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Will still had his eyes on him as the guards led Jacob away. Forget you ever had a brother, Jacob. He already has.
44
The Empress
It had been a long time since Jacob had last stood in the Empress's audience chamber. Even when he or Chanute delivered something she'd been eager to get for years, it was usually one of her Dwarfs who'd negotiate the reward or give the next assignment. The Empress only granted personal audiences when an item had been particularly dangerous to acquire, as had been the case with the glass slipper and wishing table, and when the story attached to it had sufficient blood and death in it. Therese of Austry would have made a great treasure hunter if she hadn't been born the daughter of an Emperor.
She was sitting behind her desk when the guards brought Jacob to her. The silk of her bright dress was embroidered with elven glass, and it was as yellow as the roses on her desk. Her beauty was legendary, but war and defeat marked her face. The lines around her brows were more defined, the shadows under her eyes darker, and her gaze had grown even colder.
One of her generals and two of her ministers were standing by the windows through which there was a clear view of the roofs and towers of the city and of the distant mountains the Goyl had already conquered. Jacob turned, and only then did he notice the adjutant standing next to the bust of a previous Emperor. Donnersmarck had accompanied him on three of his expeditions for the Empress. Two of them had been successes and had brought Jacob a lot of money, and Donnersmarck a medal and a promotion. They were friends, though the look Donnersmarck gave Jacob didn't show it. There were a few more medals on his uniform than on their last encounter, and when he walked over to join the general, Jacob noticed he was dragging one leg. Compared to war, treasure hunting was a harmless pastime.
"Unauthorized entry to the palace. Threatening my guests. One of my spies knocked unconscious." The Empress put down her quill and waved one of her Dwarfs to her side. The servant kept his eyes firmly on Jacob while he pulled back his mistress's chair. The imperial Dwarfs of Austry. Over the centuries, they had thwarted dozens of assassination attempts, two on Therese's father, and the Empress had always had at least three of them by her side. Rumor had it they could even take on Giantlings.
Auberon, Therese's favorite among the Dwarfs, smoothed the Empress's dress as she stepped out from behind her desk. She was still as slender as a young girl.
"What is this, Jacob? Did I not order you to find the hourglass? Instead I have to learn that you're in my palace, dueling with my future son-in-law's bodyguard."
Jacob bowed his head. She didn't like it when you looked her in the eyes. "I had no choice. He attacked me, and I defended myself." His arm was still bleeding. His brother's new signature.
"Surrender him, Your Majesty," one of the ministers said. "Or better yet, have him shot yourself, to prove your desire for peace."
"Nonsense," the Empress replied testily. "As if the war hasn't cost me enough already. He's one of my best treasure hunters — even better than Chanute."
She stepped so close to Jacob that he could smell her perfume. There was a rumor that she had magic poppy-juice mixed into it. If you inhaled too deeply, you did whatever she told you.
"Did someone pay you? Someone who doesn't like this peace? Well, give him a message from me: I don't much like it, either."
"Majesty!" One of the ministers glanced at the door as if the Goyl were listening on the other side.
"Oh, be quiet!" the Empress snapped at him. "I'm already paying for it with my daughter."
Jacob looked at Donnersmarck, but his glance was not returned.
"Nobody paid me," he said. "And it has nothing to do with your peace. I'm here for the Fairy."
The Empress's face went as blank as her daughter's.
"The Fairy?"
She tried valiantly to sound unconcerned, but her voice gave her away. Hatred and disgust — Jacob heard them both. And anger. Anger that she feared the Fairy so much. "What do you want from her?"
"Give me five minutes alone with her. You won't regret it. Or is your daughter happy her groom brought his dark mistress to the wedding?"
Careful, Jacob. But he was too desperate to be careful. She had stolen his brother. And he wanted him back.
The Empress exchanged a glance with the general.
"He's as disrespectful as his former master," she said. "Chanute used that same impertinent tone with my father."
"Five minutes," Jacob repeated. "Her curse cost you your victory. And thousands of your subjects."
She looked at him pensively.
"Majesty!" the general said, but kept his mouth shut after she shot him a warning look. She turned around and returned to her desk.
"You're too late," she said over her shoulder. "I've already signed the treaty. Tell the Goyl he inhaled elven dust or something," she ordered. One of the guards took Jacob's arm. "Take him to the gate, and give orders not to let him in again."
"And, Jacob!" she called as the Dwarfs opened the door. "Forget about the hourglass! I want a wishing sack!"
