Page 101 of A Trade of Blood

“I need only the basics, sir,” she said, grinning. “Landscapes. Entry points. Surrounding creeks! All that dull shit, you see.”

Grumbling, Tauri walked to one of the Orbiis carriages stationed in the gravel path and returned with a large, blank sheet of parchment. Then he sat next to Ana, and with quick, precise strokes of his ashpen, he re-created a map of the altered forest in but a handful of seconds, complete with a little scale in the bottom right to denote how a smallspan translated into leagues.

“There,” he said. “I have most of it, I think.”

Ana snatched it up and began to follow the lines of his ashpen with her fingers. “Remarkably precise!” she said. “Or so I assume. I myself have never actually seen any of it, of course. Where did Jalin enter?”

Tauri pointed to one spot that lay close to the Burav lands. “There. The trackers are quite sure of it. They catch the scents of the healing bath most keenly.”

“Good.” Ana pointed at me with a finger. “Din—how many books are in here with us?”

I rapidly counted my memories, my eyes shimmering. “A hundred and seven, ma’am.”

“Good. How many of those are real thickies?”

“I am unsure what size a book must be to qualify as areal thickie,ma’am. But sixteen of them are pretty hefty, to my eye.”

She raised her blindfolded head and appeared to do some quick math. “Give me until dawn,” she said. “I think I can determine where Jalin was going by then.”

Tauri pushed a veil of gold hair behind one ear and studied her with a wary eye. “Truly?”

“Yes. Probably. Maybe! I can at least give you an idea ofwhichshrines and locations Burav researched most. One of those, surely, is the site of his fascination—and thus the location where Jalin Burav might be now.”

“Uhh—and then what, ma’am?” said Seriv. “You’re going to send the Orbiis charging in after him?”

“I had assumed so!” she said with a sniff. “Them, and Din. He’s already been in the damned forest, after all.”

My face tightened to hear this duty so fecklessly assigned to me, but I kept my mouth shut.

“But it’s not so simple as that,” said Tauri. “Not if we don’t even know where we’re going. I mean—do we even know how deep we shall venture?”

“I don’t, sir!” said Ana. “Haveyougone exploring in the wood much?”

“The wood is no child’s garden for us to idly wander.”

“Then I can’t say!” said Ana. “We now trouble ourselves with unspeakable things. Both because we fear them, and because we do not know them—because the Khanum did notwantus to. They destroyed all knowledge of what lies in those trees centuries ago. But from Burav’s own fascination with Master Gaddar, and the sheer breadth of materials here…yes, I think you shall be going quite deep! To the very heart of the Daljen dynasty, perhaps. And what you find there, I cannot imagine.” She licked a finger and turned yet another page. “But give me a little fucking time toread,and maybe I can tell you.”

Chapter 26

It was a tense rideback to Lacanthim. I left four custodi officers stationed outside the vault with strict orders not to let anyone approach—after Jalin’s escape, I was not about to let another slipup occur—but Tauri had insisted we return early. “If you are to go with us after Jalin, Kol,” he said, “you’ll need your rest. Stimulatives and mood grafts are unwise in such a place.”

“Why?” I asked warily. “Do they not work?”

“Oh, somewhat. But with all the trees shivering about you, and the statues emerging from the leaves—well, I frankly find myself feeling stark fucking mad even without a drop of anything touching my tongue.”

I considered that. “Is it dangerous in the wood?”

“Itshouldn’tbe. The main threat is the wood itself. It is rare, but there have been occasions when Orbiis officers have wandered off the seams and never returned. Yet no fear! I shall keep a firm hand on you.” He smiled weakly as we pulled up to our tavern. Then a look of anxiety stole over him. “I think I…spoke out of turn today, Kol.”

“Pardon, sir?”

“About the gentry, and the cattle here. I suppose I sounded as mad to you as Jalin did to his family. I should apologize.”

I thought about it. “No, sir,” I said.

“No?”

“You did not sound mad. I am much used to the weariness that our labors can put upon us. It can…curdle the spirit, in a way.”