Page 95 of The Ragpicker King
“One of us was murdered,” says Seven. “Hardly reassuring. And Artal had his amulet. I thought it was meant to protect him.”
“It seems Beck was able to replace the real amulet with a false one.” Elsabet does not feel as calm as she sounds, but she does not want Seven to know how much it alarms her that Beck had circumvented her so easily. She had made a mistake in trusting Artal not to be a fool. Now the amulet, one of her family’s most trusted possessions, is in the hands of someone she does not wish well. Beck will need to be destroyed—but not yet. She needs to establish her position more strongly first. “You’re a gambling man, aren’t you, Seven? You shouldn’t be averse to a little risk when the reward is so high.”
“Engaging in high treason is not a little risk,” snaps Seven. “Can we even do this without Artal?”
“It will require a change of plans. A closer eye kept on Liorada and that daughter of hers. But most of all—we need the Sword Catcher. We need him out of the game, and where we can lay our hands upon him.” She narrows her eyes at Seven. “Did you discover whether the Prince is aware that the Sword Catcher has been arranging meetings between Anjelica Iruvai and the Ragpicker King?”
For the first time that day, Seven smiles. “Conor has no idea,” he says. “When it comes to Kel, he has a blind spot the size of the Jiqal desert.”
“That might be all we need for now,” Elsabet says. “Keep a watch on Saren. Be prepared to bring all of the Charter Families together, and the Prince with them. Once you lay all your proof at his feet in front of the Hill, he will have no choice but to act.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
All around Lin, people were chanting prayers to Aigon, a sound like the buzzing of bees in her ears.
Aigon, hear me as I pray with my soul for these children of mankind! Give them happiness, riches, children!
“Oshozo!” Lin called. “Wait!”
The Ashkar word drifted above the rhythmic chant. She saw a movement in the crowd ahead as Aron turned to look at her. A moment later, she had caught up with him. He was standing by the steps to the Justicia, away from the worst of the throng.
“What do you want?”
“What do Iwant?” Lin put her hands on her hips. “You couldn’t have confronted my grandfather in the Sault? You had to humiliate him in front of themalbushim?”
“He did not seem humiliated to me.”
“That doesn’t mean you didn’t try.” Lin’s hair was escaping from its fastening; it whipped across her face in the breeze. “You must realize that the damage you do to him is damage you do to all of us Ashkar.”
Aron looked at her squarely. “I have attempted to visit your grandfather at his house in the Sault. Repeatedly. He is always conveniently not at home.”
“You know that is no excuse,” Lin said coldly. “Why is your anger all for Mayesh? Why is it not for the Maharam? You know my grandfather spoke out for Asher Benezar. You know he did everything he could to keep him from being exiled.”
“Everything he could.” The Exilarch’s voice was measured, but his eyes seemed to burn with the shimmer of sun on desert sands. “That covers a wide variety of sins, does it not? How can we measure what a man can and cannot find it within himself to do?” He leaned closer to Lin; he was so much taller that she almost wanted to stretch up on her toes to hear him. She didn’t. “The truth is I expected nothing better from the Maharam. But I did expect better from your grandfather. I trusted him.”
“And you don’t trust him now?” She searched the Exilarch’s face. Such a strange face. A calm face, giving nothing away, and yet those eyes, like cuts in a paper mask, showing only a glimpse of a world otherwise unseen, a word of fiery emotion: anger, rebellion, righteousness denied. “You don’t believe that he was trying to protect you? You were the son of the Exilarch. What could you have done unobserved? Had you tried to help Asher, you would have been caught—”
He held up a hand, as if half-commanding her to be silent. “Your loyalty to your grandfather is to be expected,” he began. “But—”
“Loyalty.” She saw that the bitterness with which she spoke surprised him. “Me, loyal to Mayesh? I used to feel the same way you do. I used tohatehim. I thought he had abandoned me for the royalty up on the Hill.”
The bronze eyes narrowed. “And now?”
“Now I understand that he was trying to protect me, in his way, because he was trying to protect us all. Mayesh will always choose the Ashkar as a people over any one individual. It makes him a good Counselor.”
“If not,” said Aron, “a good grandfather.”
“He is our voice on the Hill,” Lin said quietly. “We all know what happened in Malgasi. The Ashkar had no voice there, and wewere murdered or driven out. I would think the Exilarch, of all people, would care—”
“You imagine that I do notcare?” He stared at her, wordless for a moment. In the distance Lin could hear the Hierophant, calling to Aigon to surround Anjelica and Conor with safe water, to bless their union with the strength of the sea and the faithfulness of the tides.
Conor, faithful?Lin bit the inside of her lip.
She had half thought Aron was about to shout at her. Instead, he said evenly: “I do not understand you, Lin Caster. When I look at you, I see that you are much more than you seem to be. I look into your eyes and I see the fire in there, and I think, is that the fire of the Goddess? That fire I was born to see? But around you—around you I see only darkness.”
Lin could not help herself, she flinched, just as a red-and-gold carriage rolled up beside them. Jolivet leaned out the window. “You were meant to wait by the Temple.”
Lin raised her eyebrows. “I received no message with that instruction.”
