Nightshade City by Hilary Wagner

dear. You must stay quiet,” whispered Mother Gallo. She looked around Clover’s quarters as if a Kill Army soldier might be hiding in a corner. Such slanders led to dire penalties. “Look at me,” she said sternly. She held Clover by the shoulders. “Clover, it is imperative that you answer me candidly. I may work for the Ministry, but that doesn’t mean I condone everything they do. Now, you must tell me again with certainty, lest you be making a grave error injudgment.” Clover nodded. “Clover, are you telling me you do not want to be a Chosen One? You do not want to be with High Minister Killdeer?”
    Stiffening her body, Clover looked into Mother Gallo’s eyes, answering without hesitation. “I do not.” She walked over to her parents’ bed and flopped down on it like a rag doll. She carefully removed Nomi’s tiara and necklace, and stared at the silver’s intricate floral pattern. “I wanted to say no, but I thought Billycan might cut my tongue out.”
    Stunned, Mother Gallo sat down on the stool Clover kept by the fire pit. “Clover, you did the right thing by accepting. Billycan surely would have cut your tongue out—or worse. Here I thought you wanted this. I thought you were happy. All the others seemed to be so thrilled by the idea. It never occurred to me … I’m bewildered.” Mother Gallo tapped her foot nervously. “What to do? What to do?” she mumbled to herself. She needed to tread lightly. No one in the Ministry could be trusted. She’d always thought the Minister a bullying degenerate with the character of a cockroach—cockroaches not being known for their strong moral fiber. She’d known Killdeer as a boy, well before Trilok banished him from the Catacombs. Even as a lad, he was a detestable bounder who exuded an air of entitlement.
    “My dear, what does your grandfather think of all this? Does he know of your unhappiness? Surely he wants the best for you.”
    Clover shifted awkwardly. With no one else to turn to, she had to take a chance. For now she’d keep quiet about Juniper. She needed to be sure she could trust the seamstress first, without endangering her uncle or his hidden city. “Mother Gallo … my grandfather is long dead,” she said plainly. “He did take care of me at first, but he died a year after my parents. A family friend pretends to be my guardian, my grandfather Timeron, so the Ministry still thinks he’s alive, insuring Iwon’t be sent to the Kill Army kitchens. For now, Billycan thinks my grandfather has gone Topside in search of a healer.”
    “And this family friend?” asked Mother Gallo. “Has he been looking out for you all this time?”
    “He occasionally walks through the Combs in my grandfather’s cloak. That way, at least others will see him, but mostly I take care of myself.”
    “You’ve been alone all this time? My goodness, how did you manage to survive on your own for so long?”
    Clover removed the sash from around her waist. “At the time my grandfather died, I didn’t know what to be scared of, so I suppose being so young was a good thing. Even the loneliness became ordinary, and I got used to looking after myself.”
    Amazed and impressed, Mother Gallo began to gather her things. Any female clever enough to concoct a story that Billycan believed, or at least accepted, deserved her freedom. She headed towards the door, thinking how much better her children had it. Her title in the Ministry had given them an easier life, if such a thing existed in the Combs. With Mr. Gallo dead six years back, killed instantly when a corridor collapsed, she’d had no choice but to accept Killdeer’s offer to employ her. The well-being of her children forced her to stick with a job she loathed, working for the despicable Killdeer.
    She touched Clover’s chin with the tips of her paw, and leaning in close, she spoke softly. “I need time to think. The Grand Speech is a day away, just barely. Hear me, now, we will find a way out of this.