‘Khalid, Talon, and the other silversaints had set off at dawn, marching northwest to the song of silver horns. Golden banners billowed in the twice-biting winds, men and wagons and horses charging to Avinbourg’s defence and the murder of the Forever King. Greyhand and my fellow initiates had set out soon after, a thousand soldiers behind, heading towards the gambit at Charinfel. I’d watched it all from Heaven’s Bridge, columns of men streaming like ants across the chill grey snow. And when they were out of sight, I’d spat over the drop into the waiting Mère, cursing beneath my breath.
‘Four days, I skulked about the monastery like a ghost. Aflame with the injustice. Aaron and Baptiste were locked beneath the Cathedral until Khalid returned, and I tried to visit. But Keeper Logan barred the way, informing me that Seraph Talon had forbidden anyone should see “them bastard boylovers”。 Prioress Charlotte held the key to their silver-shod cells, and she visited only to feed them, and give Aaron his nightly sacrament.
‘I attended mass every eve in an almost-empty Cathedral, avoiding Astrid’s eyes. I wasn’t ashamed of what we’d done. I dreamed of it nightly. But I was ashamed at the punishment I’d been meted, and boychild that I was, I feared I’d be the lesser in her eyes – to have been left behind while my Brothers fought to decide the fate of the empire.
‘I tried filling daylight hours in the Library, but the map upon the floor was a constant reminder of the battle to come, and besides, Archivist Adamo was a horrid bastard to be around. He was the kind of librarian who believed the best libraries were ones bereft of people. The sight of orderly shelves was a joy to him. Someone dog-earing a page was a fucking nightmare. It’s a strange truth, but some folk enjoy the notion of owning books more than reading them, and I soon tired of him glowering at my back.
‘So in the end, I spent most days praying in the Cathedral, asking God and Mothermaid to grant me humility. Patience. Serenity. I found none of it, no matter how hard I begged. I filled the rest of my time in Barracks, staring at that scrap of parchment we’d stolen in Coste. Looking at the map of the Forever King’s invasion, I could feel wheels spinning, the machinations of minds centuries deep behind them.
‘Had Laure Voss meant for us to find this map?
‘Had we been hunting her, or had she been baiting us?
‘All Shall Kneel.
‘Despite my prayers, I burned with fury at it all. And finally, I hurled the parchment to the floor, spitting every curse I could conjure. I felt like stabbing someone so something else could bleed. After all my trials, I’d been left in the rear like a disobedient child, and a part of me supposed that’s exactly what I’d been. But I’d not disobeyed my master purely out of pride. I’d saved Véronique de Coste’s life. I’d saved his life for godsake, Aaron and Talon besides.
‘But where had it got me? Despite all Greyhand had warned me about, I did want to prove myself. I did want glory. And to be denied it because I’d refused to consign an innocent girl to her coffin filled me with rage. In the end, it got the better of me. And with nothing else to loose it upon, I loosed it on the things about me.
‘Like a fucking child.
‘I smashed my cot to splinters. Hurled my war chest like an unwanted toy. And finally, I turned to the wall and punched it. Again. Again. Feeling my knuckles rip and skin pulp, the pain of my bones grinding on stone overwhelming the hurt of the notion that perhaps this was my fault. I was born of sin, after all. And I’d indulged more than my fair share, God knew. Perhaps he was punishing me at last.
‘I fell to my knees, gasping and spent. The wall was dented and cracked, my knuckles shredded. I held up my hands, watching blood running red and thick down my fingers, spattering on the floor, on that cursed scrap of crumpled parchment that had cost me so much. And squinting through my shameful tears, at last, I saw it.’
‘… The blood,’ Jean-Fran?ois realized.
Gabriel nodded. ‘Oui.’
‘… It was moving.’
‘Of course it was,’ Gabriel sighed. ‘By some dark chymistrie, my blood took on a will of its own, sinking into the parchment and exposing the message hidden upon it.’
‘The sin of pride, de León.’ The historian smiled. ‘Ever it served you well.’
‘Or the devil loves his own, vampire.’ Gabriel shrugged. ‘Either way, I picked up the parchment with shaking hands. And on the flip side of Voss’s map, just as I’d seen in the Library’s forbidden section with Astrid and Chloe, the blood formed itself into words.
‘In justice and hope, no hope there be,
‘In mercy and bliss, no bliss for thee,
‘In death and truth, no truth I see,
‘Through blood and fire, now dance with me.
‘I stared down at those words as if to burn a hole in them, my mind all atumble. This was a secret message from Laure Voss, meant for the eyes of the Forever King himself.
‘But what did it mean?
‘I was already waiting in the Great Library that night as Astrid and Chloe stole inside, careful as cats. I stepped from the shadows before the door was even closed behind them, that scrap of parchment in hand, the writing now faded to naught.
‘“This is it,” I said.
‘The pair both startled as I spoke, Chloe fumbling with her wheellock, Astrid’s hand pressed to her breast. “Oh, you cunting bastard, Gabriel …”
‘“This is the answer. Look.” The girls watched, wincing as I sank my teeth into my thumb hard enough to break the skin. And dropping the blood onto the parchment, I held it up in the dim light so the sisternovices might see that riddle take shape once more.
‘“A hidden message for the Forever King from his daughter,” I said.
‘“Great Redeemer …” Chloe whispered.
‘Astrid took the parchment from my hand, eyebrow rising higher. “Not much of a poet, is she? A few centuries to practise, you think the bitch wou—”
‘“Azzie …” Chloe sighed.
‘“Apologies. I need a smoke.”
‘“What does it mean?” Chloe asked.
‘“That’s the problem, Sisternovice,” I said. “I’ve no idea.”
‘I paced into the Library, Chloe trailing behind, Astrid standing in a puddle of dimmest moonslight and squinting at the writing. “I’ve been pondering it all day,” I said. “And I think Greyhand was right. These bastards know their prey. They’re playing us for fools.”
‘“So it was all a ploy?” Chloe asked. “Laure Voss left a trail along the Godsend wide enough to follow, just in the hopes you’d catch her?”
‘“These creatures have been hidden in the shadows for centuries. So I think Laure was trekking the Godsend at purpose. Scouting garrisons, taking the measure of the forces the Emperor could muster. The fact Fabién Voss set his beloved daughter to the task shows how important it was to him. Laure was her father’s eyes in the Nordlund.”
‘“But this riddle speaks of something deeper than the plan you found,” Chloe said.
‘“I know. Else why hide it? But Laure said she knew we were stalking her. And she sent a dozen ravens to her father, presumably carrying a dozen copies of this message. I think she was anticipating we’d intercept at least one of them. I think she left the map for us to find, and hid the true message for her father in the blood.”