Chapter 21: The Deal
Afternoon. Violet stood on the city wall, drawing maps. Leon walked up and stood beside her. "You've been looking at that passage all day."
"Trying to decide whether to seal it or keep it."
"Keep it. You know where the entrance is. You can guard it. Seal it, and people will come in from places you don't know. You won't be able to defend against that."
Violet looked up at him. "When did you learn this?"
"Since you started calculating. The things you don't calculate, I calculate for you."
From the city gate came someone calling her name. Seraphina's voice. Violet looked up. Seraphina stood at the gate. Beside her stood a strange man.
Leon's hand went to his blade. Violet pressed her hand over his. "Wait."
"Who is he?"
"Don't know yet."
She walked down from the wall. Leon followed. They reached the gate. Seraphina stood beside the man. Her face didn't look good. The man stood beside her. His face was very calm.
"Cecilia." Seraphina spoke. "He says he wants to see you."
"I heard him."
The man looked at her. Dark brown hair. Gray-blue eyes. High cheekbones. Thin lips. He looked a great deal like Cecilia. But older. Harder. Colder.
"Cassian." He said. "You've been waiting for me for three months."
Violet's fingers tightened. Cassian. Within three months, someone would enter Gray Rock Tribe through that hidden passage. The one she had warned Leon about. Three months had passed. He was here.
"The salt. You stole it?" She asked.
"Yes. Ten sacks."
"Why?"
"Because I didn't know if you would take me. Steal the salt, you would come find me. Don't steal, you wouldn't know who I was."
"You knew I would find you?"
"Seraphina told me. She said you calculate everything. Ten sacks short. You would figure it out."
Violet glanced at Seraphina. Seraphina lowered her head. Didn't look at her.
"She was right. I figured it out."
Cassian took a step forward. "Will you take me?"
"Take you to do what?"
"Anything. Move stones. Dig wells. Guard the gate. Anything."
"You won't kill anymore?"
"No more killing. I've killed enough."
Violet stared at him. "The salt you stole. How will you repay it?"
"You tell me."
"Sign a debt note. Ten sacks of salt. Repaid over ten months. One sack per month. Until it's paid."
Cassian stared at her. "That's it?"
"That's it. You move stones. One sack of salt deducted from your wages each month. Ten months, it's paid."
"You're not afraid I'll run?"
"You run, Seraphina's mission fails. Her system wants you. You won't run."
Cassian glanced at Seraphina. Seraphina didn't look at him.
"You're more ruthless than her." Cassian said.
"Who?"
"My sister. Cecilia."
"She's dead. I'm not. So I'm more ruthless."
Cassian smiled. "Fine. Write the debt note."
Violet pulled charcoal and hide from her coat and wrote a debt note. Ten sacks of salt. Repaid over ten months. She signed her name and handed it to Cassian. Cassian took it, glanced at it, and signed. He handed the note back to her.
"Enough?"
"Enough."
She pulled a strip of cloth from her coat and tossed it to him. "Wrap it. Your hand is bleeding."
Cassian looked down at his hand. Worn raw from moving stones. Skin broken. Blood seeping between his fingers. He caught the cloth and wrapped it around his hand. "Is there empty space on the east side of the city?"
"Yes. Next to Ulric. He'll teach you to move stones."
Cassian nodded and walked away.
Seraphina stood at the gate, watching his back. Her eyes were red.
"You made him sign a debt note."
"He stole my salt."
"He could have repaid it another way."
"He chose this way."
Seraphina stared at her. "You're not afraid he'll run?"
"I am. But a debt note works better than cutting off a finger. Cut off a finger, he hates me. Sign a debt note, he owes me. A debt can be repaid. Hate cannot."
Seraphina's lips trembled. "You're more ruthless than me."
"I'm not. You had him help you complete your mission. You traded him for points. I only made him repay salt."
Seraphina said nothing. She turned and walked away. After a few steps, she stopped. "You're right. I traded him for points. But I like him too. Not because of the mission."
"I know."
"How do you know?"
"Because the way you look at him is different from the way you first looked at Leon. When you looked at Leon, you were calculating. When you look at him, you're just looking."
Seraphina stared at her. A long time. Then she smiled. Not a calculated smile. A real smile.
"You're interesting."
"I've been told."
"By who?"
"Many people."
Seraphina turned and walked away. Her figure disappeared into the alleys of the east side of the city.
Leon stood beside Violet. "You made him sign a debt note. Will he really repay it?"
"He will. Because he has nowhere else to go."
"Will he behave?"
"No. But he doesn't need to behave. He needs to be useful."
"What use is he?"
"He knows things about the North. He hid there for three years. Knows the Ice Wolf Clan's secrets. Knows what the farther tribes have. What they lack. That information is worth more than ten sacks of salt."
Leon stared at her. "You calculated this from the start."
"I calculated it."
"Aren't you afraid he'll steal again?"
"No. The debt note is in his hands. Steal again, the debt doubles. He knows the rules."
From the east side of the city came the sound of stone striking stone. Ulric's men were teaching Cassian to move stones. Thud. Thud. Slow.
Violet listened to the sound. She pulled her coat tighter. Leon's coat. Warm.
"Is Cassian's matter finished?" Leon asked.
"Not finished. Why he killed. Why he was exiled. What he did in the North for three years. Who he was with. Who he saw before coming to Water City. All of it needs to be investigated."
"You made him sign a debt note, and you still don't trust him?"
"I trust him. But trusting doesn't mean I stop investigating. Trust is feeling. Investigation is business."
Leon looked at her. "Then with me. Feeling or business?"
Violet's fingers paused. She looked up at Leon. The firelight danced in his amber slit pupils.
"I can't separate them." She said.
Leon stared at her. A long time. Then he smiled. Not just the corner of his mouth. A real smile.
"Enough."
"Enough what?"
"Can't separate. That's enough."
In the distance, the sound of stone striking stone stopped. Cassian's first day moving stones was over. Tomorrow, he would continue. The day after. And the day after that. Until Violet decided he was useful.
Useful people, she kept. Useless people, she sent away. Cassian knew the rules. So he stayed.
She folded the debt note and placed it inside her coat. Ten sacks of salt. Repaid over ten months. Until the debt was paid, he was hers.
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End of Chapter Twenty-One
Cassian traded a debt note for a chance to stay and move stones. Ten sacks of salt. Ten months to repay. Violet isn't just calculating the salt. She's calculating what he knows about the North. Three years of hiding. The words he still hasn't spoken. Until the debt is paid, he belongs to her. What she doesn't know is that he's repaying more than just salt.