He paused, however, a look of surprise crossing his face, when the quiet woman suddenly moved forward, coming over to Shiny and me. When she crouched, balancing easily on her bare toes, I caught a fleeting sense of the real her, the goddess underneath her unimposing shell, and it staggered me. Where Sieh had filled the alley, she filled… what? It was too vast to grasp, too detailed. The ground beneath my knees. Every brick and speck of mortar, every struggling weed and smear of mildew. The air. The muckbins at the back of the alley. Everything.
And then it was gone, just as fast, and she was just a small High Norther woman with eyes that made me think of a dark, wet forest.
“You’re very lucky,” she said. I was confused at first; then I realized she was speaking to Shiny. “Friends are precious, powerful things—hard to earn, harder still to keep. You should thank this one for taking a chance on you.”
Shiny twitched beside me. I could not see what he did, but the woman’s expression changed to one of annoyance. She shook her head and got to her feet.
“Be careful of him,” she said. To me this time. “Be his friend if you like—if he lets you. He needs you more than he realizes. But for your own sake, don’t love him. He’s not ready for that.”
I could only stare at her, mute with awe. She turned away, then paused as she walked past Madding.
“Role,” she said.
He nodded, as if he’d been expecting her attention. “We’re doing everything we can.” He threw me a quick, uneasy glance. “Even the mortals are looking into it. Everyone wants to know how this happened.”
She nodded, slowly and solemnly. For an instant too long she was silent. Gods did that sometimes, contemplating the unfathomable, though they usually tried not to do it when mortals were around. Perhaps this one wasn’t used to mortals yet.
“You have thirty days,” she said suddenly.
Madding went stiff. “To find Role’s killer? But you promised—”
“I said we wouldn’t interfere in mortal affairs,” she said sharply. Madding fell silent at once. “This is family.”
After a moment, Madding nodded, though he still looked uncomfortable. “Yes. Yes, of course. And, ah—”
“He is angry,” said the woman, and for the first time she looked troubled herself. “Role didn’t take sides in the war. But even if she had… you’re still his children. He still loves you.” She paused and glanced at Madding, but Madding looked away. I guessed that she spoke of Bright Itempas, who was said to be the father of all the godlings. Naturally, He would take exception to the death of His child.
The woman continued. “So, thirty days. I’ve convinced him to stay out of it for that long. After that”—she paused, then shrugged—“you know his temper better than I do.”
Madding went very pale.
With that, the woman turned to join the boy, both of them clearly intending to leave. From the corner of my eye, I saw one of Madding’s lieutenants exhale in relief. I should have been relieved, too. I should have stayed quiet. But as I watched the woman and boy walk away, I could think of only one thing: they knew Shiny. Hated him, perhaps, but knew him.
I groped for my walking stick. “Wait!”
Madding looked at me like I had lost my mind, but I ignored him. The woman stopped, not turning back, but the child did, looking at me in surprise. “Who is he?” I asked, pointing at Shiny. “Will you tell me his name?”
“Oree, gods damn it.” Madding stepped forward, but the woman held up a graceful hand and he went still.
Sieh only shook his head. “The rules are that he live among mortals as a mortal,” he said, glancing beyond me at Shiny. “None of you comes into this world with a name, so neither does he. He gets nothing unless he earns it himself. Since he’s not trying very hard, that means he’ll never have much. Except a friend, apparently.” He eyed me briefly and looked sour. “Well… like Mother said, even he gets lucky sometimes.”
Mother, I noted, with the part of my mind that remained fascinated by such things even after years of living in Shadow. Godlings did mate among themselves sometimes. Was Shiny Sieh’s father, then?
“Mortals don’t come into the world with nothing,” I said carefully. “We have history. A home. Family.”
Sieh’s lip curled. “Only the fortunate ones among you. He doesn’t deserve to be that lucky.”
I shuddered and inadvertently thought of how I’d found Shiny, light and beauty discarded like trash. All this time I had assumed misfortune on his part; I had speculated that he suffered from some godly disease, or an accident that had stripped all but a vestige of his power. Now I knew his condition had been deliberately imposed. Someone—these very gods, perhaps—had done this to him, as a punishment.