Lindon had assumed Malice was watching, but he hadn’t thought the Monarch would show anything to Mercy. He wondered why that was, but he had to put it delicately in case he was still under her eye. “Pardon, but do you know whether I passed her test?”
Mercy’s response was much more dry than usual. “Who knows? I really am sorry for that. But…” She hesitated. “Why did you—I mean, why are you…”
Mercy interrupted herself with a shake of her head. “Why don’t I show you my office? It’s at the top of the tower over there. I have an area of the sky cleared so I can come and go when I need to.”
“Lead the way,” Lindon said. That helped him. He needed a private place to talk where he could potentially avoid Malice’s attention, and it would look too strange if he went back to the hangar and sat aboard Windfall.
The tower to which Mercy led him reminded him of the towers the Uncrowned King competitors had used in Ninecloud City. It was far from the tallest building in Moongrave, but the spire stood out among its neighbors, and Mercy flew him up to a balcony on the top floor.
Guards on every level, including those hovering over the tower itself, saluted her as she flew up. She didn’t seem to notice.
They arrived in a space that was comfortable but surprisingly cramped. A desk sat against one wall with bookshelves behind it, as well as a tall window looking out over the city. Documents were piled neatly on the surface of the desk, and he could sense the presence of dream tablets in several drawers and boxes.
Mercy shifted nervously as she gave him the very brief tour, describing her usual daily routine. Her madra-gloved hands closed and opened on her staff, and she put more energy into her descriptions than usual.
She was nervous, and Lindon thought he knew why. He expanded his Hollow Domain, which made her pause mid-sentence. Then he tightened his will and made another command.
“Silence.”
It was a strange application of his authority, but he suspected it would work. In combination with his technique, he made the entire office feel like an empty space. A void.
As long as this Domain stayed up, Malice wouldn’t be able to scan them. At least, not without collapsing his boundary field first. Which she could easily do, but not quietly.
Mercy shot him a questioning look, and Lindon realized that his one word could sound like he had been telling her to shut up. “Apologies! I should have warned you, but I’ve made it so your mother can’t hear us.”
Rather than looking relieved, Mercy tightened her grip on the staff. She looked him square in the eyes, then glanced away almost immediately, then returned to him again.
“What are we talking about?” she asked carefully.
Not only did Lindon have to be careful about his oath, but he wondered what Malice had told her. Maybe…maybe Mercy already knew the connection between the Monarchs and the Dreadgods, and she had been silenced just like him.
“Your mother swore me not to speak of certain matters,” he said, and he already felt the oath tightening his throat. “Has she…told you why?”
Mercy’s brow furrowed. “About Eithan?”
Lindon let out a breath. In a way, he was relieved that she didn’t know. Though if she had, it would have made this easier.
“Apologies, but I can’t say any more than that. If she hasn’t told you…” He had to let it hang there. He had thought too hard about dropping her a hint.
Instead, he moved on to his main proposal.
“How do you feel about robbing your mother?” Lindon asked.
Mercy’s purple eyes grew wide.
8
The inside of Redmoon Hall’s cloudship base looked like what Yerin had always pictured of their headquarters. It was a tall, dark space with tanks of blood hanging from the ceiling. The blood was brighter than natural, and radiated much more aura than it should have, so she assumed it came from some blood-aspect sacred beast.
In her soulspace, Little Blue trembled. The Riverseed was wrapped around the clam-shaped dream construct, hugging it to her chest, and the two together filled Yerin’s soulspace with only a little room left over for a hunger spear. Yerin had been surprised to learn that Blue took up so much space. It meant that she had almost as much spiritual weight as an Archlord weapon.
Yerin tried to radiate comfort to Little Blue, but she didn’t have the same connection to the Riverseed that Lindon did. And Yerin’s own stomach was twisting.
From a throne at the end of the hall, the Herald Redmoon looked down on them. At Yerin’s side was the Sage of Red Faith.