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“Great God help us,” Alek says faintly. “If they could be making a horde of supporters…”
Stavros pushes back his chair with a rasp of the legs against the floor. “I think I’d better inform the king of all this as quickly as he can see me.” He pauses. “I’ve already had some other news from the Crown’s Watch.”
My heart lurches at his tone. “What?”
The former general’s eyes have gone stormy. “Benedikt’s body was found yesterday evening. In the harbor, made to look like he was wandering amid the boats after having too much to drink, fell in and hit his head and drowned.”
He catches my gaze. “He had his locket on him, probably because the conspirators didn’t know the significance and wanted to avoid the death looking like a crime by involving robbery.”
That’s what he meant when he said we didn’t need to worry about signaling the men.
Oh, Benny, Julita murmurs.
I hug myself, queasiness bubbling up through my chest even though I expected an outcome like this. “At least… At least he can’t harm the royal family now. I hope it was a quick death.”
Casimir taps his fingers down his front in the gesture of the divinities, his expression downcast. “However much of a scoundrel he decided to be in the end, I hope the same for him too.”
Alek stiffens. “You don’t think—if the scourge sorcerers can makepeopleout of clay—could everything with him have been a trick?”
I stare at him, my stomach flipping over.Couldit be true…?
But in the first instant I consider the idea, as much as part of me welcomes it, a conflicting certainty rises up. “I don’t see how. The replica of the king only sort of looked like him—it doesn’t seem the scourge sorcerers can make exact copies. And how would they have known I’ve got any connection to Benedikt for it to make sense as a trick? Unless they figured out I’m working against them, I guess, in which case they’d have already killed me.”
“Not to mention that in every account we’ve had of the conjurings so far, they’ve changed back into clay at death,” Stavros adds. He pauses, his tone turning even more solemn. “I saw his body myself to confirm. The poor prick.”
Alek bows his head. A moment of silence passes between us—the last thing we can offer the colleague who betrayed us.
Then Stavros stands with a nod to Casimir. “Have you discovered anything I should bring up with King Konram as well?”
The courtesan makes an apologetic expression. “No. I’m still chasing down leads that I hope will turn up more concrete information.”
“Then I’ll make my report now.” Stavros pauses. “Ivy, wait here until the next bell. If I’m able to speak to the king right away, he may want to hear more details directly from you.”
A shiver runs through my nerves at the thought of facing the king, but I bob my head in agreement. Stavros strides to his ring without hesitation.
When he’s gone, Casimir tugs his chair closer to mine and reaches to caress the side of my face. “Every time those fiends call on you, they ask something horrible of you.”
I smile tightly. “We knew it’d probably be that way when we came up with the plan. I’m surviving.”
Alek makes a face. “You should be able to do more than justsurvive.”
When I look at him, I find I can smile more openly. “I have been, though. Mostly thanks to the two of you.”
The scholar’s piercing eyes soften. He touches my jaw and leans in for a kiss.
At the brush of Alek’s lips against mine, Julita lets out a disgruntled sound.Well, there’s my cue to remove myself again.
I jerk back, meaning to reassure her, but I can already feel that the tingle of her presence has faded to almost nothing in the back of my head.
“What’s wrong?” Alek asks.
“It’s not you,” I assure him quickly. “It’s…”
All Julita’s remarks over the past few weeks bubble up to the surface. An ache wraps around my heart, but I know the right thing to do.
I grip Alek’s hand to try to soften the blow. “Julita’s been feeling discarded now that we’ve gotten so close. I think she’s regretting chances she didn’t take when she was alive and having trouble coming to terms with the fact that she won’t get to take any chances like that again. It hurts her, seeing us together.”
Casimir knits his brow. “That isn’t your fault, Kindness.”
