Page 54 of The Infernal Battalion

“So...”

“I think that Mya died,” Marcus said. “And that Janus still thinks he can help her.”

There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

“That’s insane,” Cyte said.

“Is it?” Marcus said. “Do you know that for certain? I mean, I would have agreed with you two years ago. Since then I’ve seen dead bodies rise as monsters and watched a woman tear stone apart with her bare hands. Who am I to say that there’s no way to bring a girl back to life?” Look at Raesinia.

“But...” Cyte shook her head.

“He leaves Mieranhal. Reads everything he can find about magic, and figures out that if there is a demon that can do what he wants, it’s going to be at Elysium, with the Black Priests and their Penitents. He also finds out that the Thousand Names exist, so when he has the chance he gets the king to assign him to the Khandarai expedition.”

“Because he knows it’s a threat to the Black Priests,” Cyte said slowly. “So that there’ll be a war with Murnsk...”

“And he can march on Elysium with the army behind him.”

The sun was nearly gone from the sky. Up ahead, Marcus could see the lights of Gyff, warm and welcoming. The shadows of their horses stretched out, flickering along the road.

“You really think it’s possible?” Cyte said. “That he planned all of this?”

“I know that if anyone could have done it, it’s Janus bet Vhalnich.” Marcus shrugged uncomfortably. “But I think something’s gone wrong.”

“When he didn’t make it to Elysium, you mean.”

“More than that. If all this is true—​and that’s a big if—​then what’s the sense in what he’s doing now? Declaring himself emperor and marching south, toward Vordan, instead of back to Elysium?”

“Maybe he wants to secure Vordan before going back for another try. Or maybe there’s another step we don’t understand.” Cyte sighed. “Or maybe we’re spinning our wheels, and he’s just in love with power for its own sake.”

“It’s possible.” But Marcus remembered Janus on the march north, even before he’d been poisoned. The single-​minded focus. He was willing to sacrifice the whole army if it got him to Elysium. “Or maybe someone else is pulling the strings.”

“I don’t think Janus would ever serve as a puppet,” Cyte said.

“The Penitents got to him once,” Marcus said. “Maybe they did it again.”

Cyte gave Marcus a long look. “You want to believe that, don’t you?”

He did. He couldn’t deny it. Because if it’s true, then my betrayal isn’t a betrayal. We’re marching to save Janus, not to destroy him. “That doesn’t make it wrong.”

“It doesn’t.” She gave him a wan smile. “Just be careful. One of the lessons of history is that you should always be the most skeptical when the evidence lines up just the way you want it to.”

“We have that one at the War College, too,” Marcus said. “When things look too good to be true, it’s probably a trap.”

And if there’s one person who could set a trap like this, it’s Janus bet Vhalnich.

10

Winter

“Upstream,” Leti said decisively. “There’ll be a place to cross.”

“How do you know?” The Murnskai words still came slowly to Winter, but her vocabulary was improving, and she’d adapted to the peculiar dialect Leti and the others used. She needed Abraham to translate only when the conversation got particularly abstract.

“Deer tracks. They’ll have a way over.”

Leti pointed. They were standing by the side of a small river, running deep and fast in a narrow gorge. Trees overhung it on both sides, and bright green shoots were poking up through the sludge of plants killed by the sudden frost. There was nothing that looked like tracks to Winter’s eye, but she’d learned to trust Leti’s experience. The Trans-​Batariai—​they called themselves Haeta—​took for granted a level of wilderness expertise Winter couldn’t have matched in a lifetime.

“Come on.” Leti led the way upstream, bounding easily over the rocky ground. Winter followed, more cautiously, careful of her footing on the slime-​slicked stones. They scrambled up a short slope, while the river roared beside them. Sure enough, beyond a pair of massive boulders the water grew calmer, spreading out into a wide, shallow section that would be easy to ford.