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“Looks like you don’t know everything.” I squint over at him. “You believe me, right?”
“I believe you think you saw Ascomanni. But from your description, they seemed to be built the same as our Obsidians. After several hundred years, that would be unlikely.”
“I only saw Fá clearly. The others were…it was dark and fast.” I chew the inside of my cheek. “You think it might have been imposters?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense. If it is the real Volsung Fá, how did he get here so fast? How did he make it to the surface? Why did he target Freihild? The Ascomanni raiders in the Belt are resourceful, but none could evade the Republic sensor grid, or the instruments of the Pandora.”
“Maybe he was already here,” I say. “Maybe he knew Sefi was coming here.”
“How would he know that?” Pax asks.
I glance back into the hall where Ozgard watches the minstrels from Sefi’s side. “That is the question, isn’t it? The two servants in Sefi’s favor, Ozgard and I, walk away with their lives. The one screwing her concubine hangs on a hook.”
“Do you believe Valdir then?” he asks. “That Ozgard is complicit?”
“I don’t have a bloody clue. All I know is that Fá is the scariest man I’ve ever met. And I’ve met quite a few.” In the hall, Sefi departs. Xenophon heads our way.
“One question puzzles me the most,” Pax says. “Why would the Ascomanni have any interest in the Alltribe? For five hundred years, the only enemy they knew was themselves and the Moon Lords.” He hesitates. “And the Fear Knight.”
He’s prevented from saying more, and takes on a thoughtful expression as Xenophon arrives.
“The Queen would like a private word. With both of you.” Xenophon motions us to follow. I linger behind with Pax.
“You and Hatchetface wearing your harnesses?” I ask.
“Always.”
“Good lad.”
* * *
—
In her private chamber, Sefi hunches over the fire as I tell her for the third time what I already told her underlings of our night in the ruins. Her gloved finger strokes Aja’s razor. Electra slouches by the fire, poking it with her own finger. Pax remains quiet, not yet addressed.
“You know humans well,” Sefi says carefully to me. “Did…did it seem to you that Ozgard knew this Fá?”
I look between her and Xenophon. “Who is asking?”
“I am,” Sefi says.
“I don’t think so. He looked scared shitless. But I’m not a Bloodhound.”
She purses her lips and looks at Pax. “Do you believe Volsung Fá is real?”
“Yes. The context of the RRD briefs my mother passed to me suggest he is a myth to the pirates, but a real figure in the Kuiper Belt. However, we have intercepted tightbeams with phrases such as ‘the Fá orders’ or ‘send them to the Fá,’ followed by instructions. Not just as an epigram.”
She mulls this over. “You remember these messages?”
“Verbatim, however it could simply be they’ve adopted the word Fá as a title.”
“You will transcribe the message for Xenophon.” The White stands apart from us, keeping record. Pax says he will. “This Fá. Did your mother believe he is from the Far Ink?”
“According to classified Society records, yes. There is a civilization there, as you know. One that has harried the Moon Lords for years. But the transit would take over a year’s sail on a destroyer. And the Moon Lord sensors are at least as sophisticated as ours. They hunt down Ascomanni as they do everything—thoroughly.”
Sefi frowns in thought. “If he could make the transit, what size of force could he wield?”
“Again, that would be guesswork,” Pax says. “Fifty thousand if the raiders in the Inner Belt are his allies. If his real strength is in the Kuiper Belt…it would be ridiculous to even posit a guess. But even if it is a large force, the convoy required to ferry them here would have been spotted by the Moon Lords.”
