“ The good news,” Maldynado whispered, “is that they’re looking for Akstyr instead of us. The bad news is that they’re looking for Akstyr. That means they know our team is aboard.”
“ At least they haven’t found him yet. Of course, we haven’t found him either. I’m supposed to be in charge here, and I lost one of my men not ten minutes into the assignment.”
“ Now, now, it’s not that bad,” Maldynado said. “It’s been closer to fifteen minutes.”
“ Very helpful, thank you.”
CHAPTER 4
Amaranthe dangled from the bar in the corner of the cabin, alternately wondering if her quivering forearms thought these chin-ups a worse torture than Pike’s knife and if she’d have to pay a fine for Sicarius’s unauthorized installation of training equipment.
“ One more,” he said from behind her.
“ I know. I’m just… marshaling my muscles and giving them a rousing speech, much like a general readying his troops for the battlefield.”
“ The longer you hang, the harder the task will become.”
“ I know that too.”
“ Do you wish assistance?”
Yes, Amaranthe thought. “No,” she said.
Far less effectively than a general marshaling troops, Amaranthe flexed her weary muscles, willing biceps and back to pull up her weight one more time. Her chin inched toward the bar, but the trembling increased in her forearms, and she feared she’d have to let go before she reached her goal. That would be intolerable, though. She couldn’t give up with Sicarius looking on. She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and gave one last heave. Her body surged the last couple of inches, and her chin brushed the bar. Good enough. She let go, dropping back to the floor. She planted a hand on the wall for support.
Sicarius offered one of his that-was-acceptable grunts. Every now and then, he’d go overboard and say something as magnanimous as, “Good,” but it would take more than a few chin-ups to elicit that response from him.
Sicarius took a step toward her, a hand lifting slightly. Amaranthe thought about accepting it and falling into his arms for support-or perhaps because he’d been training as well and wasn’t wearing his shirt-but she stood up straight and twitched her fingers to indicate she was fine. She needed him to know that, despite her meager eight chin-ups, she was recovering and didn’t need constant attention. She needed to know that as well.
Someone knocked at the door. Sicarius glided over to answer it, but Amaranthe said, “Wait,” and jogged past him. She opened it first.
Sespian stood outside, the houses of a hamlet dotting the riverbank behind him. He wore a hood pulled down to hide his face. His familiar imperial features were further camouflaged by a smear of facial hair that aspired to become a beard. A bulging cloth sack was tucked beneath his arm. Seeing it prompted a guilty twinge within Amaranthe. She’d suggested a shared meal to entice him to come. She hadn’t mentioned that it’d be a meal for three.
“ Uhm.” Sespian eyed Sicarius-or perhaps Sicarius’s bare torso-and took a step back. “You’re busy. I can come later.”
“ No.” Amaranthe grabbed his arm before he could escape. “You can’t go. I’m starving, and you have lunch.”
Sespian took in her sweat-dampened hair and bare feet. She’d only taken her boots off so she’d have less weight to pull up, but imagined that her state, coupled with Sicarius’s bare chest, might imply something she hadn’t intended.
“ We were training,” Amaranthe said.
Sespian’s gaze dropped to her hand on his arm, and he sighed. Maybe he didn’t believe her. “If you wish to finish first, I can-”
“ No, I’m more than ready for a break. We both are.” She smiled over her shoulder at Sicarius. “Right?”
She might have imagined the suspicion in Sicarius’s eyes, but she doubted it.
“ I invited Sespian for lunch. I thought we could chat. All of us.”
Judging by the slump to Sespian’s shoulders, he found that notion about as appealing as licking a frozen lamppost, but he let Amaranthe pull him inside. A hard wariness edged Sicarius’s eyes too. Ah, this would be fun.
Amaranthe shut the door firmly, wishing she could lock the men inside until they thawed a little around each other. It would have to be a gradual process, she reminded herself. “Please, have a seat, Si-Sespian, may I call you that now?” Amaranthe waved toward the stools at the table.
Sicarius remained standing. He’d chosen his usual spot near the door with his back to the wall. That wouldn’t do.
“ Yes,” Sespian said. “I’m surprised you didn’t earlier. I’ve been wondering…” He was veering toward the bottom bunk instead of the table, and Amaranthe gently caught him and steered him toward one of the two stools. He let her, though the wariness in his eyes deepened. Like father, like son? Perhaps not. Maldynado and the other men often regarded her with wariness, too, especially when she was hatching a plan.
With a shield of reluctance hanging in the air around him, Sespian sat down. “I’ve been wondering what you, or you and Professor Mugdildor, are planning in that regard. If I’m… to play a role in this new government or if I’m… Well, should I plan to look for a job when this is all over?” He lowered his voice to mumble, “Not that I know what I’m qualified to do.”
“ You were educated in a great number of areas,” Sicarius said. “There is much for which you could qualify.” Thanks to his insistence on maintaining that emotionless monotone of his, the words sounded sterner than he probably meant them. Amaranthe gave him a frown. Considering he had once confessed to her that he didn’t know what he’d do if he weren’t an assassin, it hardly seemed appropriate for him to act as career counselor.
“ Then I am fired,” Sespian murmured.
“ Not necessarily,” Amaranthe said. “Books is still working on a draft of his opus-apparently traveling and enduring enforcer attacks aren’t the best for keeping one’s notes organized and, er, undamaged by fire or explosives. He said he’d consult all of us before starting on a second draft, so for those who care, there’ll be an opportunity for input. But would you actually wish to remain emperor? The position hasn’t treated you well, thus far.”
“ Yes. No. I don’t know.” Sespian smiled bleakly. “At times, I dreamed of being some humble shepherd up in the mountains, minding nothing more than a flock of sheep or donkeys. Except I don’t even know if it is a flock when it’s donkeys.”
“ I think it’s a harem,” Amaranthe said.
Sespian’s eyebrows flew up. “What?”
“ Donkeys. In a group. The females bond together and-it’s not important.”
“ See? I lack even common knowledge of the world.”
“ I’m not sure that knowledge is common. I have Books to thank for the more esoteric trivia in my head.” And in this case, the fact that Maldynado had made a lot of snickering jokes about donkey harems had cemented the tidbit in her mind. Sespian didn’t appear inclined to make jokes; he looked chagrinned at this further proof that he lacked job qualifications.
“ At other times,” he went on, “I’ve wished for the freedom and the power to enact changes I know the empire needs if it’s to go forward into the modern era. I’m not sure I’m wise enough yet to stand behind those changes, but I never even got a chance. People have been plotting against me since…” Sespian leaned back, letting his head clunk against the wall. “Sorry, this was an invitation for lunch, not whining, wasn’t it? I seem to have forgotten.”
At least he was opening up. Amaranthe hadn’t been sure he would with Sicarius in the room. “Lunch with chatting, I believe I said. Anyway, Sespian, I don’t know how the tiles will ultimately be laid-just because Books wants to reform the government doesn’t mean we have the sway to make it happen…” Honestly, she’d only been thinking of how to thwart Forge thus far; even her ambitious imagination couldn’t picture a scenario in which a handful of outlaws successfully laid down a new political system. “But I’m sure you would make a fine emperor or president or high chief or whatever we end up needing, especially if you have an older, more experienced confidant you could trust to advise you wisely.”