“Was a risky gamble.”
Arcadius rolled his eyes and took a moment to stroke his beard. “If this could get any whiter, it would have.”
“Why’d I have to be executed? Why not an accident?”
“Royce wouldn’t have bought it. He’d be suspicious. In his world real accidents don’t happen. On the other hand, vicious, irrational deaths are expected. It also increased the heat, got Hadrian on edge. It takes a lot to get under his skin.”
Neither one said anything for a time. Rehn glanced out the window. “I should be going, then, before the snow gets too deep.” He stood up and faced the professor with an honest face. Perhaps the most honesty he’d shown anyone in years. “By the way, did you get what you needed from the book Royce stole? What was so important about it?”
The professor smiled again. “Absolutely nothing at all.”
“Huh? Then why?”
Arcadius bobbed his head in a whimsical manner, that childish twinkle in his eyes. “Just an impossible goal-the furnace to forge a bond.”
Rehn nodded. “Say, I want you to know how grateful I am to you. I don’t know what I would have done.”
Arcadius put his glasses back on. Perhaps it was Rehn’s imagination, but the old man looked moved, saddened. “Where will you go?”
“I don’t know. Back home maybe.”
“I hear Ratibor is lovely this time of year.”
Rehn smirked. “Ratibor is never lovely. I’ll let you know where I am when I find where I’m going. You’ll contact me if needed, right?”
“Of course.”
Rehn knew he wouldn’t-too risky. His contribution to the cause was over. Rehn made his way across the room but hesitated at the door. He looked back at the professor. “There’s a war coming, isn’t there?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“We still have a chance, right?”
“There’s always hope,” Arcadius said, but his tone lacked confidence. The old professor looked out the window as if he could see Royce and Hadrian out there hiding somewhere, buried beneath the snow, and added, “We’ve planted the seeds. All we can do now is wait and see what grows.”