“As I said, you’re off-limits.”
We walked in silence after that, away from the Imperial cordon and into friendlier neighborhoods. Kells indicated a small cafe down a side street. We sat beneath the crimson-striped awning. I ordered a pot of coffee, currant-laced pastries, and a young sweet cheese for spreading. Kells ordered a pitcher of wine.
“You’ve heard about Nicco’s territory?” said Kells after the food arrived.
“I’ve heard,” I said, breaking open one of the pastries. It was more biscuit than pastry-dry and crumbly, but buttery sweet underneath the tartness of the currants. I spread on some of the cheese and found it overlaid the whole thing with a nutty smoothness. “How much of it did Rambles manage to take?” I said.
“About a third,” said Kells, “maybe a little more. The rest is still up for grabs.”
I grunted and had another bite. I would have been happier if Rambles had taken three feet of steel through his ribs instead, but life doesn’t always work out that way. He had known the war was coming before anyone else; it must have been easy for him to position his people to take control once things went to hell-or maybe even before then.
No, Rambles wasn’t stupid, but I was still going to need to kill the bastard one of these days.
Kells took a sip of wine and stared out at the street. He cleared his throat. “I heard about you and Degan,” he said. “You seem to be on a roll with turning on people, if you don’t mind my saying.”
I didn’t answer.
“Have you heard from him?” said Kells.
I thought back to the sight of Degan in the warehouse, of him turning away without a word. “No,” I said.
“Are you going to try to find him?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Do you think anything I could say would make a difference?” I said. “That he would forgive me if we could sit down over cakes and drinks and have a chat?”
Kells looked at the spread on the table and frowned. “No, he wouldn’t.”
“Nor will you,” I said. “So why are you here? If you’re not going to dust me, and not going to forgive me, then why? I can’t believe that Solitude has you running messages to me-not after our last meeting.”
Kells sat back in his chair. “To tell you you did the right thing,” he said. “You bucked me and you conned Shadow and you played Solitude, and I don’t think I could have done it, damn it, but you did. You put your head down and followed it through when just about anyone else would have walked. That’s worth something.”
“Maybe,” I said, “but it’s not enough. Not when I consider all the wrecked people I’ve left in my wake.”
“I never said it would be enough,” said Kells. “Just that it counts for something. That’s the price you pay for signing on to a cause. The sooner you realize that, the better-for you and for all the people you’ll end up using. And you’ll use them, trust me. You won’t have a choice.”
“What about you?” I said. “Have you signed on for anything?”
“You mean with Solitude against the emperor?” Kells stared out at the street. I was surprised he knew about that, but only mildly. He was Kells, after all. “I don’t know,” he said. “I was ready to work under Shadow, but that was different-that was climbing into bed with a Gray Prince. This other thing is”-he waved his hand vaguely in the air-“bigger. I don’t know.” Kells glanced at me. I took another bite of my food. “Why, are you planning on starting an organization?” he said.
I nearly choked at the suggestion. “Me?”
“You ran a hell of a game all by yourself, Drothe. The street is talking.”
“Me?” I said again, swallowing. I hadn’t considered doing anything except surviving once I had gotten rid of the journal. That had been the final move, as far as I was concerned. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m on my own-no allies, no organization, no muscle. How the hell am I supposed to do anything?”
“How were you supposed to juggle two Princes, as many Upright Men, a Kin war, and the empire?” said Kells. “A lot of the Kin may not like you for what you did, but they respect you for it-now more than ever. You did something no one thought could be done. That counts for a hell of a lot, believe me.”
I stared at Kells. Did people really think I’d had some sort of plan, that I had meant for things to turn out like this? I stared down at the crumbs of my pastry and shook my head. “Angels help me,” I muttered.
“Let me ask you something,” said Kells. I looked up. He was grinning.
“What?”
“How did it feel?” he asked.
“How did what feel?”
“Playing the Princes,” he said. “Conning the empire; balancing Nicco and me; doing the right thing, at least in your own book. How did all of it feel?”
I looked into his eyes and saw a yearning there, a hunger to know what it was like to do what I had done-to beat the odds, to pick a side, to do something, right or wrong, for a reason. And I wondered for the first time how many other Kin-how many other people-felt that same yearning.
“It felt good,” I said. “And it felt wrong. And it hurt, and it scared the hell out of me. And I still can’t say whether it was worth it.”
Kells nodded once, sharply. “Fair enough,” he said. Then he pushed his chair away and dropped to one knee on the other side of the table. Before I could react, he had reached across and taken my hand in both of his. “In that case, you are my Prince, if you will have me.”
I leapt back so fast, I nearly upended the table. “What?” I stammered.
Kells laughed. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist.” He gestured for me to sit, then did the same. “But you have to admit, it makes the point.”
“What, that you’re a twisted bastard?” I said.
“No, that the street has given you a promotion.”
I gawped. I knew I should have said something-or run away and hid-but all I could do was stare at my former boss with my mouth open.
“It’s true,” said Kells. “Word has been going around about how a new Gray Prince is rising up from the ashes of the war, how he bested Shadow and Solitude and a host of Upright Men-me included-and is even now in the process of putting his people in place throughout Ildrecca.” Kells took another sip of wine and then examined something in the bottom of the cup. He dumped the rest of the contents out on the ground. “Did you know people are already sporting your colors?”
“Colors?” I said. “I don’t have any colors!”
“The street, and probably about twenty Kin wearing them, say otherwise. I hope you like gray and green, by the way.” Kells poured himself more wine. “There are even whispers that Blue Cloak Rhys wants to meet with you. I’d recommend demanding a straight twenty percent off the top, by the way, since he’s approaching you first, and then charging a higher cut for any Rufflers and Uprights who come after. That’ll make Rhys feel special-and put him deeper in your camp-while encouraging some of the fence-sitters to get on board sooner rather than later. You need to build fast right now.”
“But I’m not a-”
Kells stopped me with a look. “Yes, you are!” he hissed. “You are a Gray Prince. The street says so, the Kin say so, and, based on how Solitude was talking about you, she’s ready to say so as well. With that many people believing, it doesn’t matter whether you agree with them or not, because they’re going to treat you like a Prince. And so are the other Princes.”
The other Princes. Shit. My stomach dropped even as I began scanning the street for likely Blades.
“Now you’re getting it,” said Kells. “I think Solitude is amused by the whole thing, but you can’t expect that sentiment from everyone.”
“Which means I need to recruit people and lie low. Fast.”
“Hmm. Wish I’d thought of that.”
I ignored Kells and continued to watch the street. Was that Purse Cutter looking at me strangely? And how about that beggar over there? Were they targeting me, or just checking out the newest Gray Prince?
Or was I being paranoid?
A woman with a child walked by and I caught myself following them with my eyes, my hand already on my dagger.