Page 52 of Last Rites

He waved away my question. “Oh, I took care of it. You’ve been so busy, and I didn’t want to pull you away from your very necessary work. I’m sure you approve of my choices.” He turned to look out over the room where the Sentinels were speaking to each knot of workers in turn. “Violette was an obvious candidate, and I think Fletcher will do well here.”

My eyes went to the man I didn’t know. He was young, maybe around Penny’s age, and held himself with a haughty air. Shoulders back, head tilted up so he could look down on even those who were taller than him, and eyes hooded. He reminded me enough of Merrick that I had to wonder if the elder Oliver brother had taken this man as a protege like my father had taken him.

I knew the name, though: he was the one Levitt tasked with cataloging my father’s journals for the library. The one who had instead handed them over to Merrick. Seems he’d bought his position with that loyalty.

When I didn’t respond, Merrick gestured toward the tunnel entrance. With the clatter of a dropped hunk of stone, I finally noticed the people standing at intervals down the steps and disappearing into the dark, ferrying rocks from one hand to the next.

“We’ve had a cave-in overnight,” Merrick said. “Not unusual, but poor timing given how close we are to completing the Vessel. Unfortunately, that means we won’t be able to access the caverns for a day or two. Best not to go over the wall and reveal its location to the masses before the proper time.”

There wasn’t so much as a hint of suspicion in his words, and the tense muscles in my neck uncoiled. Penny and I had both worried about my return to the scene of our destruction. It seemed that concern had been unwarranted.

“Well then, we need all the help we can get to clear the blockage.” I nodded toward the line or workers shifting rocks. “What can I do?”

Merrick scoffed. “You can go home. We have it well in hand, and it wouldn’t do for you to get injured and be unable to do your job when we reopen the passage.” A grin not unlike the one Violette had given me crossed his face. “Besides, you should spend some time with Penwell while you can. He’ll start his new job at the lumber mill in the morning.”

My lip curled in distaste. Penny was sure that Merrick would find a way to punish him in whatever new job he assigned, and I had hoped he would be wrong. There were other more innocuous positions he could have been given, the most obvious being to assist Rosie with the bakery. Instead, he’d fill Anders’s vacancy, even farther from me and amongst people who might miss the vile lumberman.

“Was there no other job he could have been assigned?”

“What, you don’t think he can hold his own with an axe? Surely you haven’t spoiled my half-brother too much for him to manage that.”

I couldn’t very well argue that without giving away Penny’s lingering breathing issues. Exertion made him wheeze and cough, even still, and I could only imagine how hard it would be to keep up with the punishing labor required in the mill.

“Also,” Merrick continued, “with Anders gone and Cedric having taken over the smithy, we had openings.”

I swallowed down any further protestations and nodded. “I’m sure he’ll do fine there.”

The Right Hand inclined his head toward the door on the far wall with a dismissive, “Well, then off you go.”

I was more than happy for a day off. My strides were quick, eager to get home and crawl back into bed with Penny to sleep the day away.

But before I was halfway across the atrium, hurried steps behind me alerted me that I was being followed. I didn’t glance over until fingers closed around my sleeve and tugged to get my attention. Philippa, a bit breathless from her rush to catch up, looked up at me with a wide smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle.

“Good morning, Kit.”

“Good morning.”

She tucked her hand into the crook of my elbow when I held out my arm, and fell into step beside me.

“I may have overheard a bit of your conversation with the Right Hand in there,” she admitted.

We skirted around the altar and the front table, and she tucked closer when we stepped into the hall toward the doors. Only once we were farther from the ears of the two seated at the table did she continue.

“Since we have the day off and Penny isn’t working either, I wondered if I might convince the two of you to have lunch with me. It’s early yet, but that’ll give us time to talk before we eat.”

I thought longingly of my plans to go home and go back to bed, but after my conversation with Philippa a few days prior, I was too curious about her true loyalties to let an opportunity like this pass. We could only be so open and honest in the caverns, surrounded by too many people who were too loyal to the cult to ignore seditious talk. With just the three of us, I might finally get some clarity on who Philippa really was.

“I think Penny would like that,” I said, holding the exterior door open for her.

Fat drops of cool rain pocked our clothes with moisture as we stepped outside, but the day was warm enough that it felt nice.

The sprinkle remained constant as we crossed town to the house to fetch Penny. Philippa lingered on the front step when I pushed inside to find my intended only just venturing out of the kitchen after cleaning up from breakfast.

His brows were pinched and his mouth twisted in irritation. The moment his eyes landed on me, he sucked in a sharp breath.

“The lumber mill,” he seethed through gritted teeth. “He put me in the lumber mill. Couldn’t even tell me himself, he had to send one of his stupid messengers.”

We met in the middle of the living area, where his irritation gave way to a pout as I tucked an errant strand of hair behind his ear.