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“You didn’t fail,” Kadou said firmly. “You didn’t.” Softer, gentler, almost tenderly he added, “And yes. Yes, of course I trust you.”
You’re a godsend.Those words from Kadou that first day at the Shipbuilder’s Guild, the shining prince on his golden horse, had swept through Evemer’s soul like a breath of unexpected wind and lit a glow in his heart like a single star on a cloudy night. These words now lit him up like a dozen stars.
His lord would be able to see right through him, surely. He would see it, see how much itmatteredto Evemer . . . But he didn’t know yet if he wanted Kadou to see that in him, so Evemer dropped his eyes to the flagstones. “My lord,” he said.
Kadou kept speaking, because of course he couldn’t hear the tempest of unnameable feeling howling through Evemer. “If those counterfeits make it abroad, then people elsewhere might think we’ve started debasing. If we’ve debased that much, and gone to that much trouble to hide it, they’ll think something is desperately wrong in Arast. Ninety percent of our money is imaginary, Evemer. It’s just”—he flung one hand out in a broad sweep—“lines of notation in a ledger somewhere. It can vanish like smoke. There’s no one else to untangle it all. No one we can trust right now, and there is anunknown time limit. I have to do it. It’s . . . it’s an obligation. Like your oaths of service.”
Evemer didn’t quite agree that it was anything like the same—Kadou had a duty to be cautious, didn’t he? To keep himself safe? To not go running headlong into more dark alleys where who knew what sort of trouble might lurk? “The commander will object.”
“She will not.”
“She will.”
Kadou set his jaw stubbornly. “Want to bet?”
Eozena nodded slowly. “Yes, I see. You’re right, we do have to move quickly.”
Kadou gave his kahya a dry look; Evemer went to his blank-stone-wall face. Kadou resisted the impulse to laugh, fighting it down into only a smile, which he directed at Eozena. “I’m glad we agree. I’ll go out and start looking—”
“You? Oh, no, absolutely not. You’re going to leave this to me and your kahyalar.”
Evemer gave Kadou an identical dry look. Kadou pointedly ignored him. “Eozena,” he said, entreating. “You’re busy—the security of the palace—”
“Yes, that’s top priority. But I will handle this as well.”
“Are you going tosleepat any point? Or eat?”
“Oh, that’s rich, coming from you!” she crowed. “Prince Hypocrite, they’ll call you!”
“Eozena.”
“Not achance,my love,” she said. His heart fell. “You’re going to stay right here, andyou”—she pointed at Evemer—“are going to make sure he doesn’t leave this house until I say it’s safe, and then you’ll make sure he doesn’t leave the Gold Court until I say that’s safe, and then you’ll make sure he doesn’t—”
“Yes, Commander.”
She was getting a bit of a manic glint in her eye. “Everyone is going to beperfectly fine.”
“Youcame to me to give me this investigation,” Kadou said. “This is important—there’s a time limit on it. And I have a duty to this country! You can’t just—”
“Kadou, very best beloved of my heart, you’ll find that I certainly can, unless you’d like to ask Her Majesty to have me court-martialed. Let’s keep this situation pleasant and familial, shall we? You’re not going anywhere. I know it’s difficult, I know you want to be useful, andtrust methat I am aware the investigation is a matter of great concern. But the most useful thing you can do is stay in this house, preferably within eyesight or at least earshot of one kahya at all times. It is also your duty,” she said, meeting his eyes steadily, unwaveringly, as firm and immovable as a mountain, “to graciously allow me to do my job and keep you safe.”
Kadou couldfeelthe waves of smug contentment radiating off Evemer. “Yes, Commander,” he said.
“Don’t sulk. Find something to keep your hands busy. Read a book. Work on some embroidery.” She thought for a moment. “You can go outside and do sword-forms in the courtyard if you take three kahyalar with you.”
“It will be dark soon,” he said. “I can’t do any of those things in the dark.”
Eozena shrugged. “I’m sure you’ll find something with which to occupy yourself. Chess with Evemer, maybe? You’ve been playing quite a lot with him lately, no? Nice, safe, indoor sort of game, chess. It’d get your mind off things.” She nodded firmly. “As for me, I’ll be sending for Melek and having Tadek question çem.”
Kadou pressed his lips together hard and nodded. “I understand,” he said, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. “Thank you for your vigilance, Commander.”
She laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezed it. “Don’t be angry with me for loving you, my boy,” she murmured. He looked up at her—her crooked half smile grew fonder, and her hand left his shoulder to cup his cheek. “Getting an old lady all sentimental, you know.”
“You’re hardly old, Eozena,” he said. His eyes stung a little—from frustration, from the feeling of helplessness, from how warm her hand was on his cheek and how badly he wanted to step forward and bury his face in her shoulder. It wasn’t appropriate, now he was grown and had to at leasttryto behave like a prince, rather than having the excuse of being a child who wanted a hug from the closest thing he had to an auntie.
“Ah, give it twenty-five years or so, you’ll change that tune. You just watch how quick that niece of yours shoots up, then come back and tell me whether or not you feel a bit like an old man. You’ll be nearly fifty then. And I’ll be, what, seventy-six or so? Decrepit.” Her smile broadened when Kadou gave a soft snort, but when he tried to look away, she turned his face back to hers gently and gave him that steady, immovable-mountain look. “I’m not treating you like a child.”
“I know,” he said. He swallowed down his upset and whispered, “You’re keeping your oaths. You’re—using your best judgment. Which you have proven to be sound and—and sensible. And prudent. That’s the whole reason you’re commander.”
