Fie set a hand on Tavin’s arm and shook her head. “He’s telling the truth.”
The master-general waited until her son let the steward go. “Burzo.Whydid you do all that?”
“I…” The tooth-spark gave a hitch, like a net tugging on a bewildered fish. Burzo’s open face said as much, his mouth pursing as he searched for words. “I… wanted to.”
Fie and Draga traded glances, and the master-general tapped Burzo on the back of the skull. He wilted into a healer’s sleep as well.
“First the skin monsters, now this.” Draga rubbed a thumb between her brows, scowling at the ground. “The Swans have always been cagey about the extent of their witches’ powers, but… Rhusana knew when to push Burzo into taking Fie’s hair. There’s a chance that she can see what he sees or hear what he hears. We’ll keep him under watch until Rhusana’s dealt with.”
Fie rolled the tooth a little too hard against her thumb. Spies in her band, spies in Jas’s camp, and no knowing what secrets they’d stolen. If one more spy popped out of the woodwork, she was going to skip the questions and go straight to cutting throats.
When Khoda was dragged out of his sleep, he took in the unconscious huddle of Steward Burzo, then smirked at the rest of the tent. “I betthatwas frustrating.”
Tavin looked ready to haul him about by the collar, too, but Dragaheld up a hand, face impassive as she stared down at Khoda. “What makes you say that?”
Khoda’s smile didn’t waver as he cocked his head. “I’m going to make a few guesses here, and you’ll tell me if I’m off the mark. Burzo didn’t know how long he was under Rhusana’s control. He didn’t know he was under her control,period. Healsodidn’t know what he wanted Fie’s hair for, only that he wanted to take it.” His gaze swept across all their faces. “Save your breath. I can tell I’m three for three.”
“This is why I hate spies,” Draga muttered into her hands. She turned to the rest of the tent, eyes lingering on Fie. “Before we go any further, you all need to understand that whatever you hear does not leave this tent. The Black Swans don’t deal in gossip; they deal in the kind of secrets that hold nations together. If you can’t keep those secrets, leave.”
“Unless you’re her.” Khoda nodded at Fie. “You definitely need her.”
Draga looked sore tempted to knock him out again. “Let’s get on with it. What do you know about Rhusana?”
“Not as much as I’d like,” Khoda answered, eyes on Fie and her Crane witch-tooth. For some, the truth was a knot to unwind; for others, a thorn to ease out. Fie hadn’t drawn truth from someone like Khoda before: what ought to have been stone-solid was instead slippery as an eel and thrice as hard to pin down. That made it all the harder to believe she was getting the whole truth.
“What does that mean?” Fie prodded.
“We haven’t been able to get anyone embedded close enough to her to provide hard information. If we could, the king would still be alive.”
Fie heard Jasimir suck in a breath behind her.
“The Black Swans believe in keeping the nation stable and whole,” Khoda continued, “and in preserving the rightful order. Only Phoenixes are trained to rule the kingdom, and the kingdom will onlyaccept Ambra’s blood for a ruler. By birth and by competence, Rhusana is unfit for the throne, and we will do everything we can to keep her off it.”
Draga resumed pacing, arms folded. “At least we agree there.”
“Why were you following Fie?” Tavin asked, stony.
Khoda shrugged. His truth shifted and slid about, impossible for Fie to force to direct words. “I was already at Trikovoi, and we thought Rhusana might strike at her to distract the prince. Clearly we were right.”
“What do you know of the queen’s powers?” Jasimir asked, rubbing his chin.
“Weknownothing,” Khoda answered. “Wethinkshe’s a witch. According to Swan records, her father was a Vulture, but the Swan rituals should have guaranteed she’d be born a Swan. A similar ritual should have guaranteed she’d lose her Birthright when she married into the Phoenix caste. We suspect she learned how to thwart those rituals from her mother. And if she was born a witch, with a dual Birthright like Prince Tavin”—it was Tavin’s turn to make a noise, albeit one of disgust at the wordprince—“then she’d have a Swan’s ability to manipulate people and a Vulture’s command over skin.”
“So you get the skin-ghasts,” Fie concluded. They’d known for nigh two moons that the ghasts were Rhusana’s work, yet there was something dreadful in knowinghow.“And no one notices her because you already have all three Swan witches. Not the most outlandish theory.”
Khoda nodded. “By our count, there should be seventy-eight Vulture witches at all times, one for each of their dead gods. According to our sources, only seventy-seven are accounted for.”
“Is it even possible?” Jasimir asked. “The dead gods founded their own castes. Can they be reborn into a different one?”
The Black Swan’s glance flicked for the briefest moment to Fiebefore darting away again. He said evenly, “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
Fie caught her breath. It didn’t have to mean aught; maybe he’d just looked her way to gauge her focus on the tooth.
Still, Little Witness’s words echoed back to her:You are not what you were.
Whatever Khoda knew about that, she could pry out of him later, without Draga and the lordlings for an audience.
“Doesn’t matter how she got her powers, just that she’ll keep using them,” Fie said. “So where does she foul up? What are her weaknesses?”
