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“You know that whatever you’ve done, Silk will retaliate,” Cade said.
“I do know.”
“He’ll punish innocent people, unless your men were careless enough to get caught. What if they are and they give away secrets?”
“Sacrifice for the cause is necessary.” The professor’s voice had grown very quiet. The light accentuated the crags and lines on his face. “All involved know the dangers they face. They will not betray us in the unlikely circumstance they are captured.”
“And the innocents Silk will punish in their stead?”
“This is war, Cade. In every war there is collateral damage.”
A chill caught hold of Karigan. Every time she thought she knew the professor, some new facet of him surfaced. Every time she was lulled by his kindness and humor, she saw another side. This one was cold, dispassionate. One had to be willing to sacrifice for one’s ideals, but cold-bloodedly and willingly give up the lives of innocents? She averted her gaze, wondering how that made him any different from Silk or the emperor.
“If Silk or his cohorts should ever learn our secrets,” the professor continued, deadly calm, “you know what to do.”
“I do,” Cade said.
Hide and protect Arhys, Karigan thought. As a Weapon, that would be his primary objective. She studied his face. His expression was both determined and . . . disturbed. Was he as disturbed as she by the professor’s willingness to accept the deaths of innocents?
As if the world were once again daylit and sunny, the professor’s whole posture and demeanor changed, and he strode off before they could ask more questions. “Come, you two,” he called over his shoulder. “We must have a look at Cade’s social calendar.”
• • •
Back down in the library section of the second floor, the professor explained, his chair tilted back and his feet propped on his desk.
“Silk has scored a point against us,” he said. “He has skillfully found a way to cut me from attending his dinner party as Miss Goodgrave’s escort and chaperone.”
“What did he do?” Cade asked.
The professor tapped an ornate letter opener against his knee that looked like it could do much damage to more than just a letter. “He ensured a mandatory meeting with the board was called at the university, to review my projects and ensure they are worth funding. No funding and the opposition, I’m afraid to say, loses its front.” At Karigan’s quizzical expression, he explained, “The shield behind which the opposition hides much of its activities.”
Karigan thought she understood. The university gave the professor contacts through a range of societal levels, allowed him to keep watch on Dr. Silk and dabble in research and excavations, secretly, of course, that were outside the parameters of his official projects. Adding to his collection on the third floor, for instance.
“Dr. Silk will take Raven away if we don’t go,” Karigan said.
“I know, my dear, but that’s only if you don’t go. You are the important one. It’s you he wishes to see, not me. He thinks if he parts us, you are unprotected and vulnerable to his designs. That is why I’m sending Cade in my stead. You must prepare your best suit, Old Button.”
Cade gawped from his chair. “Me? B-but—!”
“You did not seem to object to being in Miss Goodgrave’s presence before.”
Cade’s cheeks flooded with red. Karigan felt herself warm again.
“Besides,” the professor said, “it’s about time you started delving into the social intrigues and not just your books and weapons, eh?”
Cade cast about himself as if looking for some excuse to present itself. “But I am nothing to those people—they will just look down on me.”
“Exactly!” The professor pointed the letter opener at him. “They will underestimate you. Yes, they will know you are my protégé, but because of your lower status, they will dismiss you at the same time. You will use that to listen and observe in a way that I cannot. They will treat you like a servant, forget that you’ve eyes and ears, and you will bring your observations back to me. You will also keep a sharp eye on Miss Goodgrave here and ensure she isn’t beguiled into any missteps by Silk’s charm.”
Cade did not protest. He said nothing at all, his gaze projected straight ahead. Karigan did not think he’d make a very good spy—he was much too transparent in his thoughts, but she believed the professor had it right about the upper class guests regarding him as no more than a servant. They’d ignore him.
“I haven’t got a good enough suit,” Cade said finally. “No evening wear.”
“All the better,” the professor replied. “It will just reinforce your low status.”
Now Cade stared at the ceiling as if trying to suppress further argument.
“I haven’t got the full list of guests,” the professor said, “but I know the city master and his wife are invited, along with some of the elite of this city and the Capital.”
“The Capital?” Cade’s voice was tight.
“Yes, my boy. They’ll be even less informed about the lower class, since they are not exposed to it in the same way they would be if they lived in Mill City. They’ll find you quaint. Perhaps mildly exotic.”
Cade swallowed, said nothing. Karigan almost laughed at the idea of him as mildly exotic. And she had kissed him!
It was not the distant clamor of the bells that roused Lhean from the deep meditations that left him adrift in memories of verdant Eletia. No, many bells had come and gone without his notice, but this time there was something underlying the metallic clamor, like thunder in the earth. The minutest tremor reverberated through his body, so subtle that, besides himself, perhaps only burrowing creatures could feel it. Fine dust stirred in the air. A thread of unrest rattled through the rubble of the old castle.
