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“He is dead?” said Andreyen.
“There has been much death,” said Kel. “But you knew that. You knew there would be blood.”
Andreyen’s green eyes glittered. The night sky around them was full of clouds, great pillars of black vapor slashed through with orange fire. “I had hoped not,” he said. “But it was only hope.”
Kel took a deep breath of smoky air, tinged with the acid of burning. “Understand this,” he said. “I won’t work for you. I will never work for you.” He paused. “But I will workwithyou.”
Andreyen looked thoughtful. “You know,” he said, “it is not in my interest to tell you this, but I would rather not have it occur to you later and trouble your mind.”
Kel said wearily, “What?”
“Working with me in secret—for the Palace in secret—you may die doing it. And it will be an inglorious death. No one of your House Aurelian will know you died doing your duty, and when you are buried, it will not be near your Prince.”
“I know that,” Kel said. “But I will die doing what I want.”
Andreyen almost seemed to smile. “Well, then,” he said. “Come in. We have a great deal of work to do.”
