CHAPTER 14
LEO
In the end, we must all burn.
—from the diaries of Priestess Nomu of the Fire Order
Leo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had returned to the library in the night and pulled out more scrolls. They lay in front of him, stoic and indecipherable. He had run his eyes over these runes so many times that they burned in his dreams, in his moments of peace, in the empty shadows of his office.
The door to his chambers rumbled open, and Samson entered. He wore a light blue kurta with the top two buttons undone, revealing his smooth, muscled chest—a strong young man.
Like I used to be, Leo thought. His sudden bitterness shocked him, and he pushed it away. He usually wasn’t one for such thoughts.
Leo rolled up the scrolls as Samson bowed.
“I have some good news,” he said, and a triumphant smile spread across his face. “We’ve apprehended three Arohassin agents on Yassen’s list. They all check out.Yassenchecks out. We can trust him.”
“No one can be fully trusted,” Leo said. He met Samson’s eyes. “Surely you know that.”
A muscle worked in Samson’s jaw, but he held his tongue.Smart boy.
“Where are the agents now?” Leo asked.
“Held at a black site in the desert.”
“Interrogate them,” he said.
He suspected it would not be easy to crack the Arohassin agents. But he felt it was necessary to give Samson a difficult task. Perhaps it would humble the boy.
Samson bowed and turned to go.
“Wait,” Leo called out, and Samson stopped. Slowly, he faced the king again and met his eyes.
Too much water.
“My daughter sent word that she spoke with you. That she believes you truly are on our side. But—” Leo leaned back in his seat, his eyes narrowing. “You lied to her, Samson.”
“About what, Your Majesty?” Samson asked coolly.
“You said that for the sake of this kingdom and of its Sesharians, you would ask for peace with Jantar. But you and I both know that’s not the case.”
“And what makes you think so?”
“Because I have heard about your mine.”
At this, Samson froze. Leo summoned holos of Muftasa’s report. When Samson had first asked for Elena’s hand, Leo had made Muftasa run a full investigation of the Sesharian mercenary. Most of the things that she had found were already public knowledge: Samson was the son of a warrior family; he ran away from home and ended up in Ravence; at fourteen, he had joined the Arohassin, only to defect at eighteen and sell the information he knew to the Jantari military. They offered him protection and he rose through the ranks to become, in all aspects, Jantar’s poster child of the perfect Sesharian.
Except for one thing.
“Farin asked you to drill for him in the Sona Range. And you are drilling, but only to a point.” When Samson made no response, Leo leaned forward. “Muftasa found a man from the nearby mountain town, an unlucky man who went outside for a piss one night and saw hoverpods rising from your mines. He said that they were unmarked, that they headed out to the sea. And curiously enough, when Muftasa’s men went to find this man again a few weeks later, they found him dead. Coincidence, no?”
Samson finally met his gaze. There was no fear in his eyes, but a coldness, a frankness that Leo knew lay beneath all that charm.
“What is it that you want?” Samson asked, his voice flat.
“Where are you taking that ore? For what purpose?”
Samson cocked his head toward the crackling fire. When he spoke, it was as if the fire spoke with him.
