Hard Bound, page 7
Gaili stopped walking. “What do you mean? Did something happen?”
“I followed her to the privy but she disappeared.” Fiona tugged gently on her friend to keep moving should anyone be watching them. “I did a little digging and found a weapon and this in a secret compartment in her purse.” She produced the black card from her scarf. It was simple linen, smooth, and empty front to back. She showed it to Gaili, who didn’t recognize it, before tucking it back into her scarf. “And then when I thought that was odd enough, she came back all friendly. If I didn’t know any better I would say she was baiting me on purpose.”
Gaili pursed her lips. “What do you think it means?”
“I don’t know,” Fiona murmured, pushing back a loose curl from her head. Without her scarf-as-veil, her curls were almost wild. “She may be putting on a front, possibly. Maybe she’s looking into the theft at the Pavilion as well. She could be working for the Queen. But I don’t know. Her accent isn’t quite right.”
“Her accent?”
“If that woman is a noble from the Plateau, then I’m blasted Larrakane herself,” Fiona scoffed. “I’ve practiced for years to sound like my betters, and she matched me note for note. I’m not sure where she’s from in Rise, but noble she is certainly not. I’m not sure how she’s connected or why she was so interested in talking to us before.”
“To you,” Gaili said. “She barely acknowledged I was there both times.”
Fiona shook out her wandering mind and focused on her friend. “Sorry for not introducing you properly. I got a bit sidetracked with Stoneguard. I shouldn’t have let her go on thinking you were just my guide, but it is a good cover. And a good cover is worth quite a bit in this line of work.” Gaili shrugged, but Fiona grabbed her around the shoulder, pulling her close into a side hug. “When it’s a real introduction, I’ll do it correctly. Mistress of Mortar, Keeper of Potions, Ruler of Cakes, Gaili—” She stopped and frowned. “Gaili, what is your family name? I never asked before.”
“Gaili Pannete. My parents are bakers.”
“Do they live around here?”
She shook her head. “In the southern region. Grove.”
“Have you missed them?”
“Not as much as I thought I would. It’s a little like being at the academy honestly. I’ve been under my mentorship a while away from them. This isn’t that different.” At the mention of her mentorship with Clara, her golden face grew taut.
“Matteo seemed lovely.” Fiona changed the subject to lighten the mood. She tilted her head lightly. “Were you two ever interested in each other?”
Though the copper sky was dark and the lamplights casting shadows as much as light, Fiona saw Gaili give a rare eyeroll at her question. “Of course not. I was too busy with my studies.”
She knew all about being too busy to have a romantic life. No one she had fancied in her early twenties would deal with her desire to work as she did. So her mother had warned her often. After a few years she simply stopped daydreaming about marriage all together. “Perhaps now the timing is better? We shall have to keep in touch with him during our case.”
“Your case,” Gaili corrected, shaking her head.
Fiona tutted lightly as they walked back to the pagemark to return to Spine. “We’ll see.”
The next day brought renewed energy to Fiona, and she barely showed her displeasure at dressing for Copper again. Gaili was right that dressing the part had helped Fiona succeed a bit yesterday. Plus, if she did it without Gaili’s insistence, she could damage her own clothes without hesitation. She kept her scarf tied from her shoulder and across her chest for easier access but discreetness. Now that Dorin had recognized it, she was a bit worried others would as well.
After sleeping on the events of yesterday, Fiona decided that while she didn’t know who Stoneguard was, she did know someone who was good at getting information in short order.
“I think a quick letter with a few questions would work. Any appends on a note to the captain?”
Gaili’s eyes lit up. “Captain? Do you mean Henrietta?” Pirate, coffee smuggler, and a new connection for Fiona and Gaili, she had helped tremendously the last time they needed to know how things fared outside their purview. And although Fiona didn’t exactly condone criminal activity, it was hard not to find someone who loved coffee as much as Fiona did a bit endearing.
Fiona’s curiosity rose at Gaili’s excited tone. “Yes, I think she would be our best bet and more. She could look into some records for us. If Stoneguard is working for the Queen of Rise, then we’ll know if we can trust her or avoid her.”
“Give me five minutes and I can have a letter written to go with yours.”
Fiona raised an eyebrow but nodded. She needed to get a move on herself if they had any hope of getting to the Pavilion before it opened to the public. She could tease Gaili about her blushing later.
Two letters, black square included, and a courier visit later, they were off to the Court of Copper and the Pavilion. Jacopo, the faun guard from yesterday, was just opening the doors and greeted them with a tight-lipped smile. “Well, I suppose I fell for your shenanigans once, but I won’t fall for them again.”
Fiona’s cheeks burned. “I’m sorry to have deceived you.”
“That’s not the part that makes me mad. It’s the part where the old firecracker came and yelled at me for letting you in at all. I told her about you, miss, but she said she didn’t even see you.”
Gaili bowed her head. “Apologies. We didn’t mean to get you in a bind.”
He waved them off. “Don’t bother making up more things. And I’m not letting you in.”
“But we do have an appointment to be here this morning,” Fiona said, voice pitching and making her wince in embarrassment. “Keeper Dorin directed us.”
“Oh sure. I’m not falling for that again.”
Fiona looked at Gaili for assistance, but Gaili was staring past him toward a figure in the doorway.
Clara had come swanning out of the Pavilion, satin blush skirt swirling at her feet. She stopped and threw a velvet cloak trimmed with minute roses over her shoulders before scowling in their direction and marring her previously lovely appearance. “As I live—what are you doing back here?”
“I-I’m guiding Fiona,” Gaili said quietly.
“Fallen to a guide now, have you? What a disappointment.” She tutted, flouncing past Jacopo and dismissing them.
Gaili looked like all the wind had been sucked out of her and took a step back.
Fiona rounded on Clara, getting in her path. “Excuse me. But Gaili runs a very successful shop on Spine and is the best the artisan district has to offer.”
“Well then, they must not offer much,” Clara said, looking past her to Gaili. “If this is some attempt to get back into my good graces, Gaili, it will not.”
“It’s… I mean, I’m not trying—”
“Good,” Clara said, cutting her off. She motioned to Jacopo. “Please see that the investigator only talks to the Seven and no one else. Do not let them out of your sight. If there are any issues, report them to Cascade.”
“I can speak to whomever I like,” Fiona said, staring directly at Clara. Though she felt hot, the impractical dress of the Court not helping matters, she ignored the flush of heat. Narrowing her gaze at the abominable woman, she said, “And you will treat Gaili with more respect.”
“The girl who couldn’t follow direction if her life depended on it? Who is squandering a blessing not even earned? I think not. Teaching people like her was holding me back. I don’t need to apologize for telling her the truth of her situation. As her mentor, it’s kinder than pretending she still has a place in my world.” Clara turned and sauntered away from the Pavilion.
Fiona put her arms around Gaili, who was shaking. “You know what? This isn’t worth it. We can drop this and go home. I’m sorry, I never expected her to be so cruel.”
“She wasn’t cruel,” Gaili said as tears slipped down her face. “She’s right. She taught me everything I know and I’m terrible at following direction.”
“Absolutely not. Don’t you dare agree with her.”
“It’s not your fault. You don’t understand, Fi.”
Jacopo cleared his throat and handed Gaili a handkerchief.
She took it, dabbing her rose eyes. “Sorry for the display.”
“No need to apologize. I’ve been working here long enough to know how she is.” Jacopo rubbed his face. “Sorry I was so rough with you two earlier. That one’s negativity leaches out to everyone else. Happy to escort you around to talk to the Seven. I didn’t realize you were here because of the missing paperwork. If it helps Steward Orsa, I’m all for it.”
“Did you know her well?” said Fiona.
“Not a lot, no. But she was always sweet to me and those she worked with. She had seen a lot in her life and she could still find some optimism to show.” Jacopo looked over his shoulder and then whispered, “Unlike firecracker over there.”
Gaili snorted, very unlike herself.
It made Fiona smile. She grasped Gaili’s wrist. “What would you like to do?”
Gaili straightened her shoulders and gave a small smile. “Thank you, Jacopo, an escort would be nice.”
He nodded his head and opened the door to the Pavilion. They climbed up the stairs and followed him inside, where he shut the door and locked it quietly, keys jangling from his belt.
“Which one do you want to start with?” Jacopo said.
“Tell me a bit about them, if you will, and then I can determine from there,” Fiona said.
Jacopo tossed his head side to side, short cropped hair hiding and unhiding his horns. “Well, Dorin is the eldest, most established Keeper. Comes from Glade. He’s very nice. Remembers all the staff names and, even before he was a Seven, used to visit with the older members of the Seven and consult with them. Cascade can be…prickly, but only if you’re in the way of her achieving something she desires, I’ve noticed. Her full name is Rushing Water That Does Not Break Upon the Rocks, so take from that what you will. Sofia is a hard worker, always here late after coming in early, that sort of thing. Very nice as well.”
They crossed to the second-floor landing and Jacopo lowered his voice. “Olea is pretty quiet, a bit uncharacteristic perhaps but doesn’t bother me any. She uncovers most of the artifacts we display here. Dragomir is fairly straightforward sort of person, if a bit unemotional. Bardo is gone on a mathematical study to the Depths, so he’s not available, but he can be reached if necessary. The only thing I caution is to not mention one to the other. They fight constantly.” He shook his head. “You’d think the war never ended with those two.”
Fiona nodded her head, trying to pull apart the implications. Jacopo was being quite nice to them, and she didn’t want him to put his guard up by asking too much of him. She looked at Gaili with a raised brow.
Gaili tucked her hair behind her ear. “The centaur-fairy war. Some people just never let up.”
“Of course,” Fiona said, making a mental note to ask more about it later. “After the headache that graced us in twirling skirts this morning, why don’t we start with whoever is already here?”
He nodded and walked over to a door that had a large engraving of a grove of various trees populated with apples and pears on it. Knocking quietly, he said, “Keeper Sofia? It’s Jacopo with a couple of visitors.” He motioned Fiona and Gaili forward as something clattered loudly to a hard wooden surface.
The door opened and a tall golden black-horned faun, curled hazel tattoos on the cheekbones that connected to the corners of her eyes with the largest goggles Fiona had ever seen, stopped before colliding into her. She looked down and saw that Sofia’s eyes were magnified behind the glasses rather big and blinking rapidly.
“Oh,” she said, mouth agape, “who are you?”
“I’m Fiona Thorne and this is my partner Gaili Pannete. We’ve come to ask you a few questions about the missing paperwork,” Fiona said, stressing the word. “At Keeper Dorin’s bequest.”
“Oh,” Sofia repeated. She looked back at a wooden table in the middle of the room. Fiona’s gaze naturally followed to see large cylinders, about the size of a woman’s belt, laid out on the table along with a burning pot of oil, a goblet, and a platter of dried sunflowers. A perplexing mix. “Come in.”
“Thank you, Jacopo,” Gaili said as she and Fiona traipsed inside and their attendant returned to his post.
Sofia closed the door and stood near it still wearing the goggles. She didn’t say anything, so Fiona moved toward an empty chair and sat. “If I can ask you a few questions, we can leave you be and let you get back to your work.” She motioned to the table.
That seemed to rouse Sofia. She started to work on the contraption again. “Go ahead.”
“What did you think of Orsa?” Fiona asked first. If she could get a sense of who Sofia was, she would know which way to go about more sensitive subjects.
“She seemed nice enough. She didn’t chat with me often, per se. The other stewards have been here for a while, so I suppose I know them better. And since she wasn’t my steward, she didn’t support me or my studies.”
Gaili’s brow furrowed, and Fiona took that as a question. “Was it odd that she didn’t gravitate to you?”
“I suppose so. Fauns typically stick together, for better or worse. Of course, Clara probably had a hand in it.”
“Does she have a hand in most things?” Fiona said.
Sofia looked up, eyes blinking behind the big glasses. “Everything if you leave it up to her,” she said tersely.
It sounded no real love was lost between the fauns of the Seven then. “Were you here when the crowns were stolen?”
“I thought you said paperwork.”
“That too.”
“Dorin shouldn’t have told an outsider about the crowns.”
“He didn’t. It was easy to tell something was amiss on my tour here.”
“How?”
“I’ve a great deal of familiarity with elemental fire. I would’ve expected those crowns to give off some warmth.”
Sofia removed her goggles. “They did. Smart of you to have noticed. They gave off quite a bit of warmth when they were first removed from the chests. It started to wane, but it was still fairly strong.”
“They started fading?” Gaili said, speaking up for the first time. “I would think with the Summer Monarch’s power that would be impossible.”
“Yes, that’s what I thought too, but I suppose with the Summer Monarch gone and a new one not born yet, the power in them is more malleable.”
“What else could the crowns do?” Fiona asked.
Sofia bit her lip. “I don’t see how that information will help you find them.”
“I don’t see how it wouldn’t,” Fiona said. “If we know of any other properties, we could narrow down what they could most likely be used for, hopefully leading us to them. The guide said they had the power to enable the wearer to become the embodiment of that season, control the temperature around them, shift a sunny day longer, etc. Is that true or simply marketing?”
“The Summer Crowns could allow someone to do that naturally. Let the light linger, shift darkness, that sort of thing.”
“How long did you have to study the crowns?”
“About a day before they were stolen. Olea unveiled them from the chest she uncovered, and I won the right to study them first.”
“Is that where you got the idea for what you’re building? Can that do the same thing as the Summer Crowns?” Fiona said.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s got some of the shape of the crowns, the copper metal, although you’re using gold currently.” She’d have to have seen the crowns in person enough to be able to recreate whatever they did.
Sofia planted herself in front of her contraption, crossing her arms. “I think I’ve answered enough of your questions for the time being. My work is not for evaluation.”
She’d hit a nerve with that one. Because it was nosy of her work or because Sofia was hiding something, Fiona couldn’t quite figure out yet. “If you think of anything relevant, do let us know,” she said.
“Why don’t you talk to Cascade if you’re worried about the crowns? It’s most likely she had a hand in it. She’s the only one who seems unconcerned about their disappearance. And she’s always looking to try out something new. A theft of this caliber would be perfect for her.”
Interesting accusation. Fiona nodded politely and withdrew. It might work best to let Gaili do the talking with Sofia in the future if needed. Gaili’s gaze lingered. She clearly wanted to ask more questions, but Fiona ushered her out of the room, mouthing “Later.”
* * *
Jacopo led them farther down the echoing chamber to a door with the emblem of a large hearth etched into it. Instead of knocking as she expected, he threw open the door. Gaili gasped a little. Fiona peered around the corner, curious.
A coral-peach young woman stood in the office in the barest of silken dresses. Though colorful in its sunflower and azure threads, it was the most fashion-forward ensemble Fiona had ever seen in the Book. Her arms were bare without the added tied sleeves that were normally attached, and her golden tattoos shown prominently over them. Her inky hair was slicked back and when she turned suddenly to face the trio, a large swirl pendant around her throat swayed shaking copper liquid. It seemed to subtly glow gray across her dewy skin. Curled golden tattoos adorned her cheekbones and connected to the corners of her eyes as intricate as the other Order members. Her toes dug into the sand that covered the floor in small tan mounds as she flowed toward them. “Oh, I’ve been caught out,” she said, face bright with her hand shoved up to her elbow in a pot of some sort.
Fiona’s eyes shot up at her choice of words, and she gravitated toward the nymph. “Doing what?”
“Experimenting,” Cascade said simply. She pulled out her hand, which was being held on to tightly to by a slippery eel. It bit at her finger as she pulled it off, but she cradled it to her chest, ignoring the writhing of the creature in her hands. “You’re new.”
