"Victor's a nonconformist, but he isn't a thief," the exalted answered, still looking at Taya. She nodded, encouraging him to continue. "But Emelie's always been dissatisfied. She got through the University by cutting corners and cheating on tests. She's a good programmer. You can't fake that. But she wants to be rich, and she doesn't want to work for it."
"You two were lovers." Taya couldn't help the note of accusation in her voice.
"She thought she could get special favors that way." Alister raised an eyebrow, his green eyes still fixed on her. "It worked until I got tired of her and broke it off."
"Nice."
"Do you have any proof she's involved?" Scarios asked, cutting in.
"I never said I had any proof. Just suspicions." He never looked at the captain.
"What about the Alzanans?" Cristof pressed.
"All the data on them is in my office." Alister shifted his gaze to his brother. "There's a cabinet with my punch cards inside. At the bottom of Resources and Allotments is an envelope with Neuillan's cards. Anyone on my team should be able to read them without sending them through an engine. They aren't encrypted."
"Cassi and Pyke can get them," Taya suggested, looking at Cristof. "And Victor said the team was going to be waiting outside—"
Cristof nodded, already reaching into his pocket. He handed his keys to Amcathra.
"You can walk out there faster than Taya," he said. Amcathra gave him a cool look, then turned and left the room.
"I'd like to see my team," Alister said, looking at his brother. "May I?"
Cristof turned to Scarios.
"Another day," the captain said, tersely.
"Did the information say anything about a bar down in Slagside?" Taya asked. "One with a red door?"
Alister shot Cristof a look.
"A red door means it was a brothel, not a bar," Cristof said, looking uncomfortable.
Taya frowned. "Wouldn't a sign be better advertising?"
"Only for the literate," Alister pointed out. Cristof seemed discomfited by the entire subject. Maybe he was a little bit of a prude.
"You know, I deliver messages for some of the most prestigious brothels on Secundus," she told him. "But they have signs."
"I didn't know prostitutes conducted their business by mail," Cristof muttered, his cheeks flushing.
"There was a brothel listed among Neuillan's contact points," Alister said. "I remember it because I'd wondered if Neuillan had ever delivered messages there. It would have made quite a sight, a covered exalted entering a brothel in Tertius."
"The Alzanans who tried to steal my wings meet there, too." Taya felt a leap of excitement. "If we go, we might catch them."
"
We
?" Captain Scarios frowned at her. "Don't get carried away with yourself, icarus. A raid is lictor business."
"And you're injured—" "Your leg—"
Alister and Cristof glanced at each other and fell silent.
"All right," Taya surrendered. "But I think it's a good place to start."
"Emelie wouldn't hide in a brothel," Alister said.
"We don't know for sure she's involved." Captain Scarios straightened. "You got anything else, Forlore? I was expecting something more useful."
Alister looked at Taya. "Emelie has family in Cantery, but I doubt she'd try to hide there. It's a two-day walk from the city, and I don't think her family is wealthy enough to be much help to a fugitive."
"We can still send an icarus out to ask questions," Amcathra said, from the doorway. Scarios nodded.
"She's attracted to power," Alister added, "so if you find the ringleader in this theft, you'll probably find her, too. She'd stay close to him to make sure she gets her share of whatever reward has been promised."
"That it?"
"I said from the beginning that all I had was speculation."
"Huh. Hardly seems worth your neck. I hope something in those records of yours pans out." The captain's gaze was cool. "Since you accepted the plea bargain, I've got the authority to move you to a regular cell. Enjoy your soft bed tonight; it'll be the last time you sleep on it."
Alister's copper cheeks grayed.
"Do you know when the… the sentence will be carried out?"
"Not yet. You'll get a few days’ warning. More than your victims got."
Taya shifted, biting her lip. She understood Scarios’ anger, but she couldn't help but feel sorry for Alister.
"I'll try to visit tomorrow," Cristof said, awkwardly.
"Good luck." Alister held his gaze. "Don't let anything happen to our little hawk."
"I'll do what I can."
Taya gave them both a disdainful look and limped out the door.
Cristof caught up with her as she stood on the station steps, looking up in the sky for some sign of Pyke or Cassi. It was dark already. Lars, Victor, and Isobel were inside, talking to Amcathra and Scarios. About Emelie, she presumed. She set her crutch against the wall and leaned against the iron railing.
Cristof stood beside her, close enough for the hem of his greatcoat to brush her legs.
"So, tell me about this deal of yours," Taya said, after they'd both stood looking at the stars for a long minute.
"There are some benches about half a block down the street. Do you want to walk with me?"
"There's a bench right there." She nodded to the bench at the bottom of the steps, where Pyke and Cassi had been waiting for them.
"I'd rather discuss this in private."
"I wouldn't."
Cristof looked down, and Taya saw that he was still holding his brother's ivory mask. He turned it over once, then slid it into one of his coat's capacious pockets.
"All right." He looked back up at the sky again. "The Council wanted more than vague promises of information in exchange for Alister's life. I offered them the Forlore estate and told them I'd be happy to retire with my shop down on Tertius, but they turned me down. They said I'd be more useful to the city if I took up my role as an exalted again."
Taya turned to watch him. His face was easy to read in the light from the station windows and the gas lamps that lined the streets. She'd expected that he'd look guilty or upset, but he only looked determined.
"I told them I wasn't willing to live under the restrictions of caste. I told them everything I told you. And they said that was exactly why I could be useful to them. They need an exalted who's willing to take off his mask in front of foreigners."
Despite herself, Taya's interest was caught. She grasped the diplomatic implications at once. "You're going to be the exalteds’ public face."
He nodded, finally risking a glance at her.
"I wouldn't be replacing the icarii. But Ondinium has had a lot of trouble with other countries because exalteds won't speak to foreigners. Negotiations have to go on between foreign ambassadors and icarii envoys, which is slow and awkward and apparently offensive. The Council thinks that if they call me a ‘special liaison’ instead of a caste pariah, they can smooth over some of the problems they've had in the past. I'd dress up to put on a good show for the ambassadors and foreign dignitaries, but then I'd take off my mask and talk to them face-to-face, instead of doing all my business through icarii."
"That's smart." Taya frowned. "Really smart. They didn't just think it up, did they?"
"I doubt it." He turned to her. His grey eyes were steady. "I imagine the Council's been waiting for an excuse to force my hand for a while. If it weren't in exchange for Alister's life, it would have been for something else."
Taya gave him a wry smile.
"You'll make a terrible ambassador, Cris."
"I know. I was hoping you'd help me."
"I don't think I could stand having you as my boss."
He shook his head.
"We'd be partners. Envoys are usually sent abroad for a year or two to immerse themselves in a foreign culture. While you were telling me about the diplomatic corps at lunch, I kept thinking that if you joined it, I'd lose you. So when the Council made this offer… if you pass your exams and get sent to Si'sier, I could travel with you. The Council likes the idea of its new ambassador making a tour of the embassies." He cleared his throat. "Of course, it all depends on whether you could stand traveling with me. I know I'm not an easy person to get along with. But you… you seem to manage better than most."