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Emana drifted closer to the prison bars. She let her pistol drop to her side.
“Come closer,” she said.
“It’s not a good idea for someone like me to get too close to the likes of you, little lady,” the ragged man said.
He had a cheerful tone in his voice. Either he was mad or he knew more than he was letting on.
Emana peered closer at him.
“What’s your name?” she said.
“I don’t have a name,” the ragged man said. “Not since I was reborn.”
Reborn. He was cracked after all.
“Let’s go,” I said, turning to leave. I was surprised to find Emana hadn’t turned with me.
“You… remind me of someone,” she said to the ragged man.
He shook his head.
“I remind everyone of someone,” he said. “A man you passed one day in the street, maybe.”
But Emana didn’t look sure. She backed away and resumed her position beside me. Then she tucked her pistol back in its holster.
“You said Kal will have to play a role,” she said. “What sort of role?”
“That will be up to him,” the ragged man said. “But the performance is nothing but a trial. One that has already been decided—on both sides.”
“What will they try him for?” I said.
“For dishonor, for lying to the people, I suspect.”
“But he never did either of those things,” I said.
“No, but they will try to make the people think he did,” the ragged man said.
“They won’t believe it,” I said.
“They will when it comes from Kal’s own mouth,” the ragged man said.
“He would never say that,” I said. “It’s not the truth.”
“Many people have concealed the truth when it suits them,” the ragged man said. “I should think we’re all guilty of that at one point or another.”
Emana peered at the ragged man once more. Why did she keep getting distracted by him?
“An honorable man might lie if he thought he was doing it for the right reason,” the ragged man said. “To save a loved one from infinite torture, maybe. Or a sister from a similar fate. And to prevent the death of his people. That’s a big one. I think there is plenty of motivation for him to say what he thinks he needs to.
“If he does, and the people believe him, he might think he’s protecting them, but in reality, he will be condemning them to a lifetime of servitude. If their faith in House Taw is destroyed, they will have no one else to turn to. And in their desperation, they’ll turn to whatever they’re given.”
“Zes,” I said. “He wants to be the new lord.”
“His claim would never hold,” Emana said. “It’s not strong enough. He’s not bound by blood.”
“He would be with the right marriage,” I said, eying Emana warily.
“That’s right,” the ragged man said. “It is what the Changelings planned this whole time. To replace your brother with a puppet they control. Zes… and with you on his arm.”
