31. The calendula and hound

Ada emerged from the underpass into a valley of sunlight. The cobbles beneath her feet were worn and sloping, and ahead she could see the curved arches that made up the compass' pavilion.

The stonework soared up on either side of her and was whitewashed in the afternoon sun, which darkened the red trail that was smeared across the bricks. It shimmered in the sunlight, as if freshly swept from slitted fingertips.

Halfway down the passage, the trail dwindled out, but from the corner of her eye, Ada caught a glimmer of crimson slashed on an opposite wall. She turned, moving from the path she and Solen had followed down to the canal front, and hurried deeper into the city.

Blind alleyways crashed and collided, blocking off paths before Ada could glimpse another thin streak of red and pivot once again. Occasional windows and flower boxes were the only signs that life outside of the grey alleys existed, and Ada feared she may have lost herself within the stone labyrinth were it not for the crimson ribbons, marking the way back to the tunnel.

She turned a final corner, and her feet faltered to a stop. Her hood had loosened in her flight through the city, and as it slipped from Ada's head and pooled around her collar, she stared at the girl before her.

Min stood alone at the bottom of a shallow well of steps. Behind her, two more paths intersected, though Min didn't make a move towards either, silent and waiting. She wore the same smock that she had been dressed in days before, but now her left hand was crusted in red.

"Min," Ada gasped, her heart stumbling a beat as she stared down the stairs. Even in plain daylight the girl seemed steeped in shadows, as though she were a mirage given form between the slowing seconds.

"Ada!" A grin spread across Min's face, and her wide eyes danced stars within their sockets as Ada lurched down the stairs two at a time.

She reached out a hand to grasp at Min's, but hesitated as the girl's fingers, still slick at their tips, stretched out for hers. "What happened to your hand?"

Min glanced down, brow furrowing as she looked at her fingers as if she had never before noticed them. But then a giggle fluttered from her lips as she shoved her hand into her pocket and pulled out a handful of speckled currants.

Fisting her fingers together, Min crushed the currants against the palm of her hand, then, ducking around Ada, she traced a star on the alley's wall in a brilliant shade of red.

"I wanted you to be able to follow me, but I couldn't find a piece of string long enough," Min said, now wiping the remnants of the crushed currants onto the hem of her skirt.

"Follow you? Why?" Ada asked, her mouth gaping. "How did you even know where to find me?"

"Why?" Min repeated, cocking her head with a rustle of curls. "You were the one who messaged me, remember? Armestrong came this morning to the caravan. It was very early, but I didn't mind."

Min seemed to be getting excited now, hopping from one foot to the other as her cheeks flushed a shade almost as bright as her fingertips. Ada felt quite the opposite, her heart plunging as she watched the child dance around her. After their conversation the previous night, Ada hadn't held much hope for Armestrong to actually deliver her message, and while she was grateful that the woman had gone to such lengths for her, Ada had once again failed to consider how they might impact Min.

She could almost hear Armestrong's words echoing around are her skull, the woman's voice low and half broken as she wished for Min not to get caught up in the affairs of bandits. Now, Ada was responsible for Min slipping from the sight of her father and charging into the heart of Wysthaven.

"Did Armestrong tell you where to find me?" Ada asked.

Min shook her head and fiddled with the buttons on her sleeve. "No, she wouldn't tell me. But it wasn't hard to find out, I just asked the wind after she'd left."

Ada suppressed a shudder, trying not to think about Wysthaven's wind whispering about Solen's secret meeting place. "But why did you come? I told Armestrong to say that I'd try to help you, but it's not safe for you to come here to find me."

The sunlight sparkled Min's eyes as she spoke, and her words were rushed in their delight. "I know! That's why I came! I thought that you could come back with me, and we could work together with my magic." She paused for a breath, her smile turning sly. "And Armestrong promised me you weren't hurt, but I snuck you this in case that man in Papa's caravan had been mean to you."

A slip of pale green dropped from Min's sleeve and into her hand. It was the stem of a plant, short and slender, that gave way to fire-bright petals frothing into the head of a calendula. It was nearly identical to the flower Florentin had sold to the fae outside of his caravan stall. The man had begged for healing, and the flower Min now held was undoubtedly its twin in both appearance and magical properties.

But the man who had last possessed such a plant had been captured by the Hounds. Captured and killed and now hanging high above the canals in a portrait of eternal agony. Ada's stomach roiled at the thought of Min sneaking through the streets of Wysthaven with such an item held so closely.

Desperately trying to scrub away the image of Min struggling against a necklace of iron, Ada grabbed the calendula and secreted it away into her cloak's pocket. "That's very sweet of you, Min. But I promise that I am fine. The man didn't hurt me. In fact, he's going to help me now. We made a deal." Ada paused, feeling the flower press against her chest as though its stem was thick with thorns. "But you can't carry around things like this through the city. I know I said I'd try to help you, but if someone were to find something like this on you, then you could be in all kinds of danger. Do you understand?"

Min was nodding her head, though she didn't appear to be listening as her face crumpled into a frown. "I don't think you should trust that man, Ada. He was mean to Papa and me, and he took you away!" She was worrying her lower lip, the colour quickly draining from her cheeks. "You shouldn't believe anyone here who makes deals to get what they want. You really shouldn't trust him."

As Min repeated her warning, Ada found herself gazing once again into the eyes of a child who seemed wiser than her young years. The sun filtered past the rooftops, sloping over slated edges and dappling the girl in golden ripples. She thought of Raeph; a man moulded from the shadows standing against this child born from blinding light.

"You two!"

Ada whirled around, staring down an intersecting alleyway and at the figure stalking towards them. He was dressed in black, with long chains that looped around his neck and clattered against his chest. A shoulder coat covered their links, with long strips of dark fabric running down to his elbows and tied in the front with cords of dark rope.

A metallic contraption cut the man's face in two, concealing his mouth and splintering his words. But Ada's vision was not drawn to the awful mask, but instead to the familiar violet shadows that carved his face in and the sullen skin pulled taut around the sunken sockets of his eyes.

If Min recognised him, she gave no indication as she stuttered, "It's a Hound."

It felt as though they were back in the ivy-thick alleyway so many streets over; Ada and Min frozen together with a Hound looming ahead of them. Although this time, Ada didn't have a knife.

Cursing to herself, Ada crouched down next to Min, tugging her shoulders round to face only her as she pointed past them both and down the empty street opposite the Hound. "Do you know your way back to the lyceum if you run that way?"

Min nodded weakly, though her beath was hot and heaving. Ada clutched her shoulders tighter and whispered, "Then run as fast as you can. Don't stop until you reach your father, understand?"

Again, the girl nodded, opening her mouth as if to speak before Ada silenced her with as gentle a push as she could manage. "Then go."

Min stumbled forwards a step, but her eyes continued to dart between Ada and the Hound. The rattle of chains was almost upon them.

"Run!"