Page 155 of A Drop of Corruption

I slipped inside. I heard the attendant say behind me, “No.No!No more!” followed by a string of swears in Pithian.

—

I walked toAna’s cradle, as I had for the past mornings, but this time I found it empty and neatly made up. When I stopped a medikker to ask what had happened, he seemed confused.

“Why, she asked to be taken away!” he told me. “She practically forced one of our attendants to do so, saying she had something to witness this morning. She did say you would know someone who could find her. Especially, ah—well, since she refused to partake in our final bathing, she said…”

I gritted my teeth, thanked him, and went back out to find Malo now in a full-throated argument with the attendant regarding her right to spit outdoors where she pleased. I took Malo by the arm as she was midsentence and pulled her away. “Come,” I said. “Let’s go.”

“What!” said Malo, outraged. “Get your damn hands off me! I need to work up enough spittle to color this prude’s eye!”

“Ana has left,” I said, “and she apparently intends for you to track her. Can you catch her scent?”

“Eh? I mean…certainly, I can, if you give me a moment. What game is this she plays? I want to see the goddamn boat come in!”

“I’ve no idea,” I said. “But let’s find her first.”

—

It took Malono time to find Ana’s scent—“The woman smells like an Old Town beach at low tide,” she muttered—and we followedher trail west up a short set of cliffs overlooking Yarrowdale. Finally we came to a rocky outcropping, where a very nervous-looking medikker attendant was pacing back and forth. As I made the last step, I heard Ana’s voice: “Ah! I believe we have been found. You are dismissed, sir! I appreciate your accompanying me on this lovely jaunt!”

“Praise Sanctum!” sighed the attendant, and he scrambled back down to the city.

I took in the scene. Ana sat beneath a short, crooked tree, dressed in her old black dress, her eyes bound. She faced out to sea with her head cocked and mouth slightly open, as if she was listening very hard and trying to catch a melody we could not hear.

“Ma’am,” I said as I stepped over to her. “This…this all seemsextremelyunwise.”

“Oh?” she said. “How so, Din?”

“Half the reason you were put in the medikker’s bay was due to exhaustion, yes? And didn’t that exhaustion come from too much exposure to too many environs?”

“That, and other things,” she said. “But I did my math upon awakening and guessed that the hydricyst would be in today! Is that not so? I did not wish to miss it.”

“A good point,” said Malo. “And thisisa fine place to watch.”

“Ah!” said Ana, grinning. “Good morning, Signum Malo! How fares the noble kingdom of Yarrow?”

“Noble? Feh.” Malo spat. “It has not been noble in living memory. But whatever it is now, it is all falling to piss and rubble.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. First there was only one king, old and stupid. Now there are dozens, young and even stupider, all trying to kill each other. I pray they each succeed and empty the land of royalty.”

“A very old story,” Ana sniffed, “with a very predictable outcome. Thank you for helping Din find me! Yet I wish to ask, Malo—could you leave us for a moment? I have something that I wish to discuss with him.”

Malo shrugged. “I shall go to the cliffs above you. The view is better up there, anyway.”

I peered up the cliffs. “There’s a great deal of seabird nests up there. They won’t be pleased.”

“I’ll not let a bunch of fucking birds stop me,” said Malo indignantly, and she scurried up the cliffs with the grace and speed of a mountain goat.

Ana patted the ground beside her. I sat, glancing at her sidelong. She seemed the Ana I’d always known: skinny, sharp, grinning, with her bone-white hair tied up in a messy bun. I wondered what to say and could think of nothing.

She broke the silence first: “Have you gotten my post while I rested, Din? What have I missed?”

“Mostly letters from various officials pleading for you to tell them what has happened here, ma’am. Others seem totally ignorant and ask you for advice on various matters.”

“Dull,” she proclaimed. “I shall deal with them in due time. What else?”