Page 94 of A Drop of Corruption

“Yes,” said Ana quietly. “How is this so, sir?”

“Well, this is old history,” said the prince. “But…when the Empire came here a century ago, the king moved his court from the old city by the bay, where the towers now lean, to here, which was once the site of our holiest temples. Our court grew much smaller. This meant fewer potential wives for our kings, and their number was already quite few—many of our court are interrelated, you know. So my grandfathers simply, well, looked beyond,” he finished vaguely.

“To…toimperial brides,sir?” Ana said, incredulous.

“Yes,” said the prince. “My grandfathers found many imperialvisitors who were more than happy to become a wife of the throne, as it meant living in great finery. They came here, Tala, or Kurmini, or Rathras, and gave children to the king and the most esteemed members of his court. It was my grandmother who was Rathras, you see.”

I peered closer at him, and though it was dark in the chamber and the prince’s bearded face was adorned with gold inks, I began to see what he meant: there was something faintly aquiline and delicate to his looks, features common to those hailing from the Rathras lands.

“It has become an unpleasant bit of history these days,” admitted the prince. “My people do not love a prince who has any imperial look to him. But in truth, many here in the High City have the same look. Satrap Darhi, in fact, is also part Rathras.”

“I see. So it would be an easy thing for a man of his kind to hide here?” said Ana.

“Perhaps, yes. But could an imperial know such a thing?”

Ana was silent and did not answer him.

“May we review your servants later, sir?” she asked finally. “To see if perhaps this thief and murderer may be among them?”

“Well…certainly. But you would need to ask Darhi for that. He runs the household of the king’s hall.”

Ana allowed a tight smile. “Thank you, Your Majesty, for all your time and answers. I may have further questions for you, eventually…but for now, I should like to visit Kardas and his people. Then I will need to speak to Pavitar and Darhi. From there, I do not know where my search shall take us.”

“Of course,” said the prince. “I shall stay here, as is my duty. Ask the guard in the hall to please take you to the Treasury folk—and let him know if he does not, he shall have to answer to me.” The prince swallowed, and he suddenly looked very small next to the mound of white blossoms on the table. “I am still regent of this realm, even if not all know it yet.”

Chapter 35

We left the prince withthe corpse of his father, and were led down yet another passage by the Yarrow guard. I had to remind myself that it was still day. In this windowless, torchlit place, it felt as if we walked not the waking world but Arasinda, the afterlife where betrayers and the disloyal wander sunless caverns filled with reeking fumes. Ten paces from the door, Malo glanced backward and made to speak, but Ana hissed, “No! Not here. There are many ears about this place. And do not speak much before our Treasury comrades, either! I trust them little as well, for now.”

The guest wing of the great hall was guarded by no less than a dozen soldiers, and from their bearing I gauged they were fell hands with a sword. They hesitated a great while before reluctantly allowing us to enter. The rooms within were dark, yet as we entered we heard a great rustling as many people shot to their feet. Then we heard voices crying out, “Imperials! They are imperials?”

Then more: “Iudex? They are Iudex? Oh, are we freed? Tell us, are we freed?”

The Treasury officers gathered around us like spirits in the Harvester’s kingdom, pawing at us and asking for news. I had to stand before Ana to push them back, and squinted to see in this shadowy place. The chambers would have normally been a grand, stately sight, with four-poster beds and many tapestries, but now it stank of sweat and worse things.

“Calm!” Ana snarled at the delegation. “Calm, now, all of you! Where is Kardas? We must see to him.”

The Treasury officers led us to one of the four-posters. Kardas lay upon it, with many pillows propping him upright. His engraver Gorthaus leaned over him, dabbing his forehead with a cloth and water. She looked up at us as we approached, her face gaunt and her eyes sunken. She seemed utterly transformed by her spell in captivity.

Kardas, however, looked far worse: his neck was so swollen that she’d had to unbutton the collar of his shirt, and his lips were distended and thick. His cheeks and eyelids had swelled so greatly that his eyes were now little more than cracks that trickled tears down his face. He was breathing shallowly, and his wheezing was so loud that I could hear it from six paces away.

“We can’t move him,” Gorthaus warned us hoarsely. “Even if we are freed, and even if you had stretchers and medikkers behind you, I’d not dare to lift him from the bed.”

“We are not here to move him, girl,” said Ana. She waved to Malo. “Do it.”

Malo knelt beside Kardas and took a vial from within her cloak. She held it to the light, peering at it: a tawny liquid swilled within, and a dozen tiny worms coiled about at its bottom, each with a stripe of bright white along its back. Malo uncorked the vial, poked in a bare finger, and withdrew it. Five of the little worms were stuck to her skin, like leeches. She recorked the vial, stowed it back in her cloak, then carefully pulled the worms from her finger and placed them upon Kardas’s neck.

“Arvith leeches,” murmured Malo. “Altered so their venom reduces even the most potent of inflammations. His breathing should be free soon. In an hour, he should be able to sit up—but he will have a terrible thirst.”

“Keep some spare worms, Malo!” said Ana dryly. “Just in case any of us sip from the wrong cask…”

Gorthaus leaned back from Kardas’s side. Her face crumpled, and she began to weep. “Oh, thank the fates! I…I’d resigned myself to watching him die hours ago. Are we freed, ma’am?”

“Not until I’ve convinced them of his innocence,” said Ana. “Tell me, Signum—were you present when the king was stricken?”

“I was.”

“And your memories were engraved, I assume?”