The Silent Deal (The Card Game #1)

Ch 8 - The Search Begins

CHAPTER 8

THE SEARCH BEGINS

  

Shock must have registered on Viktor’s face, because Romulus was quick to ask, “What’s wrong? What does it say?”

Viktor’s voice shook as he read:

 

“‘Ogafia Dimovna,’

“‘The king of spades card resurfaced. A Faithful Son may be on the move. The Mummer’s Dance was inconclusive. Information is of great value to us, so be wary of any criminal talk. If you notice any suspicious behavior among your students, notify me immediately. Whether elder or youth, death awaits this lawbreaker. Gallows come next.’

“‘Captain Ulfrik, loyal servant of the Leopard.’”

The boys shared a dark glance, both coming to the same conclusions: Their teacher was a spy of the enemy, and if this letter had fallen into her hands, it would’ve resulted in their deaths.

For a long week, Viktor and Romulus didn’t dare interview their classmates or draw any sort of attention to themselves. They even kept their distance from each other during classroom hours, worrying that Dimovna might learn of their friendship. Their afternoons, however, were spent in the forest, each boy teaching the other in subjects unversed.

True to his word, Romulus began to reveal secrets of the forest to Viktor, and very early on, it became clear that his knowledge of the woods was not a collection of facts but rather a rounded mastery, an understanding that prepared him for any situation and allowed him to recognize that which was significant.

“Take that sap for instance,” Romulus said, pointing to the orange ooze that leaked out of the heart carved in Mother’s Kissing Tree.

Viktor gazed at the oak from the edge of the tree line. “What of it?”

“Well, seeing sap means that the weather’s been warm for a while, and dried sap means that the weather was warmer earlier, but either way, it changes the actions of the animals in the forest. See, if it’s mid-autumn and animals sense a warm weather pattern, they’ll be bold to go after food.

“Foxes, badgers, polecats, and pine martens are prowling for rodents, insects, grasses. It’s a great time to hunt game, but you’ve got to be careful. Snakes are underfoot. Birds will chirp your position to the whole forest. And all those plump animals bring out the forest heavyweights—elk, wolves and wolverines, lynxes, and even Siberian tigers. Those animals could feed you for months, but you could feed them for days, so you better make sure you’ve gotten it the right way around.”

 Viktor shivered. “Say, where’s Blizzard?”

“You saw the sap.”

Often Romulus quizzed Viktor until he learned to identify different plants and their uses, from Norway spruce to Scots pine to the shiny white trunk and brilliant green leaves of the silver birch. Viktor even began to roll the Siberian fir’s needle-leaves in his hands and then pat his neck, for Romulus confided that nobles paid a fortune for the same bottle of cologne.

“What clovers are we walking on?” asked Romulus one afternoon.

“Zigzag and dropwort,” said Viktor, recalling a lesson.

Romulus pointed to an overhanging tree. “And that?”

“Everyone knows that’s a willow. It’s one of the few plants you don’t have to teach me about.”