Safire swallowed. “I... suppose that’s fair.”
“And now can we move on to more pressing matters?”
Feeling scolded, Safire nodded.
“Good.” Leandra folded her hands on her desk. “Your king tells me that you’re... well acquainted with my fugitive.”
Safire blushed.Well acquainted?It was an interesting choice of words.What, exactly, did you tell her, Dax?
“As you know, my soldiers have been hunting this criminal for several years. Up until yesterday, we knew nothing other than her age. We didn’t even know what she looked like.” When she looked up, her gray eyes were calm as the sea. “How did you find her?”
Safire explained about the thefts in Firgaard. “I almost caught her. I wasso close. But...” She paused. “This is going to sound strange, but shedisappeared.Right in front of me.”
The empress’s eyes narrowed a little. But she nodded for Safire to continue. Safire told her the rest of it—being kidnapped by Eris and brought aboard Jemsin’s ship.
“The pirate Jemsin?” the empress interrupted suddenly. “Are you sure?”
Safire nodded. “She works for him.”
Suddenly, the mist coming down from the scarps blocked out the sunlight coming through the windows. The room grew cold.
“I see” was all the empress said.
Safire told her about the deal Jemsin made with Eris: her freedom in exchange for bringing the Namsara to him. She told her about being intercepted by Kor, then escaping him with Eris in tow.
“And that’s when you lost her.”
Safire nodded. She left out the parts where Eris saved her life—twice—as well as Eris’s account of the night the scrin burned. And also the part where Eris kissed her.
Heat bloomed in her at the memory.
“Do you have any idea where she might be now? Perhaps back on Jemsin’s ship?” She looked hopeful about this.
Safire shook her head. “I don’t think so. She knows the Namsara is in the Star Isles, and intends to hunt her down. It’s why—”
“Isthe Namsara in the Star Isles?” the empress asked, leaning forward in her chair.
Safire glanced up, remembering suddenly that Asha had declined the empress’s invitation.She might see it as a slight,Asha visiting her islands but not visitingher. It might do more than offend her; it might sabotage the alliance forming between her and Dax—an alliance that meant salvation for the scrublands.
“Asha is”—Safire struggled to think of an explanation that wouldn’t offend her—“searching for someone. It’s of the utmost importance that she finds them, and only recently has her search taken her here, to these islands.” The next thing she said was a lie. “Dax only got word in Darmoor.”
Maybe Eris really is rubbing off on me....
Leandra’s gray eyes remained fixed on her face. “Perhaps I can be of assistance in this search. Who is she looking for?”
That was the problem. They didn’t know who this maker was, only that a clue might be found at the scrin.
Which no longer existed.
“She’s looking for the owner of an artifact,” Safire explained. “A weapon called the Skyweaver’s knife.”
Abruptly, Leandra rose from her desk, walking toward one of the windows. The silence built, glistening around Safire. “The weapon your queen used to save her sister,” she finally murmured, as if suddenly a world away.
“Yes.” Safire frowned. “How did you know that?”
“I heard... rumors,” said the empress. “Roa confirmed them over dinner yesterday.” She glanced over her shoulder at Safire. “I confess: it was part of the reason for my invitation. I wanted to know if the rumors were true.”
“I went to warn Asha,” Safire went on. “But she wasn’t where she was supposed to be.” Safire stood. “This is why Ineed your help. Eris escaped me only yesterday, and—”
