Heartbeat

Chapter 10- Meg

The ending of Spring brought a thick humidity in Ketterdam, and Meg's office had no ventilation. Sweat dripped down her forehead to her nose, but she didn't bother wiping it away. Her pursuit had not stopped, although she had tried several times to tell Sal to stop helping her. Sal continued to work alongside her. They both had cover work ready in case one saw Clem or Granny coming. Sal would frequently check to ensure preemptive time to tuck away their experimentations.

Meg was huddled over her work; replicating parem hadn't been as easy as she had thought. Recently she had devised a more efficient way to break down a substance using all the knowledge she had gained as an Alkemi. It. It helped her understand her last few particles, but attempting to recreate it was not yielding results. She was sure her first batch had been the best, but without testing it, she had no idea.

"You sure we shouldn't try to get someone to try it?" Sal communicated to Meg, who wiped the sweat away with the sleeve of her shirt before responding.

"Clem is right; we can't call in our indentures for this one. And there are few of those indentures who are Grisha anyway."

"Are you thinking about trying it on yourself?" Meg paused and thought.

"I've thought about it, but I'm not ready yet. What if it works, and then I can't recreate it?"

'What if it works and then being on parem helps you create more?"

There it was. Sal asked the question Meg had mulling over for weeks. Meg stared off, not looking at Sal. Finally, she pointed at herself, shook her head no, and tapped her forehead.

"I don't know."

Meg sighed. She hadn't spoken to anyone but Sal for several weeks. Some of the other Pigeons had done quick check-ins about their production, but Meg had almost all but ignored them. She wasn't interested in the rest of her work, which was becoming noticeable.

"I'm surprised Clem hasn't shown up to check on what we're doing." Meg communicated more to herself than Sal. She found that she used Hand so frequently with Sal now that she did it while thinking her thoughts. Meg watched Sal as she hesitated in her response.

"What?" She asked her.

"Word's going around. Granny's not looking at Clem anymore." Meg was startled. Clem's whole life was destined to take over the Widows. Meg had resented her for it and had never considered that Granny would change her mind. She never doubted Granny's ability for cruelty but had never seen it used against Clem.

"Who told you this? Dal?" Sal was suspicious of the words from Clem's Mice, even though that was their primary job. She had heard of them making up rumours for payment in the past. Granny had put out a false lead to test their loyalty. Two mice were caught for lying and changing the story, and even Clem couldn't stop their punishment. Meg had argued with Clem about it. She called it kind that Granny didn't torture them but rather used a bullet.

"No, Zelda did when I got our lunch the other day. Dal won't hear a word of it. But I don't think they're happy with Clem either."

Sal finished her statement but then realized her mistake. Sal and Dal had a particular allegiance to each other as siblings; Meg didn't want to come between them.

"Don't worry, Sal; you never said a word." Meg paused and considered what Sal had said. "Did Zelda tell you this? Or you overheard them?"

"She told me. A few people were around."

This worried Meg; people usually knew not to speak against Clem so openly. But, on the other hand, there may have been truth to it.