Chapter 13: The Quiet Hand

Haruka did not stop reading until the lantern burned low.

She turned every leaf of the Roll of the Quiet Hand, and every one ended the same way.

Carried out.

Lived.

Under the lectern was a drawer, and the ring opened that too.

Inside lay one folded sheet of heavy cream paper, sealed in black wax with a crown.

The seal had already been broken once, a long time ago, and pressed shut again.

She read it standing, with the lantern in her left hand.

To the Captain of the Guard, who keeps the Quiet Hand.

When a noble is condemned on a doubtful charge, the Captain shall strike with the Mercy Axe in Lantern Square.

The condemned shall be carried out dead in the sight of the city.

The condemned shall be told on the thirteenth night, by the Captain, and by no one else.

Nobody else shall be told, not a priest, not a lover, not a friend.

The condemned shall say farewell to no one.

The mourning must be honest, or the one who wanted her dead will not believe it, and will not come out of hiding.

Find that one.

It was signed Imelda R., and under it, in a smaller hand, the Queen had added a line for this reign only.

Someone in my house writes to the rebel lords of the north.

Lady Ardwyn holds the northern pass.

A man who needed that pass opened would need her gone.

Haruka read the oath at the bottom of the sheet.

It was the Captain's oath for the Quiet Hand, in full, and she knew every word of it.

She had said it on her knees on the first morning, in a cell, with a sword across her palms.

I will keep her from the dark, and when the dark comes, I will carry her out of it.

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