They Called My Father a Traitor, So I Learned Every Secret They Buried novel · Chapter 21 of 24
Chapter 21: The Gift Breda Meant to Hide
Breda caught the gloves before they struck the floor and turned the cuffs outward beside Kestrel's open record.
The old script showed in pale thread against the dark leather. I had stitched it there myself, using the pattern Breda taught me before she stopped teaching me anything that could be written down.
Kestrel looked from the cuffs to my face. Breda did not move.
'You gave these to me for tincture work,' I said.
Breda's thumb pressed the inside seam. Her expression stayed clinical. Her hand did not.
'Your hands were getting stained,' she said. 'The leather was practical.'
'You chose a royal oath script for practical gloves.'
'It was available.'
'It was locked in the old archive.'
Her mouth opened. The answer failed before it reached us.
Kestrel closed the record with one careful hand. He had been reading the old healing marks beneath the royal seal, following the same pattern now sewn into the gloves.
'You recognized the script when you saw it,' he said. 'Why?'
Breda placed the gloves on the table. She did not look at him.
'I recognized an oath form.'
'You recognized the northern succession form,' I said. 'There are four copies left. Three are in the archive. One was cut from my father's teaching text.'
The clinic held the smell of boiled wool, bitterroot, and the sharp metal scent from Kestrel's healing wound. He had not finished dressing it. His coat remained open, his shirt pulled aside where the silver lines had faded beneath the skin.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of They Called My Father a Traitor, So I Learned Every Secret They Buried are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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