I could feel it though, and I’d never been able to sense pynvium in my life. Hadn’t even sensed that one until I saw it. It didn’t feel like what Tali had described when she’d tried to teach me how to push pain into pynvium like a real Healer. No call, no hum, just a quiver at the bottom of my stomach.
It couldn’t be my shifting ability, either. Moving pain from person to person had nothing to do with those glyphs. But there was sure as spit something wrong.
“I’m going to go check the library,” I said, jumping to my feet.
“Nya!”
I ignored her, eager to get out of that room and away from the pynvium. I shut the library door and flopped into a chair big enough for me and Tali. The quiver faded, but my unease remained.
What was wrong with that pynvium? I’d never felt that way around the metal before.
A chest with a band of blue around the lid, carved with glyphs. Men from the Pynvium Consortium had brought it, and Papa had yelled at them. “You brought that here? To my home? You don’t even know what it does!”
I’d never seen Papa afraid of the glyphs before. Had they bothered him as well? I’d hidden, scared of the shouting and the way my stomach felt after looking at the chest. Grannyma had found me in the closet and put me to bed. She’d rocked and sung lullabies until I’d fallen asleep.
“Nya, you in here?” The door opened and Aylin stuck her head in.
“I’m here.”
She glanced at the books lining the shelves but didn’t pick up any this time. There were quite a few books missing, so she must have more than enough to read for a while. “We’ve got quite the pile of treasure building downstairs. I had them dump it all on the dining-room table.”
“Thanks.”
“You OK? You look queasy.”
“I’m fine.” I stood and put my palms over my belly. “Don’t think Soek’s fish stew liked me much, but it’ll pass.”
She nodded and rifled through a desk drawer. “Did you want to start going through it all or do you want me to handle it?”
“You can do it. You have a better eye for what sells.”
“Merchant’s daughter.” She grinned, but then looked sad. She always did when she talked about her mother. Not that Aylin ever said much. None of us talked about our families. “Oh, I don’t think everyone is turning over everything they find. I caught Kneg slipping a gold frame into his pocket.”
“That’s OK. We’ll have more than enough and I can’t blame them for wanting a little extra. Wouldn’t you swipe something?”
“Who says I haven’t?” She stuck her tongue out at me and twirled towards the door. “I’ll organise the goodies by value. We can bag them up and keep them in your room overnight.”
“Sounds good.”
Aylin shut the door as she left. I sighed and started going through the drawers and shelves, though there wasn’t much besides books. A few candlesticks might earn a good price, a vase that looked like water crystal, but otherwise—
My guts quivered, same as in the study. My hand froze over the bookshelf, then dropped away. More glyph-carved pynvium? But not just locked away in a drawer. This one was hidden behind the books.
Why lock one away and hide another?
I took a steadying breath and yanked out one of the books. Then another, and a third, until the shelf emptied and a small chest appeared. No blue band, thank the Saints, but a simple iron box with a lock on the front.
My stomach quivered again.
Just open it.
My hand wouldn’t move.
Take it.
I shoved the books back on to the shelf and raced from the room.
Chapter Three
The alley market wasn’t one of my favourite places, and not just because I’d never had anything to sell before. Everyone there was a thief – buying stolen goods, selling stolen goods, looking for stolen goods. You had to watch your pockets as well as your tongue, and if you slipped up at all, someone would rob you of something.
We’d decided six of us would go. Me, Danello, Aylin, Tali, Soek and Jovan. More would likely draw attention, fewer wouldn’t be able to carry or sell enough to keep us afloat very long. We’d sell in pairs to watch each other’s backs.
“Everyone remember how much to try and get?” I said a block from the alley. Aylin had done a good job estimating what our bundles were worth. Odds were we wouldn’t get all of it, but the closer we got, the better.
“I remember.” Jovan already had on his bluffing face. He’d surprised us all last night when we tested each other to see who could lie the best. Tali wasn’t nearly as good, but she had an uncanny way of making you want to give her what she asked for anyway. She called it her hungry puppy face and said she’d gotten many an extra dessert at the League with it.
I could believe it. And I’d have to remember that next time she tried to talk me into or out of anything.
“We’ll go in separately. Don’t look at each other, and once you’ve sold your goods, meet back here.”
Aylin frowned and shook her head. “Not here. Anyone following after we sell might jump us.” She looked around and pointed to the bakery. “That works. Buy something and linger inside.”
“If you see soldiers,” I added, “get out, but walk, don’t run.”
“Got it. Let’s go,” said Soek. He and Tali would follow Danello and me, with Aylin and Jovan last.
Danello grabbed my hand and we walked the last block to the alley market, keeping an eye out for soldiers and thieves. The market changed locations, but you could always find it in the poorest parts of Geveg. It wasn’t that different from the regular market squares, except no one had their wares on display and everyone conducted business in whispers. Today it was just off the docks.
Our bag was full of silverware and metalwork, so we walked up to a stall with a hammer-and-forge sign hanging off it.
“And what can I do for you today?” the merchant asked. She smiled, but her gaze weighed the bag like she could guess its worth on sight.
“My aunt left me her silver and it’s all ugly.” I pulled out a few pieces. “Figured I’d sell it off and buy something nice for myself.”
The merchant picked up a candlestick and turned it this way and that, a slight frown on her face like it wasn’t the pure silver we knew it was. “It is ugly.”
“You should see the forks.”
“You have the whole set? I know a woman who wants to get her mother-by-marriage an ugly gift.”
I slid the Verlattian teak box out of the bag. Her eyes widened just a bit.
“The box isn’t bad.”
It was better than not bad. The wood gleamed, the grain patterns rich and dark.
Aylin and Jovan passed us and went to a jeweller. Aylin had amazed us all last night with her tale of woe, about her beloved who died in the ferry accident and left her alone, and now she had to sell off all his gifts. How her mistress had given her a few trinkets to help ease her through this tragedy. She seemed exactly like a maid who’d stolen from her mistress’s jewel case.
The merchant ran her fingers along the wooden lid and lifted it. Silver sparkled in neat rows. “I’ll give you two hundred for the set.”
“The candlesticks alone are worth that.”
The