difference to what she felt for Eden; whether it would intensify the emotion of a first love. For Sammah, she had never touched her subjects. It didn't make the experience any less petrifying. Quinn felt that her hands should now be literally dripping with sweat, they had been so clammy before. In a mad second, she wondered how Eden would react to a clammy handprint on his fine tunic. Then she shook the irrational feeling away, and placed her hand over where his heart lay. She could feel it beating underneath her palm. His shirt was cool, smooth, and his chest hard. Quinn was already slightly breathless before she reached out to him. What she felt there almost buckled her knees.

Where Maertn's love had been warm and encompassing, Eden's hit her like a blast of heat from a blacksmith's furnace. She felt so rocked that she almost stepped back. Every muscle in her body started singing in response to what Eden was feeling for her; behind it all there was still a warmth, however Eden's love also contained passion. Quinn realised then, that she had never, ever felt Maertn actually desiring her, whereas this was Eden's overwhelming emotion. Beneath that, there was also a small hole; like a tug in a weave, there was also a doubt. If she tugged at this, Quinn realised, everything Eden felt would likely eventually unravel, the threads of his passion falling to the floor, unused and useless. This imperfection had never been there before. Quinn knew that this was Eden's reaction finding out she was an empath. It was only a small element of his reaction, but the doubt was there, nevertheless. Maertn's emotions were still smooth, flawless, and now Quinn knew, without ardour.

She turned to her lifelong friend. "You do love me," she said. Maertn nodded in response. "But you...you do not want me."

Maertn shook his head, keeping his smile. "I never have, Quinn. You're precious to me, and you always will be. I could never desire you in that way. It would feel wrong."

Maertn announced this as if Quinn should be able to fill in the rest of the blanks for herself. Quinn, however, was left utterly confused. She turned to Eden, who was now grinning as much as Maertn.

"What? What is it with you two? Stop smiling! What have I got wrong?" Eden looked at Maertn and winked exaggeratedly. Quinn thumped him on the arm. Eden yelped, rubbing the afflicted bicep.

"Ouch! That hurt!" Still, Eden couldn't help himself, and he began to laugh. "Don't get annoyed. You're the empath. I can't believe you haven't figured it out."

"Figured what out? Maertn," Quinn whirled on the healer, who stepped back, putting out his arms to protect himself.

"Don't wheel on me young maid. My skinny bones won't give me as much defence as your strapping lord over there."

"What? My... what? What am I missing here?"

Quinn looked between Eden and Maertn, who looked at each other and burst again in to fits of laughter. Quinn went beet red, and when they saw that she was genuinely annoyed and distressed, they tried to calm themselves down. When Maertn snorted, however, the peals of laughter rang out anew. Quinn thumped herself down on her chair, waiting for their mirth to die out. She tried her best to look serious, but their laughter was infectious, and her annoyance began to wane. Still, she had no idea what their mirth was for.

"Come on you two. What gives?"

"Ah Quinn. You had no idea? Ever? Despite, well, knowing everything?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "I only have a sense of emotions. I can't read your mind. And the power has changed recently. I'm much better at this than I used to be."

Maertn scratched his chin. "It's probably a great thing that you can't read minds. You see, the thing is, I have a secret too. Knowing what I know about you now, I'm surprised it's a secret. But, the thing is," Maertn scratched the back of his neck, looking suddenly awkward "I'm more likely to have those sort of feelings for, oh, let's say Nimmer."

"Nimmer? The apprentice? With the blacksmith?"

Maertn gave her a slow smile. "Yes. That Nimmer."

Quinn frowned. "But then he and you…oh."

"Yes. Just like him. Are you shocked?"

Quinn sat back in her chair, rocking back onto two legs and thudding it back to the ground. "Huh. Now I actually think about it, feeling the difference between the two, no, I'm not surprised."

"Am I any different to you now?"

"No. Why would you be?"

"And that, Quinn, is how I feel about you. Understand now?"

Quinn felt relief wash through her. The analogy was absolutely perfect, and fit how she felt like a glove. Like always, Maertn knew how to fix her. She went to his open arms, and he held her in a close and tight hug. He kissed her on the top of the head.

"No more secrets now, Quinn. Okay?"

Quinn nodded past the lump in her throat, managing a hoarse okay in response. She looked over to Eden, who looked almost sheepish, but she could now see his awkwardness around her and Maertn was not, and never had been, through jealousy.

Neither of her friends had her powers, but they had both seen more in each other than she had managed. Was she wrong, to just rely on what her ability could tell her about the inner workings of people? How much else was she missing? Quinn went to Eden, who also hugged her. It wasn't the same as Maertn, and it never would be. Quinn never wanted them to be the same; she loved them both, in very different ways.

"So," she began, wiping a scattering of happier tears away from the corners of her eyes "where do we go from here?"

Quinn and Maertn sat back down on their chairs, silence filling the room. Eden stood with his hands on his hips, having to accept the consequences of lashing out earlier. In the background, the daily hubbub of the castle continued; Quinn had not broken the world with the telling of her tale.

Maertn mouthed something silently. Quinn eyed him, not interrupting. She knew that he was trying to work something out. Eventually, he lifted his eyes to her.

"You said earlier, that your power has changed recently. How? Tell me what you mean by that."

Quinn hooked a piece of hair behind her ear. The change she had felt was easy in the thinking, but not easy in the telling. She let out a frustrated sigh. "I'll start from the beginning. That would probably be the simplest thing. If we have time for that."

Eden shrugged. "I'm not expected anywhere else. This is part of my investigation, after all. And that is not a lie."

"That’s the sad truth. Well. I've always known I was an empath. Sammah never hid it from me. What he did always say, was that I could never tell anyone. He said that if people knew what I could do, then they would cast me out, and I would end up dead." Quinn held up a hand when she saw both men move to interrupt her. "No. I was young. I believed what he said; of course I did. Why would I believe anything different? As I grew older, Sammah explained to me some basics of my curse, as he called it. He told me how, if I felt certain sensations when I directed my attention to a certain person, then it meant they were feeling a very particular kind of emotion. He started using me when I was very young. He would have me sit in a room with his guards—Elias was always there—and he would have a stranger there. The stranger would be asked questions, by one of Sammah's Everfell men at first, but eventually I would ask them. Sammah would ask me to detect the truth of what the man was saying."

"You can tell if people are lying?"

"In a sense, yes. There are subtle changes in a person when they lie, compared to when they tell the truth. A flaring of hope, when they try to distract me. Or a sense of cunning or deception when they think their lie is a good one. Outright lies always make me thirsty. Oh, Sammah spent a long time training me before he unleashed me on the underworld of Everfell. But I was good, he said. I rarely got things wrong." Quinn looked up at Maertn with a smile "I know now that I can still get things wrong, no matter how I think my power is changing.

“It used to be the case, that I couldn’t filter people out. Not properly. I used to feel everyone's emotion, everywhere I went. That's why I hated crowds. That's why, when I was faced with a wall of one particular emotion. hysteria, for example, or hatred, it would make me dizzy. Sometimes it was too much, and I would faint. That's why I could never go to the marketplace. Never go to the feasts. I prefer it, in a way, now. I can sit on the peripheries of everything and no one pays me any heed. Do you realise how useful that is, when you're trying to read people? So that was the way my life was. Secretly work for Sammah, finding out information from these men he would capture, and working for Ross in the castle to make my life look as normal as it could be. Then, one day, I passed out again. It was the first time I properly met you, Eden. In a way. You carried me from that yard. I remember how your heart felt. It's one of the things that drew me to you." She met the eyes of the young man from Sevenspells. "You have a kind soul, Eden. So unlike your father."

He blushed and turned away from them both. He answered Quinn quietly "You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that."

"It's true," Maertn added "and I don't need to be an empath to tell you that."

"Thank you friends. Go on, Quinn. This isn’t about me. You haven’t finished?"

"Not by a long shot. It all changed after the last time I passed out. When I woke up, I felt different. Renewed. Powerful. For the first time ever, I wasn't being bombarded by everyone. I could pick and choose who I searched out. For the first time in my life, I actually had peace."

Maertn whistled. "That was a strange day, for sure."

"How so?"

"I helped to heal you that day, Quinn. But I have absolutely no idea what I did."

Quinn frowned. "What was wrong with me?"

"You were out—like you were dead. You were cold, you weren't responding to anything. It wasn't like you were unconscious in the normal sense. Sammah, he told me to fetch a book from his rooms. I didn't look in it. He started reading from it, telling me what I needed to do. It made sense. I...I looked in to your head, and I pushed the illness away."

"Pushed? Pushed what?"

Maertn scrubbed at his forehead with the heel of his palm. "I can't explain it. Is this how you felt trying to explain what being an empath means?"

Quinn smiled. "Do you realise what you've just said?"

Eden clicked his fingers. "You're a healer!"

Maertn sneered. "You've only just figured that out? I'm going to be made a master soon. Yes, I'm a healer."

"No no, that's not what I mean. I spent some time, once, with a fighter from Sha'sek. His name was Under. He told me a lot about how Sha'sek works, its people, its politics. He didn't tell me anything about empaths—I'm not sure they know any more exist—but he did tell me about their healers. Men and women that have a sense of the body, and can heal illnesses that are inside, using their own minds. That must be what you did with Quinn."

Maertn's mouth worked like a fish out of water for a few seconds before he responded. "You mean I'm like Quinn?"

"Not exactly," Quinn answered "but I do know that you're a healer. Sammah told me."

This time Maertn did look hurt and angry. "You didn't think to tell me?"

"Of course not! Sammah threatened to hurt me if I ever told anyone about myself, or you. No one but Sammah and Sirah knew that we had gifts. Not anyone else that has a tongue, anyway. Why do you think I wanted to escape, Maertn? Your gift is a kind one. No one knows that you are different; to the rest of the kingdom, you're simply a talented healer. You don’t even look Sha’sek. There are no Sha'sek in the court to tell anyone any different, besides Sammah. And Sammah owns us."

"Until our naming days."

"Yes. Until our naming days. I think I scared him, Maertn. I don't think he was expecting me to get any more powerful before then. I think he thought he could keep me under control until my naming day, and after that time I would be sworn to him. I would have had to stay with Sammah, or forfeit my life."

"That's what the argument was in the courtyard that night? When you were trying to leave?"

Quinn nodded to Eden. "That makes sense," he said "I had wondered ever since, what that quarrel was about. I had thought at first that you two were lovers, but a few questions around the court put paid to that." Eden winked at Maertn, and Quinn rolled her eyes as she was again reminded of how she had overlooked her best friend's true feelings.

"I can't stay with Sammah. Not now I know the truth." Maertn said quietly.

"No one will have to stay with Sammah," Eden answered. "We're going to bring him to the king's justice. We just have to do it the right way. This book, Maertn. What did it look like?"

"Oh it was huge, bound in green leather. He kept it on display in his rooms. No one would dare go rifling around Sammah's belongings, and none of his mercenaries can read. Even if they could, they couldn't say anything. Maybe Sirah knew what was in it, but she's dead now."

"And likely it was Sammah that killed her. We need to get that book. I think its contents might be important for us."

"I can get it." Quinn answered. Both men looked at her with sharpened respect. She shrugged. "Sammah thinks I'm under his control. He's blackmailing me with the Satori killings and doesn't think I'll step out of line. Between me and Maertn, I'm the only one with regular unquestionable access to Sammah's quarters. It makes the most sense."

"It does, but I don't like it. I'm going to try to bring it up in conversation, if I can. I'm being invited there more and more often these days. Between you and me, my father is in Sammah's back pocket. I don't like what we're finding here at all, and I have no idea how the nobles are going to react when we point the finger. Our version of events has to be solid. Sammah is greasy. We can't let him get away with this one. Because if he does, Quinn, it's your life that will be at stake."

Quinn answered with a sour mutter. "Not that I didn't know that already."

"Right. I need time to figure out how I'm going to present this mess to the lords. We can't do it without the book. And ideally, we have to get Sammah to confess. Pretend like this never happened. I don't know how long this is going to take, but we have to hang in there."

"You still going to pretend the Satori doesn't exist?"

Eden smiled. "The Satori doesn't exist. Everyone is looking for a bloodthirsty man who ravages people's minds and slaughters them afterwards with a smile on his face. Gender aside, have you ever stood in front of a mirror and actually looked at yourself? You are never going to be that person, Quinn."