Necromancy In D Minor ✔️

Moonlight Canon

Octavia had only added investigative work to her repertoire since spending two years in Avaly. Her innocent disposition was more deceptive than she gave herself credit for and came in handy when Jaredeth needed to weed out defectors. To think it would come in handy on this tiny island with barely a hundred inhabitants. And at a party to boot.

The play had long passed, and the people were mingling again, standing in small groups smiling and gorging on food and wine. Sicero had left her over an hour ago to check on Marin, and she'd spent that time circling the ballroom, speaking with any villager willing to talk.

Now Octavia stood at the edge of the crowd, scanning it like a bird of prey searching the terrain for a rat to corner. She spotted an unfamiliar face moving through the crowd—a woman with dirty blonde hair in a pale yellow dress.

She flicked her gaze to the opposite end of the room to find the woman's target. A server stood in the midst of the flood, balancing a tray of water on one shoulder. And he wasn't too far from her. Now was her chance.

Octavia moved from her corner, keeping her strides long but her pace moderate. Her eyes shifted back and forth between her prey and the server and gauged the distance between the two. She kept pace and converged on the server a second after the woman.

"Excuse me," they said in unison.

The woman's eyes widened, a hand flying to her chest. She angled her body away and Her gaze darted around the room.

Octavia grimaced. The first person to act the least bit strange, of course, had to be a stranger. She took two glasses from the server and offered one to the woman with a smile. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." The woman took the water with a shaking hand.

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Octavia the—"

"Music teacher. I know who you are." She took a dainty sip of her water. "I'm Pauletta. My husband and I own the flower shop on the main street."

Octavia opened her mouth, closed it again. She remembered Eli mentioning her in passing. "You're Arietta's mother."

"I am. Which reminds me, I should go check on her. And I'm sure you'd like to return to the high priest."

Octavia pursed her lips, not sure if that was meant to be a jab. This was the third person to bring up her 'relationship' with Sicero. Here she was trying to end a scourge and everyone wanted to comment on her personal life.

Someone at Octavia's back cleared their throat. "Excuse me, Pauletta. May I borrow Octavia for a moment?" Sicero stood alongside her, his hand brushing against hers.

Pauletta nodded. "Of course." And she turned and disappeared into the sea of people like a ghost ship.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Sicero said. Something dark lurked in the depth of his eyes, something she couldn't quite read. Uncertainty? "Would you like to get out of this crowd for a moment? There's something I've been meaning to show you."

"I..." She looked across the room to where Claud was speaking Winslet. Perhaps she could slip away for just a moment. "Sure."

Sicero took her hand and led her past the steps and out of the ballroom. The quiet passages of the Cathedral lied beyond, lit by flickering torchlight from the sconces. Their footfalls echoed and their shadows danced as they ventured into the belly of the building. They stopped in front of a set of high wooden doors near the north wing and Sicero pushed them open.

What greeted her on the other side was a room filled with art. Paintings and tapestries covered the South wall, some people, some scenery. Octavia stepped front of a painting of the Divine City, birthplace of the priesthood.