A Summoning of Demons by Cate Glass

Author:Cate Glass
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

16

ONE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING

PERDITION’S BRINK

AFTERNOON

I pointed Teo to the water cask and the courtyard doorway. “This is good water from the spring down the stair on the far side of that courtyard. Make free of it and anything else here. Our rations are a bit limited, but you’re welcome to share. For now, we must move our plan forward. We’re running short of time.”

“Aye,” said Dumond. “We’ve an angry bride, a stubborn bridegroom, and a very hungry partner to see to. Without Romy, it’s been a stretch to ensure our prisoners are not in true distress—and keep watch for unwelcome visitors at the same time.”

“So Donato still won’t talk.”

“To be clear,” said Placidio. “It’s going to take at least a lightning strike to rouse him. I’ve never seen such a disciplined demeanor. Yet he does nothing with it. He doesn’t try to fight me; twice I’ve left him a clear opening.”

Dumond joined in. “Nothing moves him. Swordmaster warned Neri he’d get hauled out for a beating did he not tell us who’ll pay for him, and told Dono that neither of them would eat till Neri spoke. I went down after. Gave them each a couple of plums and told him we didn’t really want either of them dead. All I got was more Confraternity codswallop. The threats had Dono shaking, though. He’s hungry, thirsty, and scared to his boots.”

“It’s about us,” I said. “He was so confident at first, because he thought he knew what this snatch was about. But by last night, he was questioning his assumptions. Maybe he’s come to believe we really are planning to sell him off.”

Placidio looked skeptical. “I’m not sure he thinks at all. He neither pleads, argues, reasons, or attempts escape. His shackle is no stronger than Livia’s first one but remains unbroken. And last night the wind laid an opportunity in his lap. It blew the ladder into a tangle halfway down the wall. If he’d had a long branch, he might’ve hooked it down. Neri tried to persuade Donato to give him a boost … see if he could reach it … but the fool wouldn’t even try. He said it would jeopardize the ransom bargain.”

Something in Placidio’s story pricked at a memory … moonlight rising … something important …

“Is there a ransom bargain, Romy?” Dumond rummaged in the bag of apples I’d brought and quickly devoured two.

The thread of memory slipped away before I could find what was at its end.

“The ransom message was delivered anonymously,” I said, annoyed with myself. “As of this morning there were no replies.”

I told them about the sniffers, wardens, and praetorians plaguing the city, and my query about the contract witnesses.

“Between all that and having a somewhat terrifying talk about dreams with our friend here—which he will tell you about at some time—I gave some thought to our next steps. I think it’s time Nis tells Livia about her friend’s murder. Perhaps the shock will get her thinking more carefully about this marriage.

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