“I’ll try to make it up to her. To you.”
“Honestly, you might do more bad than good. Let it go,” Adamat said. “I’ll try to do the same.”
They sat in an awkward silence for several minutes before Ricard wiped his eyes once more and sat up straight. “I heard about your promotion. To full detective. Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Adamat said, allowing himself a small smile. “Though I’d rather it not come about as a result of such unfortunate circumstances.” He gestured at the urn on the altar.
“It didn’t,” Ricard said firmly. “It came about because you brought justice to someone who otherwise would have had none. And saved my neck from the blade besides. I was curious about one thing, if you’re allowed to talk about it.”
“Go ahead.”
“There’s a rumor going around that you gave Commissioner Hewi her promotion. How did that get started?”
Adamat shook his head. “I did no such thing. I only delivered her the news. The Iron King himself approved the appointment.”
“But you had something to do with it, didn’t you?”
“I … “ Adamat hesitated, wondering what exactly he was allowed to say. “I convinced certain parties that Hewi was politically unambitious, which is true, and easily controlled, which may be less than true, and that she could be replaced easily. Which I doubt will happen any time soon. She seemed like the best woman for the job.”
“You’ve never ceased to amaze me, Adamat.”
“And you, me.” Adamat shifted in his seat, uncomfortable talking about the case any further. “You’ll send the ashes to Melany’s family?” he asked.
“I will. Along with some gifts. Money and the like. I don’t care if it comes across as tacky.” He let out a long sigh, and Adamat wondered if perhaps Ricard had really loved this woman as deeply as he claimed. Adamat didn’t doubt the sincerity of the grief; Ricard could be an emotional man.
Adamat reached over to squeeze Ricard’s shoulder. “I heard about the vote.”
“We wouldn’t have won,” Ricard said. “Even with Viscount Brezé’s support. I knew that deep down.”
“You came close,” Adamat said, though “close” might be a generosity. They were dozens of votes short of passing the legislation that would legalize small unions.
“Closer than before.” Ricard turned to Adamat and nodded firmly. “I’m going to keep trying. Even if they jail me and try to disgrace me. I’m going to do it, Adamat.”
“Form a union?”
“More than that. Even if it costs me everything to do it, I’m going to drag Adro kicking and screaming into the modern era.”