I pulled away one of the thin metal pins Orda used in my hair, closed my eyes, and inserted it into the lock. I saw with my hands, felt one tumbler slip, and then another. And with asnick, the lock opened.
I swallowed my fear until the ember began to warm and it was too great to ignore. There was Aether in the room.
Silently, I turned the handle and slipped the door open.
Galen was on the floor, arms and legs spread. No blood, and his chest rose and fell. Knocked out, apparently. Nik was on his knees on the floor, blood streaming from a gash on his forehead. What drew my attention (gratefully) from the blood was the green sword Gryffin had pointed at Nik’s throat—and its luminously green Aetheric glow.
I guessed Tommen had finished his work after all.
Inside my chest, the ember’s flame grew, my body warming from nearness to the Aetheric fire.
Gryffin didn’t bother glancing back. “Come inside, close the door, lock it. Do anything else, and he dies.” There was nothing absent-minded about his tone now. Just hard, cold determination.
I slipped the pin into my sleeve and did as requested. And put on my best bluff. “Trying the direct route since the Aetheric practitioner didn’t do the job for you?”
“He was mostly useless. Distracted by magic. A little crazed by it, I think.” He looked over as I approached. “Figured it out, did you?”
“A little too late.”
“How?”
“Puzzle box. The mark on the box was the same as the mark on the plans Tommen made for your weapon.”
Nik’s eyes widened.
“Clever.”
I ignored the compliment. “Why are you doing this? He’s your nephew. Your blood.”
“He’s notmyblood. He is my brother’s child, and that’s how the rot and corruption is carried—in the blood. And as long as they live, nothing in his country will change.”
“ ‘Death to the emperor’s spawn,’ ” I said. “That’s what the assassins called out when they attacked the prince at the gate.”
“It’s a personal credo.”
“So why haven’t you killed him yet?”
“There’s something I need yet.”
“Funds? Soldiers? Silver carriages?”
“I told him the treasury was empty,” Nik said. “He didn’t believe me.”
“Dust and dead beetles,” I agreed. “It’s very disappointing.”
“I’ll make some coin with that map,” Gryffin said, as if justifying his decision to invade the palace and assault the prince, “and out the window I go.”
“Just like you came in at the ball.”
“I’m owed all this and more.”
“Because you’re a Lys’Careth?”
“Because I’m smarter than all of them. But my brother is stronger, cheated his way into power, and has refused to die. I did my part. I worked in the ministry, bided my time, helped him do what was necessary to keep Carethia safe.”
My heart beat faster, and my voice sounded so far away. “You were the Aetheric curate.”
His smile was wide and pleased. “I knew you were a smart girl. Smarter than Revenn, certainly.”
