After a moment’s hesitation, I added, “If you can’t reveal their identity, can you tell me what secrets the Heir is tasked with guarding?”
The Book gave a hoarse giggle that sounded like a frog croaking.
My stomach twisted with unease. Giggling from an evil spirit was never a good sign.
“Tell me,please,” I urged.
“Tricky questions yield tricky answers,” sang the sprite.
I sighed, taking this as a sign that it was going to be another long night.
The Book gave a cackle of wicked delight at my provocation, and the following poem appeared on the blank page before me:
Cut before first blossom and unwise
Obsidian eyes pay their penance in blood
But smiles mask both friend and foe
When serpents lie in every soul
And naught but death can make them whole.
I stared down at the poem.Cut before first blossom and unwise… Was the sprite referencing my unwise veilbound bargain with Casimir?Obsidian eyes pay their penance in blood… Was that about Casimir? Or August? And penance for what, exactly? A cold trickle of unease skittered up my spine as I read the poem again.
But smiles mask both friend and foe
When serpents lie in every soul
This part of the poem was clearly talking about trusting the wrong person. Serpents lie in every soul. Did that mean I couldn’t trust anyone?
And neigh but death can make them whole.
Death was the only way to root out who was my friend and who was my foe? That seemed entirely too cynical, even for theBook of Erebos.
“You seem obsessed with death,” I commented wryly.
“Only mortal fools do not fear mortality,” the Book trilled. “After all, ‘that is not dead which can eternal lie.’”
I frowned. “That’s H.P. Lovecraft, isn’t it?” The Book was resorting to plagiarizing dead writers now? Good grief.
“Is that quote supposed to be about me?” I prompted when the Book ignored the question. I was beginning to feel frustrated. “You promised to give me information if I brought you a lock of the Darkseer’s hair, remember?”
On cue, the sprite cackled, and a moment later, the following lines appeared as the daemonic little spirit sang along in a gravelly voice:
“Sweet tongues offer barbed swords
Forgoing truth in favor of lies
Beware lips of sweetly word
For treachery wears a friendly disguise.”
Treachery wears a friendly disguise? I felt my frown deepen. It was a warning. Someone I trusted was going to betray me. Had perhaps, already done so.
The Book chimed in again, interrupting the dark turn of my thoughts. “But hark! A mortal girl is as foolish as she looks. The Bloodweaver awaits on tenterhooks.”
“What does any of this have to do with Evren?” I asked, a little too loudly. I spared a nervous glance in the direction of Dr. Hobart’s office, afraid she might suddenly scuttle out to check on me. “Who’s going to betray me?” I hissed into the pages.