TLNTAAM Chapter 2

I Don't Want to Die on the Scaffold

Nina had a little bit of divine power.

Not the Sacred variety that healed every illness and injury in a magnificent shower of miracles—nothing close to that. This maid had weak divine power. So weak that it only functioned to make her own body recover faster than it should. But it was, clearly, a special ability.

'So they recruited her as a poison-tasting maid, and the orphanage with too many mouths to feed said oh how wonderful, thank you very much and shipped her off in exchange for payment?'

The priest and nuns had been tearful about it, had apologized with something resembling sincerity—but while Nina might not have known any better, I found the whole arrangement deeply suspicious. It would be a blessing if that money actually went toward feeding and clothing the orphanage children. They didn't pocket it all, did they?

'But what's her actual tolerance for poison?'

The monk who had come from the monastery said it would be fine as long as the poison wasn't lethal. He had enthusiastically recommended going to Iberia and even written her a letter of introduction to smooth the way.

I lifted the bundle I'd been holding until it was at eye level. That suspicious letter of introduction was inside. Nina had carried both letters all this way without a single doubt, treating them like precious cargo.

The child had considered getting a job a stroke of luck. Staying in the orphanage would have meant a predictable future.

'Best case, she might have gotten work at the temple. But with a face like Nina's, she'd have ended up as the plaything of some pot-bellied old man.'

There had been plenty of people at the orphanage with their eyes on Nina. Several had wanted to take her in as an adopted daughter—but the intention was obvious from a mile away. Using the formality of adoption to get their hands on a defenseless orphan.

'Poor thing.'

So Nina had been genuinely grateful to be coming to Iberia. Grateful enough to thank the monk several times over for his dubious medical assessment and his letter of introduction.

'Then again, becoming an adopted daughter to someone like that might actually be worse than being a poison-tasting maid.'

I had started to bite my thumbnail out of habit and then lowered my hand. That was Lee Hwayun's habit—something she did when thinking through something serious.

'Nina knew she was being used. She wasn't completely blind to it.'

The nun and the priest had held Nina's hands and asked her to write often. And so Nina had climbed into this cargo wagon and made her way to Iberia.

'Life is all or nothing.'

If being a poison-tasting maid wasn't so terrible, the conclusion was clear.

'Get promoted! Get a raise!'

Poison-tasting maids were typically children. Kids had faster metabolic responses to poison, which made detection easier—or so the reasoning went. Which meant aging out of the position was a given.

'I'll just have to acquire skills before then!'

Anything would do. Swordsmanship, magic, medicine, cooking—anything! To learn and practice is its own reward! Long live specialized skills! Demand exists everywhere for expertise, so I'd try everything, identify the strongest talent, and then dig down into that one thing with everything I had!

"Come on! Let's go!"

I'll make you happy, poor little Nina! And let's not die pointlessly, Lee Hwayun! At minimum, spend every coin before the end—work like a dog, live like royalty, show me the money!

'Safety first! Simple living, genuine happiness! Health above all! Let's be happy! And please, no more injuries!'

I was mid-resolution, both hands raised in the air, when the wagon ground to a halt. I quickly dropped my hands and set the luggage bundle back on my lap.

The wagon door swung open. Sunlight flooded in so suddenly that I squinted hard.

"Good heavens! Hans, you brought a child like this? You could have at least opened a window! She must have been so frightened and stifled in here!"

My eyes hadn't adjusted yet—whoever was speaking, I could only tell she was a woman with a warm voice who was saying kind things about me.

You're absolutely right, miss. It was a less than ideal wagon for a child.

'Enough to rattle two personalities into one head, evidently.'

From somewhere in the distance, a thick male voice fired back.

"I brought her here in one piece, didn't I! Fed her three proper meals a day besides!"

The woman gently held my shoulder and shouted toward the driver.

"Was it black bread and a little water, or am I wrong? Good lord, that must have been at least three days on the road! Hans! I wouldn't put it past you! You weren't drunk at the reins again, were you? You terrible man!"

That's right! Terrible man! More! Give him more, miss!

'She's not wrong. The food situation was fairly grim.'

Exactly as she said—the driver's offerings had been black bread and a measured portion of water. His reasoning: drink too much and you need the bathroom.

Anyway. Drunk driving exists even here. That explains the rough ride.

"Up you come, dear! Well, at least she didn't get motion sick."

"Th-thank you. It wasn't that bad, really—I just had to sit still."

"Sitting still in a cramped space for three whole days! How could that possibly be all right? And Hans packed in extra cargo to squeeze out a few more coins. You poor thing! Come on down!"

I climbed carefully out of the wagon. The sudden light made me a little dizzy, but the kind woman steadied me, and I could walk without trouble.

"Welcome to Iberia. My name is Sabina Taylor."

I smiled at her—a wide, guileless smile—and looked up. Once my eyes adjusted, the first thing I noticed was brown hair swept neatly back.

She matched her personality: crisp, capable, a little brisk in the best possible way. Her height suited the dark navy maid's uniform perfectly.

"I'm Nina. I received the surname Cage."

"What a dear child. You must be exhausted from the journey."

Sabina reached out and smoothed my hair. The touch was gentle—real, considered kindness for someone small and tired. I felt an immediate and almost alarming warmth toward her. Genuinely good person. The kind who is actually soft toward the young and vulnerable. Incredible.

"I oversee the general operations of the palace for His Majesty at Castellium. You'll be serving as her poison-tasting maid, so we'll be seeing each other often. His Majesty is quite devoted to the Saint, whatever anyone might say."

I sorted the information as it came in. A palace manager for the king—high-ranking, clearly. She must be exceptional at her work.

'What's her actual position?'

She had said the general operations of the palace with precise finality.

The egg yolk of the whole operation. The essential center. Senior maid? Head of household? Either way, adjacent to the upper echelons.

'Why would someone that senior come out to receive me.'

Suspicious. Thoroughly suspicious.

I swallowed quietly. I didn't know the reason yet, but my body had already registered the tension.

"Were you frightened to come to Iberia? I understand you came from a temple orphanage?"

I shook my head quickly. Nina's short platinum hair swayed with the movement.

"I'm so relieved to be working somewhere like this! I never imagined I'd end up working in a palace!"

"Is that so? I thought the temple viewed Iberia as a heretical sect that dabbled in dark arts—glad it wasn't too much trouble for you."

I scratched my cheek lightly. Sabina was right. The temple's position on Iberia was exactly that—arrogant unbelievers who refused to bow to God. The whole world deferred to the Pope. Iberia was the country that didn't even go through the motions.

'Which was largely because Iberia was powerful.'

The reason they could afford to be arrogant toward the Pope was that Iberia was strong. The specifics of how strong were kept under wraps by those at the top, and Nina's memory didn't contain them. But even children understood that the Pope hadn't started a war with them because Iberia was not the kind of opponent you started wars with.

"Did the temple not express any concern?"

"A little, I think—they told me to write letters often."

"Oh?"

Sabina's clean, sharp eyes went narrow.

Instantly, the hair on my neck stood up. Lee Hwayun's instincts sent up a flare.

'I just stepped on a landmine.'

There's something there. There is definitely something about those letters.

Sabina walked on without speaking, apparently deep in thought. I followed quietly and watched her.

'What do I do?'

How do I get clear of this landmine?

'At a moment like this, the answer is: be honest.'

Act like a child who doesn't know anything. That's the only way to avoid unnecessary suspicion.

"Would writing letters even be possible? Iberia doesn't have much contact with the temple—it would be difficult to send anything. Did the temple give you carrier pigeons?"

"I don't know. They just said to send them through the Amor Trading Company."

"Is that right? The Amor Trading Company is a trading house that deals with both the temple and Iberia, I suppose."

I looked around at the palace like a child who found everything new and astonishing. It was mostly performance, following Nina's remembered gestures—but the conclusion had already landed.

'The letters are suspicious.'

Even trivial gossip from inside Castellium could be sensitive information. This was the heart of Iberia.

'Was Nina a spy?'

An informant, passing intelligence to the temple through letters without even understanding what she was doing?

'That's genuinely awful. Using a child that young as a spy?'

Nina was too innocent to hide anything. She'd probably been honest about everything she saw and heard without ever understanding its significance.

'Absolutely rotten.'

This might even be why Nina had died in the original story. Cold sweat prickled at my back. If that's the case, there are far too many ways for me to die here.

'I need to think carefully about those letters.'

There might be more going on than I can see. This was a landmine planted dead center on thin ice—step wrong and I wouldn't just blow up, I'd fall through the shattered ice into the water below and drown.

'What do I do? I have to do something.'

My instincts were clear. I needed to get clear of this suspicion, even a little. Otherwise it was only a matter of time.

I opened with a slightly unsteady voice, testing the water.

"I'm glad I came here. If I'd stayed, I probably would have been adopted."

Sabina's sharp expression shifted.

There it is. Working. Reading the room right—nothing builds rapport faster than a common enemy. So who to criticize?

The answer came immediately.

'The temple, obviously.'

Double-crossing both Iberia and sweet little Nina. Any loyalty I'd owed them had expired. I was going to live well here. I was prepared to discard God entirely for goodwill's sake.

'For that matter, Nina hadn't been particularly devout either. And Lee Hwayun was an atheist.'

Not that the deity here and the one back home seemed to have much in common anyway.

I trotted after Sabina like a small chick keeping pace with its mother and continued.

"The thought of being adopted terrified me. So I'm really glad I'm here instead."

Adoption in name only—a mask for people who used children for their own ends. The temple orphanage's trafficking was barely a secret. Dress it up in the right paperwork and they were untouchable.

And after a girl had served her purpose as an adopted daughter, past the age of her usefulness?

I pressed my lips together. Nina had known. She had known all of it.

"I see."

Sabina stopped walking and looked at the child's face directly. I pressed my lips together harder.

"Unfortunate that you're pretty. That would make it worse."

"The priest and nuns were genuinely kind. But there were older girls from the orphanage who had been adopted."

"The temple has always traded in human beings under the name of God. You're fortunate to be here, Nina."

The tone had softened again. I scratched my cheek and smiled the way a child smiles—wide, guileless, uncomplicated.

"I want to work hard and stay here!"

"My goodness!"

That surprised her. Sabina's eyes went wide. I could feel a small cut on my lip from biting it, but I ignored it and kept smiling. She had a direct personality—she would understand exactly what I meant.

"I want to find a proper position as soon as possible."

That is my goal, Sabina Taylor. So please—don't suspect me. The child doesn't know anything. What would a child know? So please. You're close to His Majesty. A good word would go a long way.

"You can't stay a poison-tasting maid forever, that's true."

"I want to learn something useful and do real work."

"That's a sweet ambition. Though the quickest path to stability is usually marriage—have you thought about that?"

I shook my head. Definitely not. Neither Nina nor Lee Hwayun had any interest in marriage. Nina's reasons were simple.

"There were girls at the orphanage whose fathers had killed their mothers. Then they'd show up to drop off the children."

The truth of it sat flat in her chest. Nina had been there when those fathers arrived—some of them crying, some of them not. A few had remarried before the year was out.

Sabina smoothed my hair again. I bit my cut lip and whispered.

"That's why I don't want to get married. I'm scared."

A genuinely excellent performance, even by my own assessment. The tremor at the end was a nice touch.

I could taste blood from my lip, but I didn't stop smiling. She was a direct person. She would understand precisely what I was communicating.