“Oh, fine.” Maura makes a show of reluctance, though I can read the curiosity on her face. She stands, interlacing her hands behind her back and stretching her shoulders. “Excuse me, girls. I’ve been summoned.”
The girls titter like the brightly colored parrots in the pet shop down on Fourth Street, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I lead Maura across the hall into the healing classroom, careful to leave the door open a few inches. Less chance of either of us misbehaving that way.
Maura perches on top of Sister Sophia’s desk. “What is it, Cate? I don’t appreciate you dragging me away from my friends.”
I lean against the wooden cabinet that holds Bones, the skeleton we use for anatomy classes. “Something very strange happened to Tess last night.”
“I heard,” Maura says. “Not from her, of course. From Parvati. Lord forbid either of you tells me anything.”
“What did you hear, exactly?”
Maura adjusts one of the gold combs in her hair. “That Tess had a nightmare and got hysterical. That you didn’t help matters by accusing everyone of being out to get her.”
“It wasn’t a nightmare.” I shiver. “Someone cast the illusion of her bed being on fire. It’s the second time someone has tried to frighten her like this. Last time it was in broad daylight. We’d just gotten back from shopping, and she walked into her room to find Cyclops hanging from the curtain rod with a note saying You’ll be next.”
Maura frowns. “Why didn’t you come to me sooner? She’s my sister, too, you know.”
“I’m coming to you now. Who would do such a thing?” I fight the temptation to point out that if Maura hadn’t blabbed to Inez, no one would know Tess is the oracle, and there would be no reason to target her.
“I haven’t the foggiest.” Maura’s blue eyes narrow thoughtfully.
“Tess thinks someone’s trying to discredit her. Make her seem too young and silly to lead.”
“She is too young,” Maura says. “If we were back in Chatham, she wouldn’t even be attending teas or dinner parties yet. When the time comes that the Brotherhood falls—and that time is coming, mark my words—we can’t put a twelve-year-old in charge of New England.”
“I’m not against Tess requiring a regent until she comes of age, but—”
“But you think it should be you, not Inez.” Maura kicks her gold slippers against the side of the desk. Thud. Thud. Thud.
“Actually, I think it should be Elena.” The idea’s been spinning around in my mind for days, and the words come out before I think through the wisdom of sharing them.
Maura freezes. “What?”
“I’m not an ideal candidate. I know that. But Elena’s brilliant. Strategic. Manipulative when she needs to be, but she can be kind, too. After Inez, she’s the best witch we have. Her magic might not be as strong as ours, but she has more experience.”
“You want Elena to lead until Tess is ready,” Maura says slowly.
“Yes.” I take a desk from the front row and turn it around so I can sit on the top, facing my sister. “I don’t want it for myself. It’s never been about that for me. I just want it to be someone who cares about people—all people, not just men, not just witches, and not just the rich. Someone who believes in equality.”
Maura is staring at me like I’m a stranger. “Why, Cate, have you been reading political theory?”
I laugh. I’m not ready to make peace, far from it, but perhaps we can have a momentary truce? “Just the Gazette.”
“I think Elena would be a good leader.” Maura flushes. “But what about Inez? She’s been so good to me. I can’t betray her.”
I clench my teeth as hurt lances through me. She can’t betray Inez, whom she’s known all of two months? She had no trouble betraying me. “What is it that she’s done for you, besides flatter you and let you practice mind-magic?” I scowl, thinking of the men lying comatose in Richmond Hospital. “Made you responsible for murder?”
“We haven’t murdered anyone,” Maura snaps, jumping off the desk.
“As good as.” I shake my head. “Do you even know what she’s plotting now?”
Maura huffs. “If you’re referring to Alice’s ridiculous accusation—”
“I’m not,” I interrupt. “Why has she been spending her afternoons at Richmond Hospital with Brother Covington?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Maura plants her hands on her hips, but her shifty eyes give her away.
“I saw her there today with my own eyes, so there’s no point in denying it. The nurses said she’s been there all week.” I raise my eyebrows as a thought occurs to me. “Was your mind-magic on Covington not entirely successful? Is there a possibility he could wake up and tell what happened?”
“Wouldn’t that make you happy, to know I failed?” Maura’s hands clench in her sapphire skirts. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but that’s not it.”
“Well, whatever it is, Inez is hiding something. Maybe she’s the one threatening Tess.”
“No. She wouldn’t do that.” Maura lifts her chin. “She promised.”
“That’s the woman you’d have rule New England? One you’d have to beg not to hurt your little sister?” I snap. “You should never have told her Tess was the oracle.”
Maura strides over to the window, her shoulders stiffening. She’s quiet for a long moment, gazing out at the dreary winter garden. “It isn’t Inez.”
“Forgive me if I don’t take your word for it.”
Maura spins around. “She swore an oath to me, Cate. She swore on her husband’s grave that she wouldn’t hurt Tess.”
“She . . . what?” I manage. “Inez was married?”
My sister nods. “In the Spanish territories. One of the Brothers’ guards caught them sneaking across the border down in Maryland. The guard shot her husband in the head before her very eyes. So she compelled the guard to shoot himself.” Maura shivers. “That brooch she always wears—it’s got locks of her husband’s hair in it.”
Interesting. So it’s not just power Inez has been craving all these years. It’s revenge, too.
“Who else would want to discredit Tess?” I ask, refocusing on the matter at hand. “It would have to be someone who supports Inez. Someone like . . .” I trail off. I don’t want to suspect Maura. She seemed genuinely surprised that the incident last night wasn’t the first. But Alice has come around of late, Parvati isn’t powerful enough, and frankly, I don’t see any of the other girls having the initiative to plan a campaign like this.
“You’re wondering if it was me, aren’t you.” Maura bites her lip. “Do you really think so little of me? You think I’d hurt Tess?”
“You hurt me.” The words slip out before I can stop them.
“That’s—” Maura pauses, but we both know what she was about to say. That’s different.
Why? What about our relationship is so fundamentally broken that she would think that? What did I ever do to her?