“He did.”
Raesinia’s chest felt tight, as though the black dress had suddenly shrunk several sizes. He knew.
She had always been afraid of what would happen, should her father find out the truth of what had happened to her. She’d even constructed scenes in her mind, usually in the dead of night when her inability to sleep grated the worst. She pictured him having her dragged away in chains, to be imprisoned in some dark oubliette. Even executed, if he could figure out how. Burned at the stake. After all, his daughter is dead. I’m something else. A demon.
She swallowed hard. “He wanted you to. . get rid of me?”
Janus shook his head. “He wanted a. . cure, for lack of a better word. A way to reverse what Orlanko had done to you. In such a way that you remained alive afterward, of course.”
Raesinia felt tears sting her eyes. She let her head fall forward into her hands, elbows on her knees.
He knew. She didn’t want to sob in front of Janus. That was easy enough; she just stopped breathing. He knew all along, and he wanted to help me. Oh God. Father. I thought. . how could I have thought. .
He tried to tell me. “Count Mieran is more than he seems. You’ll need all the allies you can get.” He couldn’t come out and say it, not with Concordat spies everywhere, but now the meaning was clear. Oh, Father. .
“Your Majesty,” Janus said, after a long silence. “If you like, perhaps we could-”
Raesinia squeezed her eyes shut, banishing the tears, and sucked in a long breath. The binding tingled across her, repairing the damage from her brief asphyxiation. She raised her head. “My apologies. Please continue.”
Janus regarded her carefully for a moment, then nodded. “As you say. For some time, His Majesty and I carried on a correspondence, and I regret to say I was not able to be of much assistance. The Priests of the Black have been astonishingly effective at removing all traces of magic wherever their writ runs, and what remains is a pitiful remnant of what was once known. If the knowledge to do what His Majesty wanted existed, I told him, it was locked in the dungeons under Elysium.” He steepled his fingers. “Then a bit of unexpected news opened up a new possibility.”
Raesinia was starting to put the pieces together. “The rebellion in Khandar.”
“Indeed. There have always been legends of the Demon King, who fled across the sea with his treasure trove, but nothing concrete. When I discovered that the Black Priests had tried several times to actually retrieve something from Khandar, though, I started to dig deeper. I became convinced that the treasure actually existed. The names-the bindings-of all the creatures captured by the Demon King. The Thousand Names of legend.”
“And my father sent you there to find it.”
“His Majesty took some convincing, as did his advisers,” Janus said, with another flash of a smile. “The duke, for one, was deeply suspicious. But ultimately, yes.”
“And?”
“The Names are real. We found them.” Janus tossed the statement off, as though it were of no great importance. “By the time we did, however, we received word that the situation here had become critical. So I hurried back as soon as I could, and His Majesty named me to the empty seat on the Cabinet to assist you as best I could. I am honored to say that I believe he had come to trust me.”
And will the Names work? Raesinia wanted to scream. Janus caught her expression and gave a little shrug.
“I do not know, yet, whether we’ll be able to do anything for your condition. The Names must be deciphered and studied to see if something useful to you is among their powers, and I only had the chance to make a cursory inspection before I left Khandar. Once our current crisis is resolved, I will devote myself to it. But for the moment. .”
Raesinia nodded. Somewhere deep in her chest, though, something had taken hold. A tiny mote of hope, that there might, somehow, be a way out. Back to a normal life.
“All right,” Raesinia said. “I follow you so far. How did you end up talking to Sothe?”
“There’s not much to tell,” Janus said. “After your father gave me Justice, I began looking into the disturbances in the city. I got descriptions of all the potential leaders, and once I saw yours it wasn’t hard to put the facts together.”
There had to be more to it than that-the all-knowing Concordat hadn’t been able to find her, after all! — but Raesinia didn’t care about the details. “And Sothe?”
“Even easier. She’s so close to you on the Ohnlei side that it was inconceivable that she not be a party to the deception, though I didn’t understand the full extent of her involvement until she told me herself. I sent her a note, indicating what I knew and expressing a desire to help.”
“It was waiting for me when I got back to Ohnlei, after you ‘died,’” Sothe said. “I was frantic. I had to keep up appearances here, intercept Orlanko’s watchers, and figure out how to retrieve you at the same time. When I saw this. .” She shrugged.
“You just decided to trust him?” Raesinia was surprised. To say that Sothe was not a trusting person was a significant understatement of the facts.
“I went to talk to him,” Sothe said, “since he knew the secret. I thought that either he’d end up on our side or I’d have to kill him, and in the latter case I wanted to get it over with.”
There was a flash of surprise-not much, but definitely there-on Janus’ face. “Well,” he said after a moment, “I’m glad I was able to convince you.”
“So, what happens now?” Raesinia asked, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her palms.
“I think we’re almost through it,” Janus said. “The announcement has gone out that you’ve accepted the Deputies-General, and the mob is ecstatic. When they present their lists of demands, one of them is certain to be a new Minister of Information and the elimination of the Concordat. All we have to do is be ‘persuaded.’”
“Just like that?” Raesinia shook her head. “It’s too easy.”
“He has a fearsome reputation,” Janus said. “But I must say he’s proven to be only a mediocre opponent. He’s badly overplayed his hand, and now he’ll have to pay for it.”
“He won’t give up,” Sothe said. “Not Orlanko. If there’s a card left in his hand, he’ll play it, and be damned to the consequences.”
“That’s what worries me,” Janus agreed. “The Last Duke is finished. But now that he has nothing to lose. .” He trailed off, staring past Raesinia and Sothe into the middle distance, then shook his head. “We will have to take precautions.”
MARCUS
“The vice captain is here,” Staff Eisen said from outside the door to Marcus’ office.
“Send him in,” Marcus said. His desk was clear of paperwork. He looked below it, to make sure the stack of files from the archives were still there. Evidence, in case he needed it.
The door stuck, as usual, then shuddered open. Giforte pulled it shut behind him, turned, and saluted.
“Vice Captain,” Marcus said.
“Sir!” Giforte relaxed a fraction. “People have been trickling in, sir. We’re still well below strength, but I think by tomorrow morning I should have at least-”
“I have a question for you, Vice Captain,” Marcus said. “I want you to answer it honestly, if you can.”
“Sir?” Giforte’s face became a frozen mask.
He knows, Marcus thought. He knows that I know. Time to cut through all the secrets. He took a deep breath. “What is it that Duke Orlanko has over you?”
A long moment passed in total stillness. Marcus kept his eyes on Giforte, watching the man’s face. His control was good, but not perfect. If he tries to brazen it out. .
Then, all at once, his expression relaxed and his shoulders slumped. There was defeat there, but also relief, as though a great weight had been lifted.