by Brian Farrey
Of course, we didn’t know what it looked like, so who really knew if it had been found? I suspected it was well hidden. And with Kolo gone, we might never know what it looked like. Or what it did.
The Dowager added, “My brother has given the Palatinate free rein to take whatever measures are necessary to recover it.”
Whatever measures are necessary. I’d never cared much about the Palatinate before, one way or the other. Given everything I’d learned in the past few weeks, the idea of them being given that much power by the High Laird worried me.
I took her hand and helped her into the carriage. As we got under way, I pulled Tree Bag from under my seat. The Dowager’s eyes lit up. I divided the papers between us and we started going through them, making notes and sharing ideas for how we’d continue the work.
“I don’t condone what Kolo tried to do,” the Dowager said sadly, “but I will say that he was brilliant.” Then she turned and glanced out the window of the carriage. “You were thinking about it. Weren’t you?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Quitting as my apprentice to study with Kolo.” Although she watched the passing landscape, I could see her studying me out of the corner of her eye. Somehow, she knew. One of these days I’d learn that she was always one step ahead of me.
I fumbled, trying to find just the right lie that wouldn’t hurt her feelings. But the Dowager didn’t deserve lies, not after everything she’d done for me. Instead, I just hung my head.
“I saw the way you paged through the notes for Kolo’s new book,” she said, smiling slyly. “You looked so happy and excited. Like when we first started working together. I don’t blame you. The chance to work with a botanist as amazing as Kolo would be too good to pass up.”
“I guess,” I said slowly, “the apprenticeship wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be.”
“No one said being an apprentice was easy. In fact, I recall telling you it would be hard work. You can’t give up the first time things get difficult. And I think you’ll agree that while other opportunities may appear inviting on the surface, it’s not so simple to see what lies beneath.”
I nodded. The par-Goblins had a similar expression: Aeris vul heshla noressa laneer. It meant “Scratch the gold to find the tarnish.” And that meant you had to dig deep to find true worth. From the first day of my apprenticeship, the Dowager had always been honest with me. And even though studying with Kolo may have seemed like a better situation, I knew now that I couldn’t trust him. I hate that it took almost giving up a good thing with the Dowager to realize that.
The Dowager folded her hands in her lap and spoke softly. “I’ll make you a deal. In a few months, you’ll have been my apprentice for a year. If, after a full year, you don’t want to continue, I’ll do my best to help you choose another vocation and find a new mentor. But I hope we continue working together. I think we still have a lot to teach each other.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Me? Teach you?”
“All teachers learn from their pupils,” she said. “Sometimes, in ways that aren’t so obvious. But they do.”
I’m not sure I quite understood what she meant. But there was only one way to find out. I had a feeling our time together would go well beyond the first year.
“Are you still up for learning ancient par-Goblin?” I asked.
The Dowager’s head tilted back and forth with childlike excitement. “The minute we return to Redvalor.”
She continued to peruse Kolo’s papers. I skipped to the end to review his work on using blackdrupe pits to ease the symptoms of whiteflu. There, at the bottom of the page, was a hastily scribbled note that hadn’t been there the last time I’d read these papers. I guessed Kolo had written it while in the High Laird’s dungeon.
Jaxter—
Volo ser voli.
Yesterday is today.
Then, below that, in much darker ink and underlined many times, it said:
It’s happening again.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BRIAN FARREY acquires young adult fiction for Flux. He and he alone has the power to make you an honorary Grimjinx. (You know you want it.) He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, and you can find him online at www.grimjinx.com.
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BOOKS BY BRIAN FARREY
The Vengekeep Prophecies
CREDITS
Cover art © 2013 by Brett Helquist
Cover design by Megan Stitt
COPYRIGHT
THE SHADOWHAND COVENANT. Text copyright © 2013 by Brian Farrey. Interior illustrations and cover art copyright © 2013 by Brett Helquist. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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ISBN 978-0-06-204931-5
EPub Edition August 2013 ISBN 9780062049339
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FIRST EDITION
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