“Ah, the night wind from the land,” Eli nodded. “Do they look different?”
“Yes,” Nico said, squinting. “They’re clearer. During the day they’re kind of opaque, like frosted glass. But at night they’re clear, and it’s easier to see the stuff on the dome of the sky.”
The catch in Eli’s breath made her jump, and she turned to find him staring at her, pale as death. “Dome of the sky?”
Nico nodded. “It’s hard to see because of the winds, but sometimes I can see movement in the sky. It looks almost like the dome of the sky is a cloth, and something’s pressing on the other side. It’s very faint most of the time, but if I look for it, I can always find it somewhere. Sometimes I see it on several parts of the sky at once.” She looked up again. “They’re always there somewhere. I can probably find you one if—”
A sharp pressure on her wrist cut her off, and she looked down to see Eli’s hand gripping her arm. The thief was still smiling, his face still calm, but the look in his eyes was the closest to true fear she’d ever seen on him.
“Nico,” he said, his voice quiet. “You can’t look at the sky.”
“Why not?” Nico said, tugging her hand away.
“It’s the one of the rules all spirits must obey,” he whispered. “The first rule the Shepherdess spoke.”
“Rule?” Nico said. She didn’t understand what he was talking about.
Eli nodded. “There are a lot of rules, actually. Humans don’t know them because we’re blind and we don’t need to. But if you’re going to keep looking, Nico, you have to stay away from the sky. If you keep staring at it, bad things will happen.”
“What do you mean ‘bad things’?” Nico said. “How do you know all this?”
Eli leaned back. “A long time ago I made a childish decision that led to a very strange period in my life,” he said slowly. “I learned a lot of things that people aren’t supposed to know.”
“Are you talking about the other Monpress?” Nico said.
Eli smirked. “No, not that. Giuseppe might be an old fox, but this isn’t exactly his area. This happened before my apprenticeship, and it has nothing to do with thievery.” The smile fell off his face, and Eli suddenly grew very serious. “I don’t actually know what you are now, Nico. You’re a demonseed who beat the demon. I’ve never even heard of something like that, and so I don’t know if the rules even apply to you. But, just in case, now that you can see, you should at least know the rules before something comes down on you hard for breaking them. Make sense?”
Nico nodded.
“Good,” Eli said, raising one finger. “Rule one: Don’t look at the sky. Even the winds don’t look at the sky.”
Nico scowled. “But why? What’s wrong with—”
Eli put his hand over her mouth. Nico almost bit it, but she stopped and contented herself with glaring at him until he took it away.
“Rule two,” he said. “Never ask about the sky. Ever. Ever, ever. Now, there are other rules, like don’t tell humans about stars and obey Great Spirits and so forth, but those are the two really important ones. The ones you really can’t break.”
“Why not?” Nico whispered. “And what are stars?”
“Can’t tell you,” Eli said. “That’s a rule. Weren’t you listening?”
Nico crossed her arms with a scowl. “Who made these rules, anyway?”
The laughter vanished from Eli’s eyes, and he looked back and forth, even though the roof was empty as ever. “The Shepherdess,” he whispered at last, his voice so low she could barely hear him. “She makes the only rules that matter in this world. She’s the power around here, and all spirits want to please her, which means any spirit who catches you looking at the sky or talking about it will try to stop you whether they know what you are or not, and if they peek under your coat, the jig is up. They could report you to the League, or worse, the Shepherdess herself.” He took a deep breath. “Anyway, just don’t do it. There’s a rule against looking at the sky for a reason.”
Nico tilted her head, still not fully convinced. “And do you know that reason?”
“I have a theory,” Eli said. “But I’m going to leave it at that. Let’s just say that’s a mess even I won’t touch. Now”—he clapped his hands together, making her jump—“let’s move on to the good stuff. I have so many questions.”
Nico stared at him, still trying to catch up with the subject change after all the puzzles he’d dumped on her, but Eli was already on his feet, reaching for her hands to pull her up as well.