Chapter Eight

Evyne and Atlas parked the cart near the back of the inn, then we started back toward the entrance.

"Why are there no people here?" I asked, unable to contain my worry. "Back in Esterwilde, there was always someone."

Evyne's expression was unrecognizable, but Atlas gave a fake smile and said, "Esterwilde is a little busier than most towns. I'm sure it's nothing."

He opened the inn's wooden door to let us through and the faint scent of beer and smoke wafted from inside. I furrowed my brows and glanced around the interior as I walked in.

The walls were painted with a faded off-white pigment and strong wooden pillars lined and crossed the walls and along the ceiling. Several mugs and brooms hung from hooks near the corner and a stack of large wooden wine barrels sat near those. A staircase on the right side led to a second floor, where it connected to a hallway with several doors and a dim lamp.

A tall, burly man jumped up from behind a counter and I fumbled back a step, my heart skyrocketing. He immediately spotted us and started forward, and Atlas swept up to meet him.

"Hello, strangers." His bushy mustache rustled as he spoke, his eyes crinkling in a welcoming smile. "Do you wish to purchase a room, or perhaps a drink for the lovely ladies?"

Atlas cast us a backward glance, then smiled himself and told the man of our need for a place to stay. He was actually quite charismatic, I realized, as he negotiated half the original price for the room and got away with a practically stolen round of drinks.

Actually, what was the financial situation on our part? After Atlas finished with the innkeeper, I tugged on his sleeve and cleared my throat. "How are we splitting prices? I'm running on twenty sabets"—I jangled the light coin pouch against my hip—"and if given the choice between a bed and a drink, I would take the bed."

"What?" He seemed offended. "Of course I'll pay for the drink!"

My eyes narrowed. "So how much is the room, then?"

"I don't know. I haven't learned any chemistry yet, if you're wondering." He winked.

I huffed, unamused, and took the mug from the innkeeper when he offered it.

We all sat at a table near the staircase and Evyne wasted no time quietly pounding her fist down on the tabletop, muttering swearwords under her breath. "What's with the smell of this place? It's rancid!"

"Evi, it's fine," Atlas waved his hand nonchalantly to calm her, then he lowered his voice further. "Besides, there's no way we're going to get anything cheaper, so unless you want to sleep on the forest floor in the dark with the insects, this'll have to do."

Evyne scowled so deeply a vein protruded from her neck, then she continued hissing swearwords and tapping her fingers on the table incessantly.

After the first mug, Atlas insisted on another round, but I deliberately sipped slowly so he'd skip over me with refills. After finishing her second mug, though, Lefeli began to wobble in her seat, her voice going light and her smile becoming delirious, and I used her inability to hold alcohol as an excuse to stop the conversation there. No more half-headed stories about the mistakes Evyne and Atlas had made when they were younger. Such a shame we didn't get to discussing how big a mistake it was tagging along on this stupid trip.

I had Lefeli's arm wrapped around my shoulder as we made our way to the top floor, which was apparently the only place with any unoccupied rooms. I still hadn't seen anyone other than the innkeeper, but I didn't say anything about it.

Once we reached the right door, Evyne pushed it open and groaned. The only light in the room was the dim gray from the moon filtering through the window, and a single bed crouched against the wall to the left. Altogether the room was fairly minuscule, but I doubted any of us had enough money to get one with more space, so the four of us would just have to share. One bed, one window. There was also a pot in the corner, but I didn't have to see it to know it was there—the smell was enough to confirm it.

"I'll take the floor, then." Atlas cleared his throat and pulled a mat from his bag.

I glanced sideways at Lefeli, who hiccuped and chortled, then I plopped her down on the bed and motioned for Evyne to take the other side of the bed, but she shook her head in mild disgust and fluffed out a mat next to Atlas on the floor.

Well, then.

I let Lefeli settle for a moment, then I climbed in bed beside her, the stiff mattress making a heavy groan when I yanked the thin covers up over my shoulders and let out a breath, the clouds outside the window covering the moon and enveloping the small room in complete darkness.

Then from the darkness, fire erupted everywhere.

I stood at the gates of the orphanage staring at giant ribbons of bright reds and yellows, the heat radiating off the building and warming my shoulders and face.

The mother of the orphanage stood behind me, several children clinging to her dark robes. A grim settlement in her eyes told me something a twelve-year-old girl never should have had to endure. Wet streaks ran down my cheeks and the roar of the fire continued like a deafening storm even as the townspeople threw wave upon wave of water upon it.

There was death in the mother's eyes. There was death in the fire. There was death in my home.

Did I even have a home anymore?

A wandering ghost of a girl... a lost soul sending lonely cries through the darkness that surrounded her—the darkness that caged her.

I gasped awake, my hands clutching my pillow, my nails digging into my palms. My chest heaved as I collected my surroundings. No fire... no fire...

The blankets from the bed were thrown in a furious heap on the floorboards and only then did I realize Lefeli was staring at me, her eyes wide and watery.

"You kicked me," she stated.

"I... sorry," I muttered, raking a hand through my hair and throwing my feet off the bed to retrieve the blankets, but my knees began to wobble and I lost my balance, hitting the floor with a loud thunk. Someone on the mats rustled. Lefeli asked if I was okay and I nodded, picking up the blankets and placing them back on the bed.

Then a pained wail sounded through the floorboards from downstairs and my back went stiff.

It could've been anything. Someone could've just fallen off their bed or gotten a bad bruise on the corner of a table, but that uneasy feeling was back in the corner of my mind and I knew I wouldn't be getting back to sleep tonight. I snuck around the edge of the bed and snatched my knapsack from the floor, then emptied its contents onto my lap, vaguely aware of Lefeli's curious gaze over my shoulder. The book fell out and hit the floor with a thump.

I opened it to the newest sentence from this morning and studied the foreign symbols in the dark. I looked up at a Lefeli. "What did this say again?"

"She who stands still yet shall move." Her mouth puckered.

Evyne let out a loud snore and I sighed again. "She who stands still..."

Then the book began to shake under my hands and it let off a dim light, but I kept my mind straight this time and kept a firm hold on it. The page flipped on its own to a new set of empty papers, and a dot appeared on the page just like it had this morning. It glided along the page in a straight line with an almost nonexistent scratching noise and Lefeli gasped, ruffling the blankets under her, but I didn't turn to see her face.

The ink settled with a whole line of Latin words and started on a second and my eyes glued to the mechanics of the process. There was no possible explanation other than magic. No source of ink was within sight, let alone anywhere close to the book, and the scratching sound echoing softly throughout the room had no source. No source, no cause, just magic. I was in awe.

Suddenly, the ink stopped and the room went dead silent. Lefeli shuffled quietly from behind me and I gave her a questioning look. She motioned to the open book, reading aloud. "By morn the poison sets like iron. The sunset ceases travel goers."

So those were the two sentences.

"What did it say again?" Atlas sat up wearily and rubbed his eyes.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised they woke up. Evyne grumbled and kicked up to a sitting position, then gave the whole room a dead glare and looked as if she'd be sick.

Lefeli repeated the readings on the page, then we all paused when another cry similar to the one I'd heard only minutes before carried through from below us.

We were all silent for a moment, then several loud hits and thumps from downstairs shot us to our feet, but just as we did, Evyne doubled over and Atlas staggered, his hand flying up to head as if he were dizzy. Lefeli and I rushed over to catch them, but Evyne retched on the floor and crumpled further with a groan and we jumped back.

"Bloody death." She uttered several more profanities with a hoarse voice. "I never get hangovers."

Atlas stared at the floorboards unsteadily, but took a moment to clear his breath and seemed to shake some of it off. His step was hesitant, though, and surprisingly wobbly.

Lefeli agreed to stay and watch over Evyne, who merely responded with more swearing followed by a groan, and Atlas and I would go see what was going on.

By the time we reached the hallway, the heavy hitting sounds from downstairs had grown louder and several voices were shouting about something.

We raced down the steps, Atlas trailing behind slightly, his breaths exhausted but managing, and the short staircase let out to the main floor. The fireplace was roaring and the lamps were turned to light the whole room, and multiple people rushed around, seemingly panicked.

I spotted the innkeeper digging through shelves behind the bar and I pulled Atlas through the room to him.

"What's going on?" I said, slamming my hands down on the counter. "Mister Innkeeper?"

He swiveled around and fumbled with his step. His hands were shaking. "Find a doctor... find a doctor..."

"Sir, answer me!" My voice cracked.

His eyes locked on mine with a cold desperation, his jaw quivering, his knuckles white on the counter. "Everyone's been poisoned."