Crescent (Old Version)

+ Part 42 +

"Do you know about what's happening on the border? The sickness the servants whisper about..."

The witch went quiet, and I dug into my back for more food as I waited for her answer. If she knew anything at all. "I know that there is a great force gathering in Vervale- what some might call 'the great sickness.' It has been gathering some ____ years that the High Lord has ruled."

"Is he the cause of it?" I pressed, holding out a single wedge of an apple I'd prepared. The wedge disappeared. She ate more slowly now, and I contemplated pressing her further for time.

"Some would say that it was fate that caused it- like all things. It was fate that aligned the stars, created the cosmos."

"Yes," I said, my tone sharp. "But for those of us that don't believe in it..."

Another minute of silence passed, and I dug into my bag again, extending more food. "If I have any more, he'll know- and likely kill me for it."

I winced, my suspicions confirmed. Ceth starved her, kept her weak. Giving her only enough to keep her alive. But, I couldn't just leave empty-handed. I blurted the first thing that came to mind. "How about a different game?"

A moment lulled by. "Go on then."

"They've told me you once used to live in the woods beyond the castle. I propose a game of recall. We take turns describing places we would both know... and if the other guesses correctly, then they get to ask a question."

"What, exactly, would be in it for me?"

"An escape. From this room." Her laugh filled the space around us, a cold but hearty thing, and I knew my game would likely mean nothing to her. I couldn't let her go. If I did, Ceth would kill us both just for going behind his back. Yet I continued anyway. "It is the only one I can offer you."

It wouldn't be enough. "I'll play, Perdita. But, I wish to start." I nodded, knowing she'd sense the movement. "I'm thinking of a place that's blue," she said finally. "And vast like the sea. Its home to many a creature, like you and I. And yet, when inside it, it doesn't seem so big at all."

My mind reeled as I considered just what she might be talking about. I could only think of so many places I'd been. I knew we were probably limited to Vervale, since the human realms were the only other place I'd known. But... blue... and vast.

"Close your eyes and picture it."

I should have known better than to play a game of riddles. I closed my eyes and considered, drifted through all the things, people, places I'd seen since I'd been here. I thought of the gray castle walls and the white of the birch trees and snow outside. I thought of the red of blood and the brown of Moira's eyes. Or the green of evergreen trees or even the color of Ceth's eyes... but blue...

The only blue I knew was of the cold. It was in the cold hand that brushed down my back when I shifted. In the cold days spent training in the snow. In the fear I'd felt when I first changed. All of those things only had one thing in common.

"It's the forest," I said, and I nearly regretted saying it. But, I was glad when I heard her voice again.

"Ask your question, pretty."

My first thought was to ask about Jackaby, about the tower, but she'd already revealed in her own convoluted way that she didn't know about the sickness.

Whatever it was. However Jackaby was connected.

So, I thought of all of the different things I had still yet to investigate. "There is a bookcase in Ceth's private library. Inside are books on the gala, on our history. But, it's locked. How do I get inside?"