“I don’t need a distraction to remain unseen.”
True.
“But I presume you have some scheme,” he added.
“I brought along some of your earnings, so I could feign interest in purchasing this property. I’ll head in and have a friendly palaver with them, see what I can learn.”
“Palaver.”
“Chat. Discuss. That thing you never do at length.”
“Why put yourself at risk? I can grab someone and we can interrogate him.”
Amaranthe rubbed her face. How was she going to convince good-hearted Sespian to pardon someone whose answer for everything was a dagger to someone’s throat? “That didn’t work in the loading bay, remember? And if more people up here have been injected with those devices… Well, it’s inconvenient to have the person you’re questioning pitch over dead.”
Sicarius grunted a concession.
“Here’s the plan: I’ll go in and palaver while you surround them.”
“Surround them,” he said. “By myself.”
“Just be ready to shoot a warning shot or two when I signal.”
Amaranthe lifted her hand to her forehead to demonstrate, then handed him her rifle and sword belt. She would likely get further if she did not appear threatening. She kept her knife and pistol, adjusting the jacket to hide them. Sicarius watched, face stony. No doubt, he thought walking into the enemy camp was stupid. He was probably right.
“We’ll try your way if my way doesn’t work,” she said.
“If your way doesn’t work, you may be dead.”
“That is a possibility.”
CHAPTER 13
W hen Vonsha returned, holding a notepad, she said nothing of the marriage discussion. Indeed, she glanced around the room, as if to ensure her father was gone.
“We convinced your old man to leave,” Maldynado said.
Her eyes widened. “You’re the first then.”
She drew a chair close to Books and sat, her knee almost touching his. That faint perfume she wore teased his nostrils, a hint of honey and a bouquet of wildflowers.
An annoying smirk rode Maldynado’s lips.
“Why don’t you go explore the grounds?” Books told him. “Play with the dogs, perhaps.”
“Nah, I’m comfortable here.”
Books glared. Maldynado’s smirk broadened.
Vonsha laid the papers so they rested across her and Books’s knees. Her fingers brushed his thigh, and he gulped, unable to focus on the words on the page. He told himself he was forty-five and far too old to be nervous and flustered around a woman or to need to worry about shifting his jacket to hide-
“What’s this?” He draped his arm across his lap and pointed to the page.
Maldynado snickered under his breath.
“Some notes I took the last time I was home,” Vonsha said. “The reason I was double-checking the lot lines is that Lord Hagcrest, the neighbor across the river, has been up to something. He made an offer on my parents’ land. He lives on the parcel you were looking up.” Her eyes searched Books’s face.
She must wonder if she could trust him or if he was involved somehow.
“I heard it might be for sale,” Books said. Almost the truth.
“People have been snooping around over there, at least one fair-skinned and light-eyed. I’m concerned Hagcrest is working with foreigners, perhaps to allow a toehold into Turgonian territory. These mountains are treacherous, and the only pass for two hundred miles lies through this valley.”
Books thought of the dead woman in the aqueducts whom they believed had been an appraiser. Was it possible this neighbor had called her up to calculate the value of the land, then killed her to keep her from telling anyone? If so, where had the horribly gashed dead men come from? The bodies must have originated in roughly the same area since they had been bumping up against the same grate in the subterranean channel. But if Hagcrest had ordered an appraisal, prior to making an offer, it should have been on the Spearcrest’s land, not his own. Unless he was thinking of selling both lots to foreigners at a profit? Was that permitted? He would have to ask Amaranthe about real estate laws.
“Lord Hagcrest wouldn’t tell me anything when I went to see him,” Vonsha said. “He’s an old grump, worse than my father. I’d actually been thinking of heading east myself after I recovered from the explosion.” She touched the bandage at her neck. “To see what’s going on at the fort. I have a feeling the presence of foreigners in this valley means something vile has happened over there. Perhaps…” She leaned closer and laid a hand on Books’s arm. “If you don’t mind my asking, how are you involved in all this? I’d like to trust you, but I don’t know who you truly are. You’re…wanted by the law?”
Books licked his lips. How much should he volunteer? His reason for coming here had been to acquire information, not give it away. He looked to Maldynado for an opinion, but a house cat had strolled in, and he was busy coaxing it onto his lap.
“Our leader calls us The Emperor’s Edge…” Books spent the next few minutes explaining Amaranthe’s group and their intent to earn Sespian’s recognition, though he left out names. Sicarius, at the least, would not appreciate being mentioned.
“You roam around the city looking for good deeds to carry out?” Vonsha asked when he finished.
“Uhm.” That sounded more charitable than they truly were, but maybe Vonsha would approve of noble deeds? “Basically.”
“Sometimes we roam outside the city too.” Maldynado petted the cat that purred in his lap, its tail swishing in time with the strokes.
Vonsha considered Books for a long moment, and he feared she would burst into laughter.
Instead she nodded. “You’re what I need then. You should go out to the fort. I’m certain more answers await there, but my father is reluctant to let me go on my own. I’ve no knack with weapons, I fear, and if there are foreign militants about…”
“We’d have to check with the rest of the group,” Books said. “They’re going to see your neighbor.”
“They are?” Vonsha frowned.
Er, maybe he shouldn’t have given out that information. “Is that a problem?”
“No, no.” Vonsha patted his arm. “They’ll just find out for themselves how stubborn and difficult the man is. When they return, perhaps you can convince them of the need to check the fort.”
“What about the enforcers?” Maldynado asked.
“What?” Vonsha asked.
“When the enforcers and soldiers drove away this morning, they went that way.” He pointed toward the mountaintop. “You’d think if something fishy were going on at the other end of the pass, they’d have headed through.”
“I don’t know their assignment,” Vonsha said. “It’s possible their mission is unrelated to the business with Hagcrest’s lot. There are numerous families and towns up in these mountains, as well as mining camps.”
“Maybe the enforcers are investigating the phosphorescent-eyed wildlife,” Books said.
“The what?” Vonsha asked, even as Maldynado nodded and said, “Ahhhh, right.”
Books explained the wolf attack.
“That’s troublesome,” Vonsha said.
“Nothing like that has bothered you here?” Books asked.
She hesitated. “No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Books let it drop, though he noted it for later consideration. He might not have Amaranthe’s enforcer instincts, but even he could tell the family had a secret or two.
“If the mountains have grown that dangerous,” Vonsha said, “I’m doubly sure this is a job for an outfit like yours. My father is too old to traipse about, hunting for infiltrators, and my mother and I are the only other ones in the household right now. Perhaps I could pay you a small fee.”
Books waved away the offer. “No need for that, my lady. We aim to help the empire whether there’s monetary compensation or not.” He caught Maldynado rolling his eyes. The spiel did sound self-aggrandizing.
“Will your comrades return today?” Vonsha asked. “Can you ask them if they’ll take on the trip?”