Chapter 39 #2
Alek’s mouth flattens into a pensive line. “Did they say anything about the clay? Did you find out what the drug is?”
“No. I didn’t want to question them too much about things someone who’s actually invested in the cause wouldn’t care about—or that I shouldn’t know about anyway.”
Casimir squeezes my shoulder. “That’s fine. You needed to protect yourself while you were out there at their mercy.”
I strain my mind, but nothing else comes to me. “The rest was all more of the same—vague statements about removing corrupt undeserving people from power, honoring the gods properly, blah blah blah.”
“All right.” Stavros stalks over to the mirror. He presses something on the back of it, and a faint thread of magic grazes my skin.
As he steps in front of the mirror, Stavros glances over at me. “I’ll do the talking, but you might as well stay here in case the king wants to speak to you directly again. For now, relax and recover.”
Casimir teases his fingers over my hair again. “When we’re finished here, I think you need a more enjoyable escape. I can book a bathing room like the one we used last time.”
I open my mouth to protest, with a pang of guilt both for the rejection I need to make and the fact that I didn’t reject other overtures last night.
But the courtesan holds up his hand to stop me.
“Just for you, Kindness. I’ll see which rooms are available and give you the instructions for accessing it.
You can have a soak and a sleep, in whatever order you wish.
” He aims his attention at Stavros. “As long as your ‘employer’ won’t begrudge you taking a day off. ”
Stavros’s jaw flexes, but he inclines his head slightly. “She needs it. And I only have one lecture today, so her absence won’t be all that conspicuous.”
His gaze sears into me, reminding me of all the things we haven’t really talked about yet. All the reasons I’d rather not catch up on my slumber in his quarters, where I doubt I’ll be able to relax much at all.
I clasp Casimir’s hand with the most affection I feel comfortable offering while knowing Julita is watching. “Thank you. I can’t imagine anything better after all of this.”
And then… And then I suppose tomorrow we’ll have to talk about where I go from here.
My gut starts to twist, but before my worries can expand very far, the surface of the mirror wavers.
King Konram’s image swims into clarity on the glass. His crown balances perfectly on his dark brown hair; his royal jacket and trousers look as neat as if he—or his assistants—spent an hour smoothing out every wrinkle.
If we’ve summoned him out of bed, he’s doing an impressive job of hiding that fact.
“Ster. Stavros,” he says in an equally smooth voice. “For you to be holding a meeting at this early hour, I assume you must have a matter of some urgency to convey.”
Stavros dips into a respectful bow. “Yes, Your Highness. Very much so.”
He summarizes the key points of what I told him much more succinctly than I managed in my still somewhat hazy state. I might appreciate his ability to cut to the chase more if my pulse hadn’t started thudding harder as I take in the king’s reaction—or lack thereof.
Konram is a consummate politician. Only the barest trace of emotion flickers through his expression at the revelation that the scourge sorcerers believe they’ll be murdering him within a few weeks’ time.
When Stavros is done, the king is silent for a stretch, absorbing the information. Then he shifts his position as if attempting to peer deeper into the room. “Your assistant who’s infiltrated their ‘Order of the Wild’—she’s still there with you?”
Stavros’s stance tenses, but he motions to me. “Yes, Your Highness. She’d be happy to answer any questions you have.”
Casimir’s hangover cure has dulled the effects of the drug enough that I can walk steadily if a little slower than usual over to the mirror. Stavros remains off to the side, a couple of paces away, as if he thinks I need guarding from the reflection of his king.
I dip into the lowest curtsey I trust myself to manage without losing my balance. “I’m sorry to have brought such dire news, Your Highness.”
“Better that I receive it than go unawares,” the king says with a hint of dryness that makes me like him a little better. “From what you’ve observed in your interactions with this group, Ster. Torstem is the leader of the conspiracy?”
“Yes, Your Highness. Whenever he’s been present, he’s been the one ordering the others around.
And he’s the head of the bug—the entomology—club that’s wrapped up in the group too.
He’s also the only one we know of who’s been finding the orphans to use as sacrificial accomplices.
And Wendos referred to him as an authority figure. ”
King Konram hums thoughtfully, his dark gaze turning more penetrating as he considers me. I’m abruptly aware of my hair hanging loose and probably tangled, of the wrinkles that’ve no doubt formed in my own clothing during my long night.
“You didn’t find any new information about who might have exploited the royal seal?” he asks.
“I’m sorry. They’re very careful about how much they say, and I couldn’t ask about it directly without revealing that I know more than a regular initiate should.”
“Understandable. I assume, then, that they still believe you are a regular initiate, loyal to their cause?”
Where is he going with this?
“Yes, Your Highness,” I say. “Ster. Torstem even asked me to meet with the entomology club tomorrow.”
“Excellent.” The king folds his hands in front of him. “I’m sure you can all appreciate that this is a delicate situation. The threat is imminent but unclear. If we wait for the traitors to strike, we may not be fully prepared.”
Stavros steps closer. “With your permission, I could rouse Ster. Torstem right now, arrest him and bring him to—”
“No.” Konram draws himself a little taller. “It’s clear we can’t hold back from action any longer, but if we only have Torstem, his imprisonment and trial may simply rile up his supporters and lead to a worse outcome.”
I frown. “You could have the bug club members we suspect taken into custody too.”
The king’s gaze settles back on me. “Stavros said you saw many more conspirators at the initiation ritual than could have been part of that club, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” I acknowledge. “There are seven members we’re reasonably sure are working with Torstem, but I counted around three times as many people at the initiation.”
“Then I think we need to strike while they’re all gathered together.
That will give us the absolute certainty that those we apprehend are guilty, and we can subdue most if not all of Ster.
Torstem’s followers in one swoop. It does us no good to quell a few of them if the greater portion are still plotting against the crown.
And as soon as they know we’re making arrests, those we haven’t captured will become even more cautious. ”
Stavros lifts his chin. “What do you suggest then, sire?”
King Konram’s attention remains on me. “You’ve proven yourself adept enough to assist in Stavros’s combat classes. I understand you’re quite good with a knife.”
“I—yes.” A chill creeps over my skin. “I can hold my own.”
“And Ster. Torstem has allowed you to get quite close to him during these rituals of theirs?”
I remember the closing of Torstem’s fingers around mine when he helped me to my feet just a few hours ago. “Yes, Your Highness, he has.”
“Then I think the course of action with the best outcome is obvious. The next time his Order of the Wild goes on one of their excursions, find a moment to stab him in the heart or slash his throat. In the ensuing chaos, disable their means of transport and flee after signaling your colleagues by your usual means. Stavros can bring a squad of soldiers to round up the other conspirators. Their distress over Torstem’s death should make them easy pickings.
And any remaining followers will be lost without a leader to rally around. ”
My heart stops for the space of a few beats.
Stavros makes a rough noise low in his throat. “Your Highness—you’re asking Ivy to assassinate—”
Konram’s gaze slides back to his former general.
“Let’s not think of it as an assassination.
That would violate the laws of fair trial.
But I’m sure I could forgive, even reward, a subject who was caught up in a horrible uprising and found the strength to strike at the instigators before it was too late. ”
“I should be the one—”
The king shakes his head at his former general, his expression turning almost bored as if he’s already done with the conversation.
“I can’t have Ster. Torstem slaughtered in the halls of the college.
The Crown’s Watch will be on guard, and if we have an opportunity to settle the issue sooner, we will.
But surely you can see that this strategy allows us the most discretion while removing the primary threat entirely. ”
“She is only an assistant,” Stavros insists. “It’s too much responsibility.”
“That’s not how you spoke about her before.” Konram studies me again. “What do you think, Ivy of Nikodi? Do you have the skills and the stomach to carry out this one final task to defend your country?”
Every part of me wants to scream No.
Images well up in my mind—my sister’s limp body, the crumpled corpse of the man who attacked me years ago, Esmae bleeding out on the floor. My stomach churns.
The king’s eyes pin me in place. Will he see me as a traitor too if I refuse him?
I’ve already cut off my own finger and stabbed a man on this terrible quest. Why wouldn’t he expect me to accept this demand too?
This is what the godlen would want anyway, isn’t it—the scourge sorcerers not just imprisoned but razed from the earth? That’s how they handled the last bunch.
But King Konram wants to keep up the appearance of a fair and honorable ruler before his people. Of course he’d have some minor noblewoman from a backwater county carry out the dirty work rather than handle it directly.
For an instant, a flare of anger cuts through my horror. This is the ruler I’ve risked so much to protect? How would he fare in one of those kingship trials if he were put to the test?
The moment the questions flit through my mind, I jolt back to reality with another flood of cold that drenches me from head to toe.
I’m thinking like the scourge sorcerers.
As if any of us can say whether the royal families of the past were the slightest bit more righteous than the one we have now. At least King Konram bothered to ask rather than order.
I square my shoulders, swallowing down my guilt at the traitorous thoughts that gripped me.
Why shouldn’t it be me with the blood on my hands? I’m more capable than the man before me has any idea of.
“I can do it,” I say, with only the slightest rasp in my voice.
Stavros sucks in a breath, but the king smiles before his former general has the chance to speak. “Then it’s settled. I look forward to hearing of your success.”
“Your High—” Stavros starts, but the mirror is already shimmering back to our reflections.
A taut silence fills the room. I wrap my arms around myself, my fingers curling into the edges of the cloak I retrieved in the scourge sorcerers’ cart.
Stavros spins toward me. “Why did you agree? You can’t want to play assassin.”
“Of course not,” I snap back, unable to hold back the quaver from the words now. “But how under the gods’ gaze am I supposed to say no to the king himself?”
Alek and Casimir come around the table to join us.
“You shouldn’t have to,” the scholar says, his tone raw with pain. “You’re not a killer.”
I force a shrug. “I am, though. And I said I wanted to see the scourge sorcerers destroyed. If this is the way to do it with the least damage to the people we’re trying to protect, then that’s the way it is.”
“If they catch you in the act, they’ll kill you.”
His voice breaks with the last word. I clutch my cloak tighter. “I know. But that was always true, wasn’t it?”
Except before I was doing everything I could to appease the scourge sorcerers. Now I’m going in with the intention of committing the worst crime any of the conspirators could imagine.
If I can’t flee quickly enough—
Dread pools in my gut. I don’t want to think about that.
“Ivy…” Casimir’s dark eyes flash. “I’ve tracked down someone who may have information that’ll give us a bigger picture. It might not be necessary to go quite that far after all.”
I smile at him with a twinge of gratitude, but I can’t summon any real hope. “Thank you.”
The courtesan touches my cheek and presses a quick kiss to my temple. “I’ll see about getting that bathing room for you. You’ll need that chance to unwind now more than ever. And if I can get you out of this awful mission, I swear to you, I will.”