Chapter 25 Sheuan #2
Oh, for the love of all the green plants in the realm – there was something so pathetically simple about the man that it almost circled back to endearing.
She nearly felt bad about all this. She pressed her chest against his, let her lips brush the space next to his mouth.
“We shouldn’t,” she finished for him. She moved her hand down his neck, pressing her thumb lightly into the hollow above his collarbone.
His pulse leapt beneath her palm. “You owe me, Nimao.”
“Yes.” An ecstatic whisper. “Anything.”
Quickly and deliberately, she pushed away from him, seized her teacup, and dumped the now-cold liquid onto his lap.
He gasped and sputtered and looked like nothing so much as a fish that unexpectedly found itself hauled onto dry land.
She stood over him, her skirts brushing against the floor. “The Sovereign’s special enforcers. How did your family help them when he was making his bid for this realm?”
“What?”
She spoke again, more slowly and forcefully. She wanted him to answer while he was confused, before he could come up with any convenient lies. “How did your family help the Sovereign’s special enforcers? Tell me now. As you said – anything.”
He brushed at his lap, still bewildered. “My family helped to usher those enforcers into places they didn’t belong. It was about access to people. Important people.”
“What happened after that? After they gained access?”
Nimao frowned, his generous mouth a pout. “What’s this all about? I don’t know what the enforcers did. I wasn’t there.”
“Did they hurt anyone?”
He shook his head, vehement. “No, nothing like that.”
So. It was magic then. She could put the pieces together in her head.
Magic that helped them get information from people without hurting them.
That would have given the Sovereign a stark advantage.
Hm. Interesting. Nimao moved to rise, and she put a hand to his chest, stopping him.
“How did the Risho clan become acquainted with the Sovereign? Your clan was noble before the Sovereign promoted you to royal status. So how did a noble family connect with someone of no rank?” She pointed, dragged a finger to his sternum.
Nimao licked his lips. “He smuggled god gems. The Risho clan was an important customer.”
A smuggler. Of god gems. It made sense – the Sovereign had never seemed particularly devout.
There was a nave in the bowels of the castle, fallen into disuse, and only a few religious relics scattered throughout the building.
A relief of Kluehnn’s all-seeing eye in the dining hall, a painting of one of his terrible aspects in the room the Sovereign used for his formal meetings.
She pieced together what she knew of Langzu’s recent history.
“The Hangtao clan found out,” she said slowly.
“Through an informant or sloppiness, it doesn’t matter, they realized the Risho clan was purchasing a goodly number of god gems from this smuggler.
They used it to pressure your clan, to get concessions from them that they wanted.
But that didn’t sit well with your family.
They were willing to do many things to get out from under Hangtao’s thumb – including partnering with a criminal. ”
Nimao said nothing, which she expected. He’d let something slip that he shouldn’t have, and now he was sullen and quiet.
But she could tell, from the brief flinch, that she was correct.
The Hangtaos had been the most powerful of the clans before the Sovereign had taken over.
With the help of his enforcers, and probably with the assistance of the Rishos as well, he’d eliminated the Hangtao clan entirely in one bloody night.
Which had left a convenient opening amongst the royal tier.
It made sense for the Risho clan and the Sovereign to work together – they’d had a common enemy.
Was this the information her father had had?
The Sovereign wouldn’t care if his trade minister knew about his sordid past, nor the Rishos’ greed for god gems. It seemed far too mild a piece of information to execute someone over.
But it was a start, like uncovering the rooftop of a buried city.
Her instincts told her there was more beneath.
She knew she wouldn’t get anything else from Nimao, so she held her hand out to him, helped him to his feet. He looked completely out of sorts, still trying to piece together exactly what had happened. She resisted the urge to pat his cheek. “I do hope things between you and Liyana work out.”
This time she didn’t guide him anywhere; she led him to the door as he followed her like a little lost lamb. She opened the door to let him leave.
One of the Sovereign’s special enforcers stood there, a silver cherry blossom pinned to the collar of his jacket.
Sheuan hadn’t heard him approach, hadn’t heard even the creak of a floorboard from the hallway. Yet here he stood, gaze indiscernible. Had he heard anything? If so, what exactly had he heard?
“The Sovereign wishes to see you. Now.”