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“She married into the Arzumanyan family,” Lefric whispered as we reached the edge of the garden between Olympus’s and Patrius’s houses. “She married Isis’s brother.”
“Who is Isis?” Peter asked.
“She’s Lord Olympus’s deceased wife,” Billie said, or rather squeaked.
I didn’t know whether to gape or laugh. Lefric and Billie looked as though Solstice had come early. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the two of them had exploded into dancing, or if they had shit themselves. Hayk was laughing at them, but his eyes were wide and lit with astonishment.
The rest of us were as confused as ever.
“We have to tell Magnus,” Neil said, glancing to me warily. “We have to tell him everything now. I don’t think we can wait.”
“We don’t have to tell him about General Rufus,” Sebald said, coming to my defense before I could. “Let’s just deal with one thing at a time. Billie says the spies who are named in Hadrian’s notebook are in the employ of the Arzumanyan family, and a member of that family is at his gate right now.”
“But who is Zendaya loyal to?” Lefric asked, looking as though he were having the best day of his life. “Her father’s family or her husband’s?” He wiggled his eyebrows, having entirely too much fun with the mystery.
“You would know that better than we would,” Peter said.
“She has to be treated with suspicion until we know for certain what’s going on,” Jace insisted. “Let her in, but lock her away somewhere.”
“You can’t lock up the daughter of the ruler of Good Port in her own house,” I argued, though honestly, I didn’t know enough about the situation to know if they could or not.
“Actually, letting Lady Zendaya in and not letting her leave might be the best thing any of us could possibly do,” Hayk said, flush with excitement.
I was tempted to think he was as silly as Lefric for getting so worked up about the situation—and he was worked up, even if he was trying to hide it better than his sister and Lefric—but it was his home city we were talking about. He had a vested interest in the outcome.
We were spared having to make a decision when Magnus, Lord Vikhrov, and Olympus—along with one of Lord Vikhrov’s sons whose name completely escaped me in the moment—came out of Lord Vikhrov’s house, followed by a servant.
“What is this nonsense about not letting my daughter into the estate?” Lord Vikhrov asked, annoyed, as he marched ahead of the others on his way to the gate. “Let her in!”
Lefric jumped into his path and held up his hands to stop him. “I’m not sure you’ll want to do that after you hear what we found out,” he said.
I was shocked that Lefric could get in a leader’s way like that, or that he would try to stop the man from seeing his own daughter. Then again, all of the Sons had spent the last year in extremely close contact with some of the most powerful men on the frontier. We’d been raised as nobles. Of course Lefric would interfere with Lord Vikhrov.
Lord Vikhrov didn’t look happy about it, though. “You’d better have a very good reason for keeping me from my daughter,” he growled at Lefric.
“I do,” Lefric insisted. He glanced to Olympus and Magnus before saying, “We showed Billie Hadrian’s notebook and the names of all the people listed as spies in Good Port. A great many of them work for Sanzhar Arzumanyan, including Jasur Jamshid.”
Lord Vikhrov and Olympus looked shocked. Magnus eyed the two of them carefully, betraying no feelings at all. I knew the calculating light in Magnus’s eyes, though. He was already thinking of ways to use the situation to his advantage.
“The Arzumanyan family,” Lord Vikhrov said as he stared at Olympus, as if that alone spoke volumes.
Olympus rolled his shoulders slightly and winced. “Isis never had a kind word to say for her father,” he said. “She was happy to get out of that family. She always said that their ambition would tear them apart someday.”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Lord Vikhrov said, though I couldn’t tell if he was convinced by his own words. “And besides, Zendaya is one of ours.”
I glanced to Hayk wondering if she really was, or if Hayk would even know.
Hayk glanced back at me with a look that said we were treading on very fine eggshells. Of course, I really didn’t need that look of his to feel as though we had reached the crux of something that could change Good Port in drastic ways.
“Let her in,” Magnus said quietly, stepping up to Lord Vikhrov’s side. “Let her in, but keep her contained. Watch her closely to see what she does, and listen to what she doesn’t say as much as what she does.”
“I beg your pardon?” Lord Vikhrov glanced to Magnus in annoyance. “She is my daughter. She couldn’t possibly be in league with the spies or the Old Realm.”
“Sanguinity means nothing,” Magnus said frankly. “My brother is the king of the Old Realm. That doesn’t mean I would welcome him into my home and share Wolf River gossip with him.”
Lord Vikhrov snapped his mouth shut and seemed to reconsider.
He reconsidered for a long time before sighing and starting forward again. “Let her in,” he repeated to the gate guard. “I won’t let her out of my sight,” he said over his shoulder to Magnus.
