The Weaver's Source

Chapter 73

The myling only stared. I wondered if he understood me. He knew his name at least. Why was the boy here? Eila never asked for the Lord Master to take him and it sounded like she lived further to the south from her description of lake and fields. It didn't sound like this frozen and barren mining city or its surroundings at all. So how did the boy end up here and why did he die? Did the Lord Master kill him?

My questions ground to a sudden halt when Daryl hissed and melted away and the doors open suddenly.

I sat there, frozen with the letters in my hands, my heart thudding madly in my chest, as the Lord Master Anastas stared down at me in surprise. He was covered in soot and snow and his face was red from cold. Very slowly, his face grew hard and his mouth thinned as fury flickered. I remained still and pale in a puddle of his important letters, like a rabbit spotted by a wolf, praying he wouldn't kill me. The insult that bubbled in the Lord Master's cold icy eyes as he scowled down at me didn't give me much hope.

"How did you get in here?" The Lord Master demanded in that cold tone of his and wiped some of the soot from his red face.

I saw Filip behind him, glancing at the back of his father's head warily, before he turned and hurried off down the hall, leaving me alone with the glowing Lord Master. I opened my mouth to defend myself, not quite sure how I would but was cut off sharply.

"You may be working with the Weaver I have hired but that gives you no right to snoop around in my room." He snarled, his eyes flickering from my startled expression to the letters. "I'll repeat myself only once more. How did you get in here?"

I wasn't sure what to say. If I said I filched the key he would demand it from me and quickly find out either I didn't have it. I couldn't tell him the truth either. I wasn't meant to be breathing a word about the myling, especially to the Lord Master himself, and Ana didn't want to be mentioned.

He quickly grew impatient though as my mind fumbled for something to say. "Answer me!" He roared. "Why are you in here, reading those letters?"

I felt my face pale as I failed to scrabble for some kind of answer that wouldn't sound like an outright lie nor doom Grigore's hunt. I couldn't though. So I fell silent and hung my head to stare at the horribly scrawled letters.

Anastas didn't like my guilty silence.

"If you do not answer me or if you lie, I'll lock you away until the Weaver deals with this skin walker. I will not have you roaming around thieving from me."

"Thieving?" I stammered in disgust.

"Well, what else are you doing other than thieving? Unless I am suspected as being the skin-walked and rummaging through those letters will somehow prove it. Or are you some kind of spy for another mining Lord?" His eyes narrowed and glowed with distrust and ire.

I felt my throat tighten painfully. I didn't know what to do or say. The Lord Master continued to look down at me with spite, waiting for some kind of bleated answer from me. But his eyes made me doubt he would believe anything that would leave my mouth. He was already condemning me and trying to figure out what to do.

But my fear faltered when my magic stirred. It sang and purred in my chest just as my ears picked up the hurried footsteps. I knew the Lord Master heard them too. He had turned, his face still as dark as a storm as Filip reappeared, showing no reaction to his father's obvious rage, but it was Grigore I found myself focused on. I wondered how he was going to react to the mess I had created and how he was going to deal with the Lord Master.

I glanced at the floor instantly when Grigore's gaze lingered on my face. I felt shame filling me and sadness for having failed him.

"Weaver, please explain to me why your companion is in my room?" The Lord Master demanded, waving away Filip's words before they even left his mouth. "I hope you have much more to say than she does."