Hansen turned away from Mae and looked back at Justin. “How?”
“By defecting.” Justin leaned forward. “We let the Grand Disciple go forward with this plan, send your party over. You keep us informed about their actions and let us know when they plan to make their move. We’ll stop them and catch them, and you’ll stay in the RUNA.”
“Without Elaina,” said Hansen flatly. “I’ll be there. She’ll be here. None of it means anything without her.”
That was obviously an obstacle for Justin, but he waved it off. “I’ll make sure she’s there.”
Hansen looked dubious, and Mae couldn’t blame him. “How?”
”Haven’t you been listening?” exclaimed Justin. “My god can do these things. He can heal this.” Justin gestured to his body. “Ask the Grand Disciple to reschedule our meeting for dinnertime. I’ll make a full recovery, you’ll see. My god will make sure I can do his work.”
“A full recovery?” echoed Hansen.
“Yes,” said Justin firmly. “Make it happen. And I’ll get Elaina to the RUNA. The hackers are pre-determined . . . but the others, the missionaries posing as university lecturers or whatever. You’re in charge of selecting them, yes?”
Hansen nodded.
“Are there others like you? Others abused by the Grand Disciple that Nehitimar has forsaken?”
The Arcadian man didn’t answer, but once more, his expression gave him away.
Justin looked pleased. “If you can control those who’ll go with you, make it happen. Bring them. My god will offer them a new life as well if they help us catch the programmers.”
“You have to get Elaina,” insisted Hansen. He looked Justin over. “And actually make it to dinner tonight.”
“I’ll make it,” said Justin. “You’ll see. You’ll see what it’s like to actually have a god who delivers.” With what seemed to be great effort, he stood up and held out his hand. After a few moments, Hansen shook it.
“I’ll talk to his piousness,” he told Justin. “We’ll see you tonight.” Hansen started to leave, but Justin suddenly called him back.
“Wait—do you know anything about a staff the Grand Disciple has? One with an eagle on it?”
“Of course,” said Hansen. “It’s believed to be a sign of
Nehitimar’s favor that he sent it to this Grand Disciple.”
Justin frowned. “What do you mean ‘this’ one?”
“His predecessor didn’t have it . . . his predecessor also didn’t have nearly the power. I mean, Nehitimar’s worship has been strong in Arcadia almost since the country’s founding. It was a rallying point after the Decline. But when this Grand Disciple took over, there was something different . . . a different feel to him that caused people to flock to him in a way never felt before. I feel it sometimes, especially when he’s carrying the staff. It’s this overwhelming feeling of the god’s glory and power. It makes it very difficult to oppose him.”
“Is that why things happened like they did with Elaina?” asked Justin gently.
This caused Hansen to grimace. “No. When he wields the staff, the Grand Disciple is glorious and formidable. But even without it, he’s still a hard man to oppose.”
“I didn’t see the staff in his temple apartments. Where does he keep it?”
“Probably at his retreat on Holy Lake.” Seeing Justin’s puzzled look, Hansen explained, “It’s north of the city. Very secluded and well- guarded.”
“I would imagine so,” Justin murmured. “Thank you.”
Once Hansen was gone, Justin sprawled backwards on to the bed and tossed an arm over his eyes. “What on earth have you done?” Mae asked him, not understanding half of what had just transpired.
“That,” he groaned, “is an excellent question.”
“How much of that was true?” She came to sit beside him, leaning over so that when he uncovered his face, he was forced to meet her in the eyes. “I’ve seen you charm and fool people . . . that was all an act, right? You don’t have a god.”
“Depends on how you look at it,” he said, not sounding happy in the least. “I mean, last night, I did have an out of body experience where I merged with an otherworldly raven that serves a god who wants to claim me.”
“Yes . . . but you don’t serve that god.” She studied him more closely when he didn’t comment. “Do you?”
His response came hesitantly. “No. But I’m more involved with him than I’ve led you to believe—though not by my choice.”
Mae nearly brought up his earlier usage of “glorious” when describing the touch of this god but then decided they had bigger concerns for now. “Can you do all those things? Get that woman he wants into Arcadia? Get yourself out of bed? No offense, but you still look like crap.”
“Stop with the flattery.”
She gave him a small shove. “I’m serious! You’re risking a lot on something you don’t know you can make happen—and this is a big deal. Trying to take out the media stream’s an act of terrorism when our own people talk about it. From these lunatics, it’s a declaration of war. Our entire infrastructure’s tied into the stream. The country would stop running. Chaos would break out.”
“Which is why we can’t risk tipping our hands yet,” said Justin. “We need to let them think they might get away with it. We need the control, so we can find out what they know. If they find out we’re on to them, this whole conspiracy will blow away in the wind.”
“One of them already knows you’re on to him,” Mae pointed out. Justin tugged the covers over his body and rolled away. “Which is exactly why I’m going to reel him in. And to do that, I need to sleep some more. After that, food. See if Lucian’ll lend me his makeup. They wouldn’t let you guys bring it in, but I know he must have some for his photo-ops. It’ll have to do to hide any remaining dark circles, and Exerzol’ll do the rest to make me look lively.”
She groaned. “You’re not going to do yourself any favors if you get sick from taking too much of that.”
“I can be sick as much as I want tomorrow. I’ve just got to show the power of my god tonight.”
Mae moved toward the door and paused. “Can you at least tell me what that part about the staff was?”
Justin had started to close his eyes but opened them again. “Possibly a weapon, from what the ravens are telling me.”
“Like my knife?”
“Much more powerful. They claim it’s a threat to us and our country, but I don’t know how we can get a hold of it. Even if we knew where Holy Lake was—and I’m sure that wasn’t its name pre- Decline—getting there would be nearly impossible.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “We’ll have to be content with pulling off one heroic act in our country’s defense and let that one go.”
Mae left him after that, feeling troubled at another potential threat waiting for them but concurring that there was little to be done when they had so many other issues to deal with. The other praetorian women had been invited out on a sightseeing expedition with the Gemman men, one she would’ve been allowed to go on as well, save that she didn’t want to leave Justin. He woke up later in the afternoon and actually did look better, though he insisted on another shower. He made it to the bathroom unassisted, which was promising, and she went out to the main house to find him some food.
It required putting on the Cloistered getup, which was a pain in theory, but proved useful when she passed some of Carl’s sons on the way to the kitchen. They lingered in the hallway, barely giving her a second glance. Mae realized they’d mistaken her for Hannah. Even Harriet did when Mae found the older woman tidying up by the kitchen stove, and it wasn’t until Mae asked for a plate for Justin that Harriet realized who she was talking to. Mae stayed out of the way as the plate was made up, standing close enough to overhear the men—and an unexpected conversation.