Chapter Four

  Part Five

  “Why?” Ali Asked.

  Line spoke up “why what?”

  They were both in Line’s room back at the monastery. Ali was lounging on her bed, while Line was sat in her desk chair. The heavy smell of ink filling the air as Line wrote from her white feathered quill. Line heard movement, as Ali’s head poked around the partition.

  “why did he kill her?”

  Line stopped writing her report to look at Ali “her hairpin”

  Ali frowned “what about it?”

  “that man is a thief, he steals expensive looking things and sells them in The Back Flow. When he saw Miss Barnes’ hairpin, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take something so expensive looking. So he followed her, but Miss Barnes wasn’t going to let someone take one of the only things she had left of her lover. She fought back, and it cost her her life”

  “what about the dagger?”

  “The dagger wasn’t that sharp. He probably only used it as scare tactic. I doubt he has ever killed anyone before”

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  “oh...”

  The room was filled with silence once more, the only slight sound came from the scratching of quill against paper.

  “Line? Does your back still hurt? Mine does. Why did we need to take so many canes?”

  “Because of the curfew. But using Prince Vax’dian’s name did give us less canes. But you need to realise that master can be harsh”

  Ali winced “he doesn’t like me”

  “no one likes you here”

  “but you do. Right?”

  “Right”

  Ali smiled “I think you’re also warming up to having more people around”

  “what do you mean?”

  “you called them your friends”

  Line hesitated “I was just bluffing”

  “Line...?”

  “What?”

  Ali’s eyebrow raised “bluffing?”

  “yes”

  “liar”

  Line had no response to that.

  Ali then moved around the partition letting out a sigh “I’m going to bed”

  “Goodnight”

  Ali grumbled as she left through the rounded door, closing it behind her.

  *

  When Line had finished her paper work she gave a deep stretch before moving round the partition herself to sit on the edge of her bed. When she remembered something. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the little pouch Ali had given to her just this morning. She finally had a chance to look inside. She pulled at the drawstring, and took out an arm band.

  It was smooth to the touch and deadly cold, it was made from a black obsidian glass. Her thumb moved against a light pastel blue gem that was embedded within. She slid it up her arm, but found that it couldn’t go any further than just below her elbow.

  She smiled, she would have to thank Ali properly for this. She gave another stretch and fell back onto her bed.