Going to the empire meant not only being cast out, but also hunted, by the Kin. Why was I even considering this?
Because the alternatives were worse: Shadow as the Dark King, Kells as a lackey, and me under it all; or even worse, Solitude in charge, with Nicco at her left hand. Neither scenario appealed, and neither offered a very comfortable place for me once all the dust settled. Either I would work for a man I couldn’t help but see as broken, or spend all my time trying to dodge the Blades Nicco would send after me in droves. And in the end, the Kin would be crushed by the empire, anyhow.
No, far better to be the Nose who had walked into the emperor’s lair and saved the Kin, or at least tried. Even if they all turned their backs on me for doing it, none of them would forget me. I could live with that.
The only part I would regret would be having to betray Kells to do it, but I knew he wouldn’t give his blessing to this. He’d already decided on Shadow, and I couldn’t watch him follow that path.
“You need what?” repeated Degan.
“I need to get the hell out of this cordon,” I said.
“Not that I’m arguing,” said Degan, “but why?”
I stepped off to one side, away from the passing Kin.
“Kells wants to give the journal to Shadow,” I said.
Degan drew back. “Shadow?” he said. “How did…?”
“I just know,” I said.
“And I take it you don’t like this idea?”
“No. Nor do I want it to go to Solitude.”
Degan stared at me. “Solitude,” he said. “So she’s the other Gray Prince involved in all this?”
“The one from the dream, yes.”
Degan stared at me some more. “You know,” he said at last, “I’m really starting not to like you. Not at all.”
“Get in line.”
“Dare I even ask what you want to do with it?”
I hesitated a moment before answering. “I want to give it to the person it belongs to.”
“Ioclaudia?” said Degan. “That’d be a hell of a trick, considering
… Oh. Not Ioclaudia. Him.”
“Yeah.”
Degan considered. “Well, that would solve a number of problems at once.”
“That’s my thought.”
“Assuming he lets you live.”
“That’s the hitch,” I admitted.
“Do you have any idea how you might get the journal to the emperor?”
“I’m working on that,” I said.
“Which means you don’t have any ideas.”
I shrugged.
“Well, one thing I know for sure,” said Degan as he took my elbow and started leading me out of the compound. “You aren’t going to find the emperor standing around here.”
I couldn’t argue with his logic. Instead, I handed Degan one of Kells’s war cords and tied another on myself.
I steered us eastward into Kells’s territory for a bit, then cut north. That would lead us into one of Nicco’s strongholds, but our best chance of getting out of Ten Ways lay in that direction. The empire would be slow in closing down the Dancer’s Highway, but, even if they did, there were broken patches of wall and several inviting drainage grates in that part of the cordon.
The streets were empty, or nearly so, with only a few Kin patrols, a couple brave or oblivious Lighters, and us. We dropped the war cords just inside the edge of Kells’s territory, to better avoid being stopped once we left.
“So once we get out of here,” said Degan as we crouched in the deeper darkness of an archway, “where to?” We could hear fighting a few blocks away.
“Christiana’s,” I said. “I need to get to court, or at least get word to the emperor’s people, and she has the connections to do it.”
“And you think she will?” said Degan. He sounded more than a bit dubious.
“Are you kidding? She’ll balk and bitch and threaten, but she’ll do it. How often do you get to do the emperor this kind of a favor? It’ll do wonders for her at court. Besides, the idea of being able to put me over that big of a barrel, and the price she’ll be able to ask for doing it, will be too good for her to pass up.” I looked over at Degan. “What?”
He was smiling. “Just noticing the family resemblance.”
“Bite your tongue.” But I grinned, too.
The fighting wasn’t getting any closer, so we moved out into the street. Four more blocks and we would be in Nicco’s territory. From there it would be a zigzag path to the section of the Dancer’s Highway I wanted to try. With luck, we’d be out of Ten Ways within the hour.
We’d gone maybe half a block when I heard a soft, metallic ting in the air. A moment later, a copper owl arced in front of me. It bounced on the street once, twice, before landing in a puddle of mud.
Oh, hell.
Degan was in front of me before the coin came to rest, his sword out. I didn’t move. There was no point. I looked around Degan into the empty street and waited.
Shadow stepped out of a patch of his namesake, as if forming himself from the very darkness. Degan adjusted his shoulders and raised the tip of his sword to compensate for Shadow’s height. Otherwise, he didn’t move.
Shadow stopped five paces away. The dark cowl turned toward Degan.
“I’m not here for you,” he said in his deep velvet and iron tones.
“I know,” said Degan.
“You know who I am?”
“Yes.”
“And will you move?”
“No.”
Shadow crossed his arms. “Then we have a problem.”
“One of us does,” said Degan. “The other just has to figure out what to do with the body.”
I reached out and put my hand on Degan’s shoulder. “It’s all right,” I said. I looked past Degan to Shadow. “I’m too valuable to dust right now.”
Shadow didn’t dispute the claim. “Walk with me,” he said instead. “We need to talk.”
“What’s to talk about?” I said. “I know what you want. I know what you can do to me. I’m impressed. But you’re still not getting the journal until I say otherwise.”
“You?” said Shadow. “I thought that was Kells’s decision.”
“We’re still discussing that.”
“I thought you might be too used to running on your own to go back to the leash. I see I was right.”
“Clever you,” I said. I moved to step around Degan and Shadow.
“If you want to get out of Ten Ways, I can help,” said Shadow. “If you talk with me. If not, well”-he held up open hands-“the legions have closed the Dancer’s Highway, and I have men at most of the other breaks in the perimeter near here. I’m sure you could still find a way out, but who knows what-or who-might be waiting on the other side?”
I stopped. The longer it took to get out of Ten Ways, the less likely I’d be able to get word to the emperor in time. That was, if Shadow even let me leave.
“Assuming we talk,” I said. “What happens when I tell you to go to hell and refuse your offer?”
“You leave,” he said. Shadow stepped back a pace and gestured down the street. “But at least walk with me and hear what I have to say.”
Degan glanced at me, his eyes questioning. Kill him? they said. I shook my head. No. Talking would be marginally less dangerous than trying to dust him.
“All right,” I said. “You lead. We’ll be a step behind.”
“The degan wasn’t included in the invitation,” said Shadow.
“Fine,” I said. It was proper Kin protocol, anyhow. If Shadow walked alone during negotiations, so should I. Theoretically, he was treating me as an equal by doing this. I wasn’t particularly flattered, given the circumstances.
“Follow by half a block,” I said to Degan. He frowned but nodded. I set out with Shadow.
“You have to know that Kells will fall without my support,” he said after a few paces.
“He hasn’t been doing too damn hot with it. Your stepping away may help more than it hurts.”
“We both know better than that. With the empire surrounding the cordon, Kells has no place to retreat. He might have been able to back out of Ten Ways and hold Nicco at bay before, but not now.”