Chapter Ten #2
Silas thought of Strider’s comment about someone possibly hearing the explosion.
Mr. Oakley’s chambers were close to the library, where the old man could keep an eye on his precious books.
Was his death really an accident? Or was someone getting rid of a witness?
The librarian had succumbed to the smoke in his lungs rather than the fire but was there more to his death?
Maybe the culprits only knew that the files had been removed, but they didn’t know where they’d been moved to. The Records Room would be the most logical place.
“You said the Council Chambers were unaffected?” Silas asked.
“Relatively,” Strider agreed. “The smoke spread further than the fire, so I can’t guarantee things weren’t damaged.”
That meant either the culprits had found what they were looking for, or they were interrupted before their search moved to the next room. Perhaps the spreading fire scared them into abandoning their task.
If the palace fire was related to the traitor’s documents, maybe Silas could find some clues amidst their files. “Would it be safe to enter them? I don’t want to worry about the ceiling falling on my head.”
Strider stroked his chin. “Structurally, it should be sound, but I’d like to do a full safety inspection before you start working in there, Your Majesty.”
“How long?” Silas asked.
“I could finish it by the end of the day.”
Silas wasn’t happy about the delay, but he didn’t think it was smart to argue with the professional. “Let me know as soon as it’s safe to enter.” After a moment, he added, “And if you find anything of interest.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
Discovering who set the fire and why they did it wouldn’t fix the palace, but maybe Silas could prevent any further tragedies. Right now, he was holding himself and his kingdom together through sheer stubbornness, and he wasn’t sure how many more blows they could withstand.
During the prison break, Archer had captured one traitor alive.
The others had either escaped or died on an Arnsveldian’s sword.
Unfortunately, the traitor was only a pawn following his comrades’ lead.
The information they’d obtained from him had been a handful of names and the knowledge that a ship had been waiting nearby to whisk Varro away.
From the harbor master, they learned that one ship had sailed off during the night of the fire.
It had been there for the evening count and gone by the next dawn.
The dockworkers had all been distracted by the fire, gathering water to extinguish the flames.
No one saw who boarded the ship or watched it leave.
The harbor master did know the name of a man who had come looking for a ship to hire: Noah Harland, second born son to Lord Garan Harland. Although now his father was only a former lord, after Silas stripped him of his title.
The trail went cold after that, so Archer pivoted his attention to interrogating the soldiers one by one to see what information they were willing to give, and what they accidentally let slip.
For the interrogations, Archer needed somewhere quiet and removed from spectators but also somewhere close to the soldiers, so that they didn’t have to parade the suspects through the streets.
He took over one of the captain’s offices in the Bellacostan barracks, where the soldiers were currently being held on house arrest.
Despite the medic’s orders, Griselda refused to sit in a chair, insisting: “I will not show weakness in front of those mongrels.” They’d compromised and propped her up against one wall, near the door, leaning nonchalantly with one arm casually resting over her stomach.
As each soldier was led in, her nostrils flared, and she inhaled deeply.
She’d always had the innate ability to scent magic or poison, something that had saved Archer more than once.
Depending on what she smelled, she displayed a number of fingers: one for ‘clear’, two for ‘suspicious’, and three for ‘magic.’ Of the soldiers they’d interrogated so far, only two had been flagged suspicious, the rest were clear.
When Emera led in the next soldier, Griselda immediately flashed three fingers. Archer sat up straighter, narrowing his eyes at the man.
“Finally started to show your true colors?” the soldier asked, his chin raised in defiance.
“Private Jasper Pecora,” Sergeant Darian provided. The sergeant had joined the interrogations because he was their best source of information until they could access Varro’s files stashed within the Council Chambers.
Jasper sneered at Darian. “Traitor.”
Darian stared his fellow soldier down, unblinking. “The traitors are the ones who set fire to the palace, killing innocent civilians for the sake of a man who sought glory and power above peace.”
“Funny, because I think that perfectly describes the man you’re standing behind.”
“We didn’t set fire to the palace,” Archer said. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard the accusations, and it wouldn’t be the last.
“Neither did I.”
“What were you doing during the fire?”
“Sleeping,” Jasper replied. All the soldiers were manacled before being removed from their quarters, but he ignored the heavy chains as he rested his arm along the back of the chair in a relaxed pose.
“Through the smoke and shouting?” Darian asked, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.
“I’d been through a full eight-hour shift and four hours of training led by this bitch,” Jasper tossed the last word over his shoulder at Griselda. “A tidal wave couldn’t wake me.”
“Who are your bunkmates?” Archer asked.
Jasper ignored the question, instead asking Darian, “How’d they buy your loyalty?
A promotion?” Something he saw in Darian’s face made his eyes light up and he straightened.
“That’s it, isn’t it? Are you taking Varro’s place?
No wonder you’re so eager to remove anyone loyal to him. You’re eliminating the competition.”
The statement held some truth. Griselda had talked about training Darian into a proper general after he’d fought Alistair alongside them.
Although they sometimes butted heads, Darian’s skill with a sword and loyalty to Silas had impressed both Archer and Griselda.
It was also true that Darian hadn’t chosen his side based on what Archer or Silas would do for him but based on what Alistair and the other advisers had done to Arnsveld and Bellacosta.
“What would you do for your country?” Archer asked.