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The mage showed them his impassive, ruined face.
“You might not have done the deed by your own hand,” Cassia went on, “but you were undoubtedly responsible.”
In the silence, Lio heard Chrysanthos’s heart laboring.
“Please, be honest about your role in his death.” Lio gave a slight bow. “I am the last person who will judge you. I am partially responsible for it myself, after all.”
“Whatever my failures,” Chrysanthos spat, “I am nothing like you.”
“Failure?” Lio echoed. “Far from it, Dexion. Allow me to thank you for protecting countless people from him.”
“A number of us were sitting in the path of his flames at the Equinox Summit,” Cassia said. “None of us around this table will lose any sleep over his demise.”
“Go to Hypnos,” Chrysanthos hissed.
Lio grimaced. “I am afraid that may, in fact, beyourdestination if your circle finds out. They may not take it as well as we have when they discover how your infamous rivalry with Dalos concluded.”
“I understand you war mages thrive on competition,” Cassia said, “but betraying your own brother? That is unforgivable.”
A drop of sweat trembled on Chrysanthos’s brow.
Cassia planted her hands on the table and leaned forward. “You can bid your medallion goodbye when the world learns you hired an assassin to rid you of Dalos’s competition and clear your way to the office of Dexion.”
Chrysanthos let out a breath that sounded like a scoff. Then he smiled. Then he tilted back his head and laughed.
“Oh, Ambassador.” Chrysanthos lounged back in his chair, still chuckling. “The thorn has fallen far from the thicket, indeed. This is your grand maneuver? You and these pretenders have nothing to say to me. Take me back to my rooms.”
Lio veiled his face so his expression would not betray his surprise. Where had they gone wrong?
Cassia’s frustration and dismay mingled with his own. “I am sure you wish it were so easy, but you are not leaving this table until we reach an agreement about the hostages.”
“That won’t happen unless the ambassador leaves with me.”
The abrupt change they had just witnessed in Chrysanthos was far more than a mere recovery of composure. Lio had sensed the mage’s deep response to their accusations. The answers were right in front of them, Lio was sure, but they hadn’t learned them yet. They must keep probing his weaknesses.
Lio circled back toward the Dexion. “Did you know what else Dalos was doing in Tenebra?”
“I suspect so.” Cassia paced in the opposite direction. “You know all the Aithourian Circle’s ugly secrets, don’t you?”
“I’m afraid you do me too much credit.” Chrysanthos looked at his letter box, not at Lio over his shoulder. “I have no idea what Dalos might have been up to on the side. Care to tattle? Since we’re sharing secrets.”
Lio paused right next to the mage. “You really didn’t know he was planning to consign two-dozen children to the pyre for heresy?”
Chrysanthos shifted in his chair, putting distance between them. “I will not listen to Hesperines make such malicious accusations against my circle.”
“I think your conscience gave you pause,” Lio said, “although Dalos’s did not trouble him. I heard your response to Princess Alexandra’s relation of her past. I have also seen the evidence of your love for your nephew. You value the lives of children more than Dalos ever did.”
“Any children rescued from heretical parents are given into the care of Kyrian orphanages for proper teaching. Aithourians do not stoop to murdering children.”
Lio brought his face closer. “Even Eriphite children?”
“You must think me a fool. The bandits the Tenebran mages of Anthros were hunting were anything but children.”
Cassia stood by the Semna. “So you were aware Dalos intended to apprehend the Eriphites in return for the Temple of Namenti’s cooperation.”
“Solorum Temple knew nothing about this!” Master Gorgos’s jowls shook.
Chrysanthos shot him a glance. “A mage of Anthros from the royal temple colluding with a Hesperine. I never thought I would see the day. The Akron will ensure we never see such a day again.”
