Chapter 14: Sabine at the Gate

Torin's POV

Maureen Harlan did not raise her voice.

That was how I knew she was frightened.

"A florist's lie," she said to the hall. "Bought with a florist's grudge."

She lifted her chin and looked at the council.

"I paid for flowers for the hall. Every pack does. Ask my treasurer."

Sabine stood ten feet from her with her bruised cheek turned to the light.

"Then show us the purse books," Clara said.

I had been holding the wall behind her for an hour. I let myself smile.

The oldest elder lifted two fingers.

"Fetch the books," he told a guard.

The guard ran.

Maureen's mouth thinned. Her hand found her pearls.

Rhett sat at the high table with his head in his hands. He had not looked at his mother once.

The guard came back in six minutes with an empty satchel.

"The ledger for the last two years is gone, Elder."

"Gone where?"

"The treasurer's desk was forced open this morning."

The hall started to growl.

"A thief," Maureen said. "Obviously. Someone who wanted this."

"Someone who wanted this," Clara said, "got up before dawn and forced a desk in your hall."

"Are you accusing me?"

"I'm asking who has the keys."

I watched Maureen's eyes go to Sabine, and I watched them stay there a beat too long.

Sabine saw it too. She went white to the lips.

The elder struck the table once. "The vote is postponed three days. Nobody leaves the territory. The purse books will be found."

Maureen walked out with her head high, and her guards fell in around her.

I had counted them on the way in. Eleven.

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