Chapter 20 #2
“Then you’ll just have to throw them off the scent, won’t you?”
When I didn’t respond, he forged ahead anyway.
“We have…plans for Rexim Shearwater. And as you may know, there’s a Chamber Seat now free, so those plans have been, shall we say, accelerated.
Just weeks from now, the Hundred will be voting for the person they want to fill that Seat, and our friend Brigant Shearwater is a shoo-in.
His voice will have the power to tip the Chamber one way or the other, and the Cage have tasked me with putting together a group to pay him and his family…
a little visit. Have a nice chat about how they might want to use their newfound political sway. ”
I remembered the luncheon. The proposals discussed there. Shrike’s and Crake’s ambitions for war. Orha funnelled to the armies, the navies. And Finch’s reforms, which Rexim, as a Regent, might end up having the deciding vote on.
“What does that mean?” I said. “You want to try to…work with Rexim? Get him to vote the way you want him to?”
He smiled. “Let’s call it…persuasion, shall we? Maybe his dear children can help him see reason.”
The mention of the siblings—of the Cage having plans for them—made something bizarrely close to possessiveness rise in me. “You don’t understand,” I said. “I know them, and I doubt they’ll be any more amenable to your cause. Except the youngest, Catua, maybe, but Rexim doesn’t listen to her—”
“Well,” he interrupted, “we have other…avenues we could go down. In fact, that brings me on nicely to your next task. The first part of it anyway.”
I blinked at him. First part?
“We need you to find out what they’re hiding.
Every Hundred family has their dirty little secrets.
Things they wouldn’t want their peers to know.
Rexim, his children, even his servants…there must be something.
Something we can use to convince your Brigant to hear us out.
But your word won’t cut it—we need proof. Physical items.”
Persuasion? No—this was extortion.
“Here’s a start,” my contact mused. “Why does Shearwater want the Seat so badly? He’s never shown much interest in politics before. I doubt it’s a strong sense of moral duty. And I doubt it’s only to keep Crake out.”
I frowned. “But if Rexim refuses to be…‘persuaded,’ won’t spreading his secrets mean Crake wins the vote?”
“We’re confident,” he said, “of Shearwater’s acquiescence. He wants this Seat as much as Crake does.”
I thought of Crake’s narrow gaze at the luncheon. “Floodmouths and Gustmouths to the navies down south.” “Does Crake really want war?” I ventured nervously. “Or is he just trying to impress Regent Shrike?”
“Both,” said my contact, his voice turning brittle.
“We have people stationed down in the Quaglands. Crake already seems to be calling up forces. As for Shrike, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors about Queen Annig…
The Hundred are thinking about who will come after.
And Shrike’s no exception. He’s Annig’s uncle.
Everyone knows he’s desperate for that crown.
But there are other contenders for it, including the Breovan King—another of Annig’s relations, albeit distant.
Shrike hates Breova because of its Charter, but war would take out a competitor for the throne, too. ”
K shook his head. “Shrike’s always thinking one step ahead, and Crake’s like a moth to a flame—he’s cozying up to him. With Crake in the Chamber, war is almost certain. And I expect you’ve figured out what that means for us Orha.”
I’d gone cold all over, but before I could respond, a dull thud sounded from somewhere above. My contact’s blue gaze flicked up to the ceiling. “We have to wrap this up,” he said, handing me two items. “The next part of your task is to make use of these.”
I stared down at the diminutive objects in my palm. Dark in color and exactingly made, they reminded me strongly of a hammer and chisel. Except the chisel narrowed to a wicked point, its tip made of a blacker, shinier material.
“Fashioned of pure nabyrium,” he said. “Designed to crack laconite in a very particular way.” He took them from me briefly, mimed tapping the chisel.
“Just a few taps will cause hairline fractures…You can practice first. Get a sense of how long it takes. Eventually the laconite degrades, stops working. The stone’s so dark it’s hard to tell it’s damaged, but the family might notice if you do too much too soon.
You’ll need to time it so the stones stop working just before we get there, on the sixteenth of Undalh.
Pallwater. Makes it easier, with the tides.
Oh, and don’t forget that when we get there, we’ll need whatever skeletons you’ve pried out of their closets. ”
I looked at him, incredulous. Another date. Another deadline.
“Why didn’t you give me these in the first place?” I hissed. “I was there, in their rooms…I could have done it then.”
“Three reasons,” he said brusquely, looking impatient. “First, we didn’t know if you were up to the job. We couldn’t risk your being caught—and with Cage tools on you. Second, we didn’t know how long Regent Dunlin had left. No point your getting started until we knew when we were coming.
“Third, and most important, we didn’t have your little tally. Didn’t have a clue what we’d be walking into. Turns out”—he tipped his head at my bodice, where I’d stashed my notes—“it’s not that much. Certainly not as much as some other Houses. Meaning, this plan is cranking into motion.”
He watched me carefully in the glimmer from the candle. I felt like a marionette twirling on a string, the Cage looming, blank faced, above me.
But I had to admit it: My choice was made. Had been as soon as I saw Zennia’s brooch. As soon as he said the tale I’d been fed was wrong.
I thought of Tigo and Rhianne’s shared glances. Of Llir’s watchfulness; his tenseness. Of Emment: “I’ve always thought I had a talent for acting.” I was sure they were still hiding something. I needed to know it.
“Okay,” I said, the word feeling weighty. The thought that the next time I saw my contact would be on Bower Island, with a group of Cage rebels, made my stomach churn with nausea.
And what then? After the Cage’s “visit,” after Rexim agreed to their demands…what of my future?
“But you need to promise me something in return,” I said. “That the Shearwaters won’t find out it was me. That you’ll keep your source for this information to yourself.”
A dark, knowing smirk tugged at his mouth.
“You’ll go back to trailing after the Shearwaters? You’ve found you like being a Hundred’s Orha?”
Right now I didn’t care what he thought of me. I needed to know I could get out of this alive—and with my sanctioned employment intact.
“Very well,” he said. “If that’s really what you want.”
“And what if I need to contact you?” I added. “If something unexpected happens?”
Another soft thump from somewhere above. His eyes flashed upward. “Same protocol as before. And by the way, the ‘K’ stands for Kielty.”
He was trusting me with his name. My work must have impressed him. I nodded, stowing the tools in my pocket. “The sixteenth of Undalh?” I said, squashing my nerves.
“The sixteenth,” he said. “Come on. I’ll see you out. Oh, and—” He glanced at the brooch, tossed it to me. I fumbled but managed to catch it, heart leaping. “You can have that, I suppose. A reminder. To be ready.”
With a wrench, I shoved the brooch deep into my jacket, where its edges pushed comfortingly against my skin.
“This way,” he said, adjusting his mask. And I let him lead me out of the cellar.