City of Lies - Lian Tanner [50]
“No. Er. Um. Yep,” mumbled Smudge.
“And you, Cord?”
“It’s no skin off my nose,” said Cord.
“Any sign of that bird while I was gone?”
“Yeah. I mean, nah,” said Cord. “But if it comes, we’re ready for it.”
“Good,” said Guardian Hope. She tugged at the gate. “Are you sure this thing won’t open any farther?”
“Won’t budge,” said Cord. “And we can’t get through that gap.”
“Mm. That makes it interesting.… ” Guardian Hope raised her lantern so that the light splashed across the children. “Why are there so many of them? There are only supposed to be two. Who are the others?”
“See that little snotty with white ’air?” said Cord. “ ’E tells fortunes in the Spice Market. I dunno ’oo the one with the mask is, but ’e ’elped ’em escape last night.”
“Who are you, boy?” called Guardian Hope.
Goldie said nothing. A drip of water ran down the back of her neck.
“Well, whoever you are,” said Guardian Hope, “you’re going to be sorry you got mixed up in this.”
“What are you going to do with us?” called Toadspit, wrapping his arms around his sister.
“Well now, we were going to send you back home. And what a joyous occasion that would’ve been.” Guardian Hope laughed sourly. “The lost children back in the arms of their frantic parents. Oh, there would have been dancing in the streets. There’s nothing the citizens of Jewel care for so much as their brats.”
“What’s the use of stealing us and then taking us home again?” Bonnie peered out from underneath Toadspit’s arm. “That’s stupid.”
“Stupid?” snapped Guardian Hope. “It was a beautiful plan! His Honor the Fugleman worked it out so carefully.”
“I don’t understand,” said Toadspit, shivering.
“Of course you don’t. That’s because the real game is being played out in Jewel. You’re just a tool.”
Guardian Hope’s voice echoed up and down the tunnel. “A tool … a tool … a tool …” Goldie hardly noticed. Her mind was stuck on those eight terrible words. “We were going to send you back home.”
She put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from crying out. If she hadn’t rescued Bonnie and Toadspit, they would have been safe! They might even have been on their way home already!
But Hope couldn’t let them go now. They knew too much. So what would she do? Keep them locked up? Sell them to one of the slavers who roamed the southern seas?
“You see,” continued Guardian Hope, “His Honor is in Jewel at this very moment. He gave himself up, asked to be punished for his crimes. Poor shattered creature.”
She sniggered. “He was the one who traced you to Spoke, you know, after you were ‘stolen.’ If it wasn’t for him, you would have been lost forever. Now tell me, do you think the citizens of Jewel would let the Protector imprison the man who got their lost children back? No, of course not. They’d forgive him. They’d want him in his old job, keeping their brats safe. Because the Protector couldn’t keep them safe, could she? Why, there have been all sorts of incidents in the last few weeks. A broken leg. A near drowning. And if this missing-children business didn’t do the trick, I expect we would have had a proper drowning soon. Perhaps even a murder.”
Her voice rose angrily. “All the changes the Protector has made, and look what happens. Get rid of her, I say. Bring back the Fugleman! Bring back the Blessed Guardians—”
She stopped and cleared her throat. “But now, because of your oh-so-clever guesswork, His Honor will be forced to use his backup plan instead. An army of mercenaries from the Southern Archipelago. How Jewel will tremble!”
She laughed. “As for you children, the Fugleman has sent new orders. It seems that you’re not going home to your loving parents after all.”
Goldie’s legs began to shake. Slavers. It must be the slavers.
In the back of her mind, the little voice whispered, Squeeze around the corner where she can’t see you.
“Shut up,” said Goldie under her breath. “I should never have listened to you in