Chapter 23: Mabel
The walk back to my quarters was quiet, Sassafras trotting along at my feet. I expected my grandfather to appear and try
to bully me, but he remained absent, much to my happiness. Not that I was left alone, though. When I entered my appointed
suite, I immediately went to Bakari who waited for me by the large, square window looking out over the city.
"They are here," he said without preamble.
His pronouncement brought me to a halt as I tried to fathom what he was talking about. My mind lingered, still in the
mine, worrying about-
"The Planeless." I spoke the name in a gasp of escaping air. "How many?"
He shrugged, the graceful act of an irritated animal. "Not many," he said. "Yet. They remain thin and scattered in
number. But the incidents of this new nectar use are climbing and, I fear, are connected as you thought to the rise of
the cult."
Why was I not surprised he knew of the nectar and my suspicions of its use? For all I knew, his sect had spies