“And to take the blame if I succeed in getting my father’s eyes back.”
“I sense disapproval.” He clucked. “Surely you are not suggesting that I should be the responsible party for your actions? Petra,” Dee chided, “whether you wish to ignore the consequences of your actions is wholly beside the point that there will, indeed, be several unpleasant ones.”
He paused, waiting to see if she would reply. When she did not, he continued, “The prince likes to have one person assigned to clean one room of the seven rooms in his suite. His collection is so important to him that he doesn’t like to expose its existence to too many people. The problem is that he tends to grow suspicious of his pages and maids. He recently, hmm, fired one, a girl named Eliska.”
A cold, creeping feeling stole over Petra. She recognized that name. It had been in the captain of the guard’s Worry Vial.
“I think it should not be too hard to promote you to take her place. The Countess of Krumlov is pleased with your work. I observed you closely during the celebrations in the courtyard, and I noticed that the prince took an interest in you. You caught his eye. Or, I should say, you caught your father’s eye. The prince is a man led by his curiosity. You have sparked his.
“And now I shall help you in one last way.” Dee reached into a pocket, pulled out a small, brown bottle, and gave it to her. Petra did not like the way he kept presenting bottles out of his pockets. It made her realize that he had planned this conversation with her for a while.
“What is it?”
“It is belladonna. If you put one drop in each eye, it will make them look black. You look a great deal like your father. I would advise you to hide any family resemblance as much as possible. Use the belladonna when you go to the prince’s chambers. Do not use it if you plan on seeing the Countess of Krumlov. She will notice the difference.”
“Obviously. I have a brain, you know.”
“I do know. I have confidence in your abilities. In fact, I know that when you retrieve your father’s eyes, you will also bring about the destruction of the clock’s special powers. Find that part, and break it. Or I shall see that you and your family pay the price for the clock’s creation in the first place.”
“That was not part of our deal!”
Dee smirked. “Ah, but it was an implicit part of our deal. You are an honorable young girl. Surely you will keep to the spirit of our pact, and not just the letter. And remember: there are more ways than one to skin a cat—or, in this case, to make certain that the prince is never able to use the clock. Let’s say your father were to … disappear. This would eliminate the chance that the prince could send for him to solve his rather annoying problem of not knowing how to make the clock of Mikal Kronos work the way he wishes.”
“But I don’t know what the part looks like! And I certainly don’t know how to destroy it!”
“Oh, it can’t be that hard. It’s easier to break something than to create it.” He tapped a finger against his lips, considering. When he spoke, it was with the voice of someone who thought he was being very generous. “I’ll tell you what, my dear. If I gather any new information on the clock I shall pass it along to you. When you receive my message, you shall do exactly as I say. Now, how does that sound?”
She struggled not to shout, but what she said still came out as a growl. “The day I come into my powers is the day you’d better be worried, Dee.”
“But who knows if you will have any?” he replied airily. “You may be as talented as a block of wood. Perhaps your father has—had—skills to be wary of, but what about your mother? She was no one special.”
Petra nearly told him that indeed she had been, but stopped the words before they reached her lips. He already had collected too much knowledge about her through unknown means. She shouldn’t present him with details about her life as if they were little cakes on a platter. She certainly shouldn’t mention her newfound ability to speak secretly with the tin spider hiding in her hair, or her accuracy with throwing daggers. “Are we done? I want to leave.”
“Allow me to accompany you to the door.” In a fluid movement of velvet, he stood up and walked with her. “Petra,” he said as she stepped into the hallway, “let me give you a word of advice. It is not wise to make threats.” He smiled. “Someone might take them seriously.”
And then he shut the door.
22
Neel Talks Sense
NEEL WAS FURIOUS. “Where were you? I waited until dawn!” He pounced out of the cellar shadows the evening after the celebrations, as servants milled into the dining hall, still red-eyed from too much drinking and too little sleep. Petra didn’t even have a chance to ask how he had gotten inside the castle. He yanked open a door she had never noticed before, pulled her upstairs and outside onto the grounds, and dragged her behind an enormous woodpile.
“Well, I—” She tried to speak.
“I thought maybe something happened to you! Or did you get scared? You did, didn’t you? That was stupid, Pet. We had a prime opportunity last night!”
“I wasn’t scared! I—”
Neel’s eyes burned with yellow-green fire. “Don’t tell me,” he said slowly, “that you went alone.”
“Not exactly.”
“So you did. I see. Just like a cat carrying a mouse to her own secret corner, aren’t you? Didn’t think I deserved a bite, did you?”
“That’s not it. That’s not it at all. I was trying to … Neel, it isn’t safe for you.”
Sudden understanding turned Neel’s face into a wooden mask. Petra hurriedly explained what had happened in the forest after he had walked ahead to the Lovari camp. She told him about Emil and his fierce desire to protect Neel.
“And you listened to him?” Neel exploded. “Emil’s the last person who’s got any call to have any say over what I do! He ain’t my brother or my father!”
“Emil’s right, Neel. You heard what the captain of the guard said. You heard about those people. I shouldn’t have gotten you involved.”
He was too angry to speak.
Then a snowflake drifted past his face. Another one appeared out of the gray sky, landed on Neel’s nose, and disappeared.
“Petra.” Neel’s voice didn’t sound angry anymore, just tired. “You’ve got to do something for me.”