She shakes her head, still waking up. “Nightmare,” she mumbles.
I reach for her, but she swings her legs over the side of the bed, the covers draped over her body. She’s wearing her shift, and she grabs the robe from the hook by the door, shrugging it over her shoulders, her long blond hair still obscuring her face.
“Where are you going?” I ask, standing up.
“I have to do something.” Her voice is raspy from disuse. She blinks at me. “I… It can’t wait. I have to do it now.” She bites her lip, nervous. “Library,” she adds in a low voice.
“Is this about the council?” She and Liesel both have reason to be wary. Not only did the council try to coerce both girls into a binding; they have not been fully honest. Neither have the goddesses. Even with Fritzi being chosen by the goddess Holda as a champion, and that same goddess selecting me as Fritzi’s warrior, we both know there are still secrets. Too many.
“It’s important…” Her voice trails off.
She probably wants to keep the council out of this, I think, remembering that ass, Rochus.
“I understand,” I say. They all have their secrets. We can have ours. “Can you tell me more about what you’re looking for?”
Fritzi hesitates. Lets out a breath. Finally: “Do you trust me?”
“Always.” The word bursts from me. Trusting her is one of the few things I’m certain of.
Fritzi shoots me a thankful smile and opens the door. I grab my cloak, squeeze my feet into boots, and follow her outside.
It’s still early enough that no one else is around. Fritzi’s been given a room close to the heart of the community, and while there are guards on the walkways and bridges connecting the trees, there are few here. I follow her, my muscles tensing.
Fritzi pads silently over a short bridge suspended high in the air, connecting to the council’s inner sanctum. I cast a look behind me. The maze of bridges and landings built into the very trees of the Black Forest was once confusing to me. Now I can easily spot the school Liesel attends with other children, the homes of my friends, the quickest route that will take me to my sister’s house.
Fritzi kept going without me. The door to the council room almost closes before I can slip in behind her. My stomach is tight, my senses alert. It’s odd for her to act this way. It’s clear she doesn’t want to be seen by the others, but does she not want me to follow her either?
Everything is dark. Even the fires are cold, and I can see my breath in a cloud before me. The council room isn’t used daily. There’s a musty scent in the air, like damp earth and petrichor, a cold smell that I know the big hearth at the end of the hall would burn away if it were lit.
My footsteps echo, and I realize that Fritzi’s feet are bare, despite the cold. I reach for her, intending to grab her arm and pull her to me, wrap my cloak around her shoulders, but she pivots suddenly, shifting in a way I didn’t expect.
She opens a door I’d never noticed before. There’s no light in this room—it’s on the western side of the tree, beyond the sun’s early rays, and there is neither fire nor torches. I stop by the door where a candle sits on an iron holder and use the tinderbox to spark a small flame.
Fritzi’s already gone.
“Fritzi?” I say, my voice barely louder than a whisper.
I thrust the flickering candle out, sweeping back and forth, illuminating long rows of shelves. A library, the likes of which I’d never seen before. Even the archbishop back in Trier didn’t have this many texts, scrolls and bound manuscripts and books and folios. A treasure trove of books, a wealth more precious than gold, all stored neatly on shelves.
I hear a noise to my left, and I whirl around, the flame on the wick smoking and sputtering. Smoke obscures my vision, and for a moment, all I see is a pair of eyes, pale and empty, unblinking. My heart lurches, but then I realize—
Fritzi stares up at me.
“Where did you go?” I whisper.
She tilts her head, and I notice another door on the far side of the library, closed.
“You must be freezing. Did you get what you need?”
She’s silent for a long time. “Not yet,” she finally whispers.
“Let’s go back then?” It comes out as a question.
She nods, her hair sliding over her face. I reach out, tucking a lock of gold behind her ear.
“Is everything okay?” I ask softly. For a moment, her eyes seem darker than normal.
“Let’s keep this our little secret,” she says. She leans up and blows the candle out, the smoke swirling around us as she presses her lips to mine.
