“Which is what?”
“A human endowed with the gifts of the Aetheric god. The ability to control Anima, to manipulate Aether, to wield it as the god would.”
I didn’t know what a Luminae was—Luna had never said that word—but that sounded like an Aetheric practitioner. “You’re the man who tried to kill the prince.”
His smile was thin. “It’s an ongoing process.”
So he was willing to admit to murder. I didn’t think he was much older than me—maybe about the prince’s age. Was he rich and connected enough that he didn’t think he could (or would) be punished? Or maybe he was arrogant enough to believe he could overcome anyone who wanted to punish him. Given my current circumstances, I wasn’t in a position to argue.
“You use possessed humans to do your work.”
“Fate binds us all,” the man said, and walked across the space, looking up at the woodwork in apparent admiration. “A lucky few are strong enough to pull a thread or two, to loosen a knot or weave a new pattern.” He stopped and looked back at me. “I am one of those. It appears they weren’t.”
“So the girl who chased me in the alley. Where is she?”
“I have no idea.”
“You killed Tommen?”
“Who?”
“The blacksmith.”
“Ah. He was a servant, and his work was done.”
“The Aether left scars,” I said. “You killed the assassin in the woods. The one shot with an arrow?”
“I didn’t, no. A servant did.” Despite his apparent money—he wore a gold mask, after all—his assassins had all worn threadbare clothes. No point in sharing your wealth if you considered everyone your servant.
“Where’s the weapon Tommen made for you?”
His eyes narrowed. “What do you know of the weapon?”
I bet he wasn’t sure what we’d found at Tommen’s forge. “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? He was a blacksmith, and you left a bag of coins at his feet.”
He moved toward me again. I took a step backward; I didn’t want him any closer than necessary. “What did you find in the woods? I saw you search the corpse.”
I knew he’d been out there, could feel him watching. But not closely enough, or carefully enough, to see what the dead man had hidden away. In fairness, we didn’t know the origin of the bit of seal we’d found. But I wasn’t going to tell him that.
“Coins.”
“Coins,” he repeated.
“Gold. Two of them. But if that’s what you want, I don’t have them.” Which I was sure he knew, because only a fool wouldn’t have searched me while I was unconscious. “You’d have seen the prince’s guard take them. I assume he gave them to the prince and they’re in the palace.”
“The prince’s guard?”
“Bodyguard, technically. He’s also the man in the market who fought the possessed human who tried to kill the prince.” Also the gods-damned prince, but even as disappointed as I was, I wouldn’t share that secret with a madman.
“Since I don’t have what you want,” I told him, “I’ll be going.”
“You can leave,” he said, and gestured vaguely toward my right. “But I think you’ll want to hear what I have to say.”
“About what?”
“About a new order in Carethia. A new ruling power.”
So this wasn’t just about killing the prince; that was only the first step. “Oh,” I said blandly. “You want a different guy in the palace. I don’t really care about that.”
