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Shit. My bad feeling got worse. I was about to go tell my brother about a murder, and I was willing to bet anything once again that it wasn’t the only murder that had just taken place.
Actually, when I stopped to think about it, it was funny. So much so that I laughed.
“Boy, are the two of you in for a surprise when you get back to the cottage,” I said.
They looked at me strangely, but it was too dangerous for me to elaborate when we were talking out in the open. They’d find out soon enough that they’d just left one problem for another.
I tugged Genny out of the alley, and we continued on to the palace. By all outward appearances, nothing was unusual. The guards looked bored as they waited around the palace gates. A few of Sai’s councilors were outside in the front gardens, taking advantage of the momentarily nice weather. The guards at the door merely nodded to me and Genny as we entered the palace, though one of them frowned when he saw me holding Genny’s hand.
I’d grown up in the palace, so I knew the fastest way to the library garden. My first thought as Genny and I entered was surprise that it was so well-maintained. I’d noticed that the palace was a little short on staff from the moment we’d arrived, but somehow the gardens still looked nice. That was probably my mother’s doing.
The next thing I noticed was Magnus, Peter, Neil, and Sai standing around a blanket-covered lump. Magnus seemed to be in some sort of discussion with Sai as Peter and Neil leaned against each other, looking exhausted. Magnus and Sai were serious, but not “just committed murder” serious.
“Lefric and Olympus said you needed me,” I said as Genny and I crossed to the others.
I felt a slight resistance as Genny tried to stop me pulling him across the garden, and I turned to see what was wrong.
Genny’s face had lost most of its color as he stared at the lump on the ground.
“Do you want to stay over here and maybe not look too closely?” I asked.
Genny nodded silently.
I let go of his hand, then thought twice about leaving him. I clasped my hands on the sides of his face and kissed him.
Fortunately, when I rocked back, Peter and Neil were already most of the way over to that side of the garden.
“We’ll stay with him,” Neil said. He glanced to Peter, then back at me, and said, “Honestly, I’ve seen enough for one day.”
I let out a grim laugh. “Then don’t head back to the cottages yet,” I said. “They’re cleaning up a mess over there too.”
Peter frowned. “Why? What happened?”
I glanced to Sai and Magnus, who were obviously eager for me to join them, then said, “Sebald’s old lover struck Avenel and Kliment at some point before we all got there. Jorgen wasn’t happy about that.”
“Good,” Peter said, then turned his attention to Genny. “Are you alright?”
I figured Genny was in good hands, so I kissed his cheek one last time, then headed across the garden. It wasn’t lost on me that Peter was back to acting like Genny was his dear friend and brother and not the man who had challenged his efforts to abolish pupdom. That was a relief for the moment as well.
I put that out of my head as soon as I reached Magnus and Sai.
“You tell me about your murder and I’ll tell you about ours,” I said with a false smile.
Sai had dark circles under his eyes and a wan appearance, which made me regret being so flip about Barthold’s death. “So, Jorgen killed him for raising a hand to his pup?” he asked. I must have been loud enough while telling Peter and Neil for Sai and Magnus to hear as well.
I nodded. “We were just discussing how you would react and what you would say to the authorities in Hedeon. The point was raised that city-dwellers might blame us and see all wolves as murderers, and that they might make a bigger deal of this than it should be. I was actually already on my way over here to apprise you of the situation when we met Lefric and Olympus in the street.” I nodded distastefully at the lump in the grass. “How did this happen?”
“Our poor friend Hadrian said the wrong thing at the wrong time,” Magnus said. “And when questioned about his loyalties, he apparently thought my conniving brother was close enough to hear his professions of loyalty.”
“Magnus helped me to see that I couldn’t let a known spy continue with his treachery for a moment longer,” Sai said, his voice heavy.
I studied him more closely and saw that he really was wrecked. “Was it by your hand?” I asked, trying to make my voice sound sympathetic, though I wasn’t very good at sympathy.
Sai nodded, sighed, and shoved a hand through his hair. “I know it was the right thing to do, it’s just…we served together.”
I’d seen the same sort of look on Sebald’s face not an hour ago. I felt bad for both of my brothers, the one I shared blood with and the one I didn’t. They’d both had to say goodbye to a part of their pasts, a part of themselves. I knew how that felt, even if my kiss goodbye to the dreams I’d had had been a kiss hello from my mother. It was the same thing. It was the death of hope.
“Alright, so what do we do now?” I asked, turning to Magnus—because I knew it wouldn’t accomplish anything to ask Sai.
