Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 44
pointed, but he couldn’t see anything.
“I don’t see―“
“Are you questioning me?” said the lady. “You are
keeping me from my duties. What will Castor and Turcaret say
about my lateness?”
“You mustn’t tell them!”
“Well, then, stop dawdling.”
Jordan was silent for a while, but his heart was sinking.
Could Emmy have run afoul of a bandit, or worse, a morph?
Who else would be out in this blackness?
“What were you doing out here alone, ma’am?” he asked
boldly. “Were you visiting the priests?”
“Yes, of course,” she replied promptly. They continued
on over the uneven ground, until the thickets and trunks
surrounded them tightly, and there was no longer any
indication of a path underfoot.
The lady had one foot on a fallen log, about to step over
it, when Jordan said, “Stop.”
“What?” She stepped up and balanced precariously on
the mossy log.
“This is crazy. She can’t have come this way. Sound
plays tricks in the forest. Maybe the sound came from
somewhere else.”
“Maybe.” She sounded doubtful.
“We need to go back and get help,” he said. “I’ll roust
my work gang. There’s no need for you to worry yourself,
ma’am. You have your own business to attend to.”
“True.” She started to step down from the log, but
slipped. Jordan saw the lantern fly in an arc, then complete
darkness fell around them.
“Damn!” He heard the lady groping about for the
lantern.