Thread of Ash and Fire

Ch. 45: Nothing to Forgive

"Possessed?" Penny asked.

She was staring at Camille as if she'd announced that she was planning to go on tour with a band of lute-playing acrobats. Camille hobbled into the room, her walking stick echoing off the marble tiles. She'd always known that the Chamber of Justice was big — a cavernous, circular space that always smelled of orange incense — but she'd never appreciated exactly how big it was.

Until now.

"Not exactly," Camille said, rubbing at her aching side. "But very close to it." She forced herself to take another step. "Have any of you looked at his hand?"

Anna raised an eyebrow. "Which one?"

Camille blinked. "Have you looked at either?"

"No." She shrugged. "I just thought I'd ask."

Anna sat on the floor, pulling a map towards her. She looked terrible, Camille observed; her skin was pale, and her eye sockets stood out like bruised plums. Not that she was in any position to judge. Camille was willing to acknowledge that she looked like she'd recently crawled out of a grave herself.

"He has a scar," Camille explained, touching her palm. "Just here. It has a distinct bluish tinge that marks it as faerie magic. Those scars are typically used to bond two people together in pact."

Grayson stared. "How do you know that?"

"I read about it," Camille said, and she was about to launch into a long-winded explanation before she remembered that most people didn't care about books or what she read, which never ceased to amaze her.

Penny blinked. "So you're saying that Isaac is magically... enslaved?"

"Something like that," Camille allowed. "At least until the bargain is fulfilled."

Grayson frowned. "Why would he do that?"

"He must have really needed a favour," Anna muttered.

"I knew it," Penny said triumphantly. "I knew he wouldn't betray us." She slumped back in her chair. "He must feel terrible about the whole thing. Poor Isaac."

"Idiocy," Ryne said, his voice clipped, "is a worse crime than betrayal." He picked up another sheet of parchment. "At least if you betray somebody, there's some thought behind it."

Penny looked stricken. "Ryne."

"What?"

She shook her head. "You can't mean that."

"Don't I?" Ryne murmured.

He raised an eyebrow. Penny set down her quill. She was looking at Camille intently, her eyes like wet emeralds. "Wait. There's more." She tilted her head. "You're nervous about something."

Ah.

Camille swallowed. She supposed it couldn't wait any longer.

"Here." Camille extended a letter. "It was addressed to you. But I..."

"Read it," Penny finished dryly.

She hadn't meant to. Camille had been going to see Isaac when a messenger intercepted her, and she'd read the letter only to identify how urgent it was. Not, Camille thought, that she was about to volunteer that.

"Some of it caught my eye," Camille said instead. "But Penny..." She trailed off. There was no way to couch this. None. "Well. You'll see."

Penny ripped open the wax seal, her brow furrowing. "It's from Isolde."