Page 94 of The Castle & the Cloister

There it was. For years, the Priest and Lucian had danced around any sort of direct confrontation, ensuring their enmity never resulted in violence between the two of them. Survivors both, they recognized a losing proposition, but in giving Lucian more credit than he was due, the Priest had precipitated exactly the conflict they’d both spent so long avoiding. The spymaster’s only way out now was through him.

And the Priest cursed himself for the worst of fools.

“That,” Hadrian said, finally sounding pleased, “is how Inver problems ought to be dealt with. I’ll assemble the nobility, who must stand witness. We’ll hold the rite before the empty throne, and the gods will judge between you both. I never thought I’d say this, Priest, but I hope Tyrus goes with you and guides your hand. It’s the only way you’re coming out of this alive.”

The Priest silently concurred. He’d always known an attempt at the crown would be the death of him. But he hadn’t expected it would come so soon.

XXVIII

By the sword

By the knife

Take a life

Take a land.

By our flame

By our fire

Take a crown

Take the Hand.

—AN INVER NURSERY RHYME

A fight to the death? Aduel?” Fia asked Beneson in disbelief. “Are we animals now? Or barbarians? I thought even the Invers were beyond this sort of absurd posturing.”

“It hasn’t happened in a long while,” Beneson said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He’d come to Fia in the queen’s rooms, where she insisted on keeping up residence. Though she’d tried to see Ariana twice, the guards under Gaius wouldn’t allow Fia to set foot in the dungeons, and staying in Ari’s rooms was her only way of feeling close to the queen. It reassured her, to be in a place where Ariana had passed seven years, successfully warding off the Invers’ more violent impulses.

Fia, it seemed, hadn’t been able to do the same for more than a few days.

“It’s an old rite,” Beneson went on. “And considered very honorablefor an Inver to undertake. What I mean is, if you survive the rite of conquest, you win a great deal of respect. They talk about you for ages. Janus Inver was the last one to carry out the rite. A cousin was trying to usurp his father’s lands, and he killed her in hand-to-hand combat. That was twenty years ago, and they still speak highly of him for it.”

“Janus Inver?” Fia asked incredulously. “That bald man, with the enormous handkerchiefs?”

“The very same,” Beneson said.

“Raea’s light, I hate it here.” Fia sat down on the queen’s bed emphatically. “Janus seems like such a harmless little man.”

“No one’s harmless at this court,” Beneson warned. “They’re either dangerous or dead. Even you and I have to be a threat to manage.”

Fia pressed a hand to her forehead. “So the Priest has to fight Lucian? He can’t talk his way out of it, or refuse, or just… have someone poison Lucian before it happens?”

Beneson shook his head. “Not if he wants to be backed by Hadrian. Hadrian’s traditional. He thinks this is the way problems ought to be solved—face-to-face, and with a blade.”

“I don’t like it.” Fia was on her feet again, nervous energy coursing through her as she paced the queen’s room like a caged beast. “If it could be Gaius even, I’d feel better about the Priest’s chances. But Lucian’s easy on his feet. Knows how to carry himself. And I expect he’s spent years now thinking over how he’d bleed the Priest to death if the opportunity arose.”

Beneson frowned, staring out at the vast sweep of the foothills and the plains that lay beyond the queen’s windows.

“The thing is,” he said slowly, “itcouldbe Gaius. If the Priest had someone he trusted enough to name as adjutor. That’s sort of a brother in arms—someone who’d stand with him for the rite of conquest and face his mortal enemy alongside him. If he had an adjutor, Lucian would have to choose one too. He’d pick Gaius for certain, who’d stand against the Priest, while the Priest’s adjutor stood against Lucian. It’s supposed to be a test of your ability to command loyalty, being able to name someone who’ll take on your worst enemy on your behalf. Only trouble is, the Priest doesn’t have anyone like that. I know you can do a lot of things, but I don’t think a knife fight’s really in your line, is it?”

“No,” Fia said. “But it’s time for our new captain of the guard to make his first appearance at court. Ben, when is the rite supposed to take place?”

“A little over an hour from now.”

“We haven’t got long, then. I need you to go to the faithful district. As fast as you can run. Ask at the taberna for a man called Nikolau—say Fia needs him at the castle, and she needs himnow. Don’t leave without him, do you understand?”