Who was 'they' exactly?
"Who are these people?" I asked. "The ones you work for."
Ferris pulled a knee up. "Before, I'd just call them spies. Now . . . "
"Spies who kill Emperors?"
Ferris gave me a hard look. "Do you know what the Emperor was doing in Tsuyan that day? For twenty years of his reign, he'd never left Forlaith City. Then he summons his guard and visits you."
Whyhadhe come? I reflected on the worst day of my life, searching for the minor details that had come before the fire.
He'd wanted to talk to Father about our soldiers—for what, I could not say.
"You don't know?" Ferris presumed. "He was planning to start a war. Tsuyan was the first stop on a tour to prepare the nation's armies."
"War? Against who?"
"The Ceorthan Shadowlands. Rumor in the capital said he'd gone mad, struck by religious fervor. Not even the clergy understood his sudden obsession with cleansing the darkness."
"So his own people killed him."
"Not quite.” Ferris glanced away. "Now, his queen is resisting remarrying. It's driving the Lecovair mad."
The Lecovair—the caste of Solheart lords beneath the king. Father had mentioned them during his meetings.
"She's a woman. Can't they just force her?"
"They could, if the Archbishop approved. But he won't."
Odd. I narrowed my eyes. "What do the queen and Archbishop have to do with you being a traitor?"
"My point is—the Empire is at its weakest. I think I understand why they chose to strike now."
There was that word again: 'they.' I decided to formally give them a title—a name, for my enemy.
"The rebellion, you mean."
"I wouldn't call it that," Ferris murmured.
"And you're part of it. But considering you were content to help your father's assassin escape, I take it he's not."
"No." Ferris' voice grew uncharacteristically harsh. "King Ailithir is content to lick Forlaith's boots."
Reaching into my collar, I pulled out the thin cord necklace. Two beads of crystallized blood hung from it.
"I've decided," I said. "To fill this necklace with the blood of your people. There'll be a place for yours, too."
His eyes flicked between the blood jewels. "Why do you hate them so much?"
"Because they killed my brother, and ruined my life. Because they slaughtered innocents. What more reason do I need?" I glared at him. "You say you didn't know about their plans—will you abandon them? To turn traitor, as Quinn put it?"
Ferris said nothing. His eyes fell away from mine.
"That's what I thought.” I tucked the necklace back under my collar. "When—if—we get out of here . . . "
I didn't finish the threat. He understood it well enough.
Silence hung between us. Rattling iron and murmurs echoed in the dark.
