Caina raised an eyebrow. “Someone like me? Dare I ask what that means?”
“The Balarigar,” said Damla, “the demonslayer, like the Szalds say.”
“There’s no such thing,” said Caina. She’d had this conversation with Damla before.
“Maybe not,” said Damla, “but if there were, you could convince me.”
Caina had no answer to that, so she took another sip. It was excellent coffee.
Bayram returned, Kylon following him. Behind Kylon came a gaunt middle-aged man in the ornamented robes and turban of a minor magistrate in the Padishah’s government, a leather satchel for legal documents slung over his shoulder. He looked a great deal healthier than when Caina had first met him locked in a cell in the Widow’s Tower, but she suspected the ordeal would leave Agabyzus looking a bit sickly for the rest of his life.
His eyes met hers, and he stopped in the middle of the common room, his hands falling to his sides.
That was the closest she had even seen to total shock from the crafty old spy.
Then Agabyzus blinked, gathered himself together, and crossed the common room to sit next to his younger sister, his eyes still on Caina. Kylon sat next to her, facing Damla and Agabyzus.
“Thank you, Bayram,” said Damla. “I will join you in the kitchens shortly.”
Bayram looked back and forth between Caina and Agabyzus, nodded, and disappeared into the kitchens.
“If you are an impostor,” said Agabyzus at last, “you are a very good one.”
“Thank you,” said Caina.
“But you might be an impostor,” said Agabyzus. “The Umbarians have Silent Hunters, able to turn themselves invisible. Why should they not have agents able to take the forms of the dead?”
“The very first day I met you,” said Caina, “was in a cell in the Widow’s Tower. I had taken shelter from Ricimer’s daevagoths in your cell, and I hadn’t expected to find you. You asked me to kill you.”
Damla blinked and looked at her brother.
Agabyzus inclined his head. “How did you persuade me otherwise?”
“I said that you wanted to know the secret,” said Caina. “You wanted to know what Callatas had hidden away in the Widow’s Tower. If we were going to die anyway, we might as well learn the truth before we perished.”
“And then,” said Agabyzus, “you blew up the Widow’s Tower.”
“To be fair, I didn’t meant to do it,” said Caina. “I was just trying to set fire to Ricimer. Or to Ricimer’s corpse, since his nagataaru had possessed it and was coming to kill us. The fire got…somewhat out of hand.”
Agabyzus stared at her, and then let out a long breath.
“By the Living Flame,” he said. “It really is you. I had long since ceased believing that the gods cared enough about us to offer miracles…but how are you still alive?” He blinked several times, the lines sinking deeper into his face. “Could Cassander actually have been bold enough to lie to the Grand Wazir’s face?”
“He thinks I’m dead,” said Caina. “I didn’t exactly fake my death, but…well, he has every reason to believe I am dead. And I believed that Cassander was dead. I was certain of it. I still don’t know how he survived.”
Agabyzus grunted. “Whatever you did to him, I think it almost killed him. He looked badly scarred when he approached the Grand Wazir.”
“Scarred?” said Caina. “Burned, you mean?”
“I did not see him myself,” said Agabyzus. “Some of the other Ghosts did, and they said it was as if Cassander had cut pieces from corpses and grafted them to himself to heal his injuries.”
Caina went cold, and shared a look with Kylon.
“Did his eyes happen to turn orange?” said Caina.
“Yes,” said Agabyzus. “His left one, I believe. How did you know?”
“Sicarion,” said Kylon, his voice grim. “That’s how he survived. Just as Sicarion survived Marsis and Caer Magia.”
“Sicarion?” said Damla. “Is that…not a High Nighmarian word?”
“He was an assassin and a necromancer,” said Caina, her voice hard as she remembered. Sicarion had murdered Halfdan in Marsis. “He had a spell that let him…harvest body parts from his victims. The first time we met, I saw him lose a hand, only to cut another hand from a corpse and use a necromantic spell to reattach it to his wrist.”
“The Living Flame preserve us from such a ghastly creature,” said Damla. “He is here in the city now?”
“No,” said Caina. “Sicarion died on the day of the golden dead. A friend of mine cut his head off. He might have been able to recover from nearly anything, but he couldn’t heal from that.”
“Few do,” said Agabyzus, his voice dry.
“Cassander must know a similar form of necromancy,” said Kylon.
“It would not surprise me, Lord Exile,” said Agabyzus. “It seems the Umbarian Order preserved many secrets of forbidden arcane science thought lost by the Magisterium, secrets they now use as weapons against the Empire.”
“Or to survive certain death,” said Kylon. Agabyzus inclined his head at that.
“What happened when Cassander returned to Istarinmul?” said Caina. “I know he posted that damned proclamation everywhere – I saw a dozen copies on my way here.”
“His behavior was…peculiar, to say the least,” said Agabyzus. “He demanded an audience with the Grand Wazir, and the Grand Master was there as well. Cassander requested that the Grand Wazir honor their agreement and open the Straits to the Umbarian fleet. Erghulan refused, claiming that since Cassander could not produce a body, there was no definitive proof that you were dead.”
Caina laughed. “The man actually managed to do something intelligent for once.”
“The proverb about the stopped clock comes to mind,” said Damla.
“He did have a ghostsilver dagger and a shadow-cloak,” said Agabyzus. “I assume they were yours.”
“They are,” said Caina, sharing a puzzled look with Kylon. Kalgri had taken Caina’s shadow-cloak and ghostsilver dagger in the final instant before the silver fire of the Elixir Restorata had destroyed the Corsair’s Rest. The Huntress must have given them to Cassander.
Yet if she had given them to Cassander, why hadn’t she told him that Caina had survived? Maybe Cassander had killed the Huntress and taken the cloak and dagger before she could tell him, or perhaps Cassander had taken them and forced the Huntress to flee. Yet neither possibility made sense. It was unlikely that Kalgri was foolish enough to put herself in a position where Cassander Nilas could kill her.
Cassander was up to something…but so was Kalgri.
But what?
“What did Cassander do after Erghulan refused him?” said Caina.
“He insulted both the Grand Wazir and the Grand Master, apparently at considerable length,” said Agabyzus. “He announced that Callatas had created the wraithblood before the Grand Wazir’s entire court.”
“And he’s still alive?” said Caina.
“The Grand Wazir was furious,” said Agabyzus. “He expelled the Umbarian embassy from the city and gave them a week to leave Istarinmul and never return.”
“Then…Erghulan will never open the Straits to the Umbarians,” said Caina. “Callatas would not want to disturb his work with a foreign war, but he might have been persuaded for the right price, I think. But now Cassander has poisoned the well. Even if the Order dispatches another ambassador, Erghulan might not even receive him.” She scowled into her coffee. “But why would Cassander do something so stupid? Unless…”
“Unless,” said Agabyzus, “he no longer cared what the Grand Wazir or the Grand Master thought…”
“Because,” said Caina, “he had a plan of his own to open the Starfall Straits.”
“That was my thought,” said Agabyzus.
“Those houses,” said Caina. “Before I left the city. The Umbarians were buying all those houses in a ring around the Golden Palace.”
Agabyzus nodded. “The Order continue
d purchasing houses secretly in Lord Cassander’s absence.” He reached into his satchel and drew out a bundle of maps, deeds, and writs of sale.
“Your friends among the scribes of the hakims and the wazirs have been busy,” said Caina, eyeing the documents.
“I sometimes think our business is in favors,” said Agabyzus, spreading out a map of Istarinmul, “in both dispensing them and in gathering them. And many people owe you favors.” He tapped the map with a bony finger. “The houses have been marked.”
Caina considered the map. The marked houses indeed formed a massive circle around the Golden Palace…and the Grand Master’s own palace, she noted. She had been so focused upon finding first Annarah and then the Staff and Seal of Iramis that she had not been able to spend as much time as she might like on this mystery.
“What have the Umbarians been doing with the houses?” said Caina. “They’re in the wrong position to be safe houses.”
“I agree,” said Agabyzus. “The Umbarians have been moving soldiers into the houses, both regular fighting men and Adamant Guards. Some of the lesser Umbarian magi of the embassy have been going from house to house, casting spells and moving on.”
“Do you know what kind of spells?” said Caina.
“I fear not,” said Agabyzus. “I have no expert in sorcery among my informers, though it seems they have been casting the same spells at each house.”
“The same spells,” murmured Caina. “Like a sorcerer placing lit candles around a…ritual circle, a summoning circle, something like that.”
“If it is a spell circle,” said Kylon, frowning at the map, “it would be impossibly large and require a stupendous amount of power. I don’t think all the stormsingers of New Kyre working in harmony could empower it.”
“No,” murmured Caina. “But Cassander has been planning this from the beginning, hasn’t he? Probably from the first moment he set foot in Istarinmul and realized that Callatas was the one truly ruling Istarinmul. If he could convince Callatas to open the Straits, well and good, but he needed a fallback position.” She ran her finger over the circle the houses formed upon the map. “This is his fallback position…whatever it is he intends to do with these houses.”
“And it will have to be within a week,” said Kylon. “Before the Umbarian embassy has to leave the city.”
“I agree,” said Agabyzus. “When Cassander issued his proclamation, I concluded that you were in fact dead, and I followed the directions you left me. I contacted Lord Martin Dorius and Lady Claudia Dorius.”
“They are still alive?” said Caina.
“They are,” said Agabyzus. “The Silent Hunters made multiple attempts on their lives during your absence, but Lady Claudia has grown rather adept at detecting them. Unfortunately, there are always more.”
“And Claudia’s child?” said Caina.
“She is still great with child,” said Agabyzus, “though I understand she will likely give birth any day. We did not discuss the matter, though. I presented Lord Martin and Lady Claudia with this same information, and they came to the same conclusion. Cassander plans to force open the Starfall Straits with a work of great sorcery. And he needs these houses to do it.”
“Have you been able to look around any of them?” said Caina.
Agabyzus shook his head. “No. The houses are too well guarded, and we have no nightfighter in our ranks.”
“You do now,” said Caina. “What did Martin and Claudia decide to do?”
“Lord Martin felt that both Istarinmul and the Empire itself faced a grave danger from the Umbarians,” said Agabyzus, “and resolved to take swift action. He decided to take some of his Imperial Guards and storm one of the houses to learn what secrets were hidden within.”
“Truly?” said Caina. “That is a great risk.”
Agabyzus shrugged. “The Umbarians and Cassander himself are in poor favor at the Padishah’s court. Likely Lord Martin could do whatever he wished to the Umbarians without drawing Erghulan’s ire, so long as he did not make too much trouble.”
“Which house did Martin choose to attack?” said Caina.
“This one,” said Agabyzus. “In the northeastern part of the Emirs’ Quarter, the palace of Fariz Terdagan.”
“I recognize the name,” said Damla. “An emir, is he not?”
“He is,” said Agabyzus.
“He’s a toad,” said Caina, “and a traitorous one, too. He’s one of Erghulan Amirasku’s most loyal supporters, but a penurious one, so he has been doing tasks for Cassander Nilas in exchange for money. I assume Cassander bought him that palace in the Emirs’ Quarter?”
“You assume correctly,” said Agabyzus, his voice dry. “Within the last month, as it happens. The Umbarians have been moving men and Adamant Guards into Fariz’s palace, and Umbarian magi have been casting spells around it.”
“When is Martin launching his attack?” said Caina.
“Tomorrow night,” said Agabyzus.
Caina looked at Kylon. “We had better talk to Martin as soon as possible.”
Chapter 15: Broken
Claudia squinted at the paper laid at before her, her head throbbing, her eyes itching. She had spent all morning writing letters. Cassander’s expulsion from the Grand Wazir’s presence and impending banishment from the city had raised the profile of the Empire among the Istarish nobles, and a score of invitations had arrived. Claudia had been writing answers to the letters, and she had also composed a letter to the Emperor. The Emperor and his advisors and the lords of the Imperial Curia needed to know what had happened in Istarinmul.
If Cassander’s plan succeeded, if he somehow forced open the Starfall Straits, then the Empire needed to prepare itself.
A twinge of pain went through her, and Claudia reached for her belly, wondering with terror and relief if the moment had come at last.
But it was only her back. The muscles of her back had been tight and sore today. Even sitting, her damn ankles still hurt. At last Claudia put down her pen with a sigh, sealing her jar of ink and putting away her blotting sand.
She heaved herself to her feet, her legs aching, and walked to the windows of the solar. From here she had a good view of the gardens within the courtyard, and the domes and spires of the Emirs’ Quarter beyond, the golden domes of the Padishah’s palace rising like golden shields over the city.
A deep sense of dread settled into Claudia as she looked at Istarinmul.
Cassander was doing something. Right now, at this very moment, he was preparing an attack that would strike at both Istarinmul and the Empire. She had no idea what he intended, but she was certain that it would kill a great many people.
And her husband and her unborn child were in this city.
Claudia closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the warm glass of the windows, her hand brushing her stomach. Her child would come soon, perhaps this very day. Her child would come, and she would bring her baby into a world ripped apart by war, into a city that might see the Grand Wazir’s forces fighting the Umbarians in the streets.
Gods, gods, but she wished she was in Malarae. She wished that Martin was there with her. Or that they had stayed in rural Caeria Ulterior in Calvarium. Caeria Ulterior was far from Istarinmul, far from the eastern Empire where the Order ruled.
Claudia tried to think of something hopeful, but could not.
“My lady?” Dromio’s polite voice cut into her thoughts.
Claudia rebuked herself and straightened up, blinking the tears from her eyes. She was the wife of the Emperor’s Lord Ambassador to Istarinmul, and she would not weep in front of the servants. She had to set an example of confidence. Besides, she had faced dangerous times before. The poor decisions she had made in Catekharon, for one, or the terrible dangers of Caer Magia. The horror of the day of the golden dead, or the blood lust of the Red Huntress.
Yet she hadn’t been pregnant during any of those fights.
“Yes, Dromio?” said Claudia, straightening up. “Has Lord Martin returned?”
“Not yet, my lady,” said the seneschal, stark in his black coat. “There are some…unusual visitors.”
Claudia frowned. “Who? Someone from the Grand Wazir?”
“No, my lady,” said Dromio. “A man and a woman. The man is Kyracian, and did not give his name. The woman claims to have a message from Marius of the Imperial Collegium of Jewelers.”
Alarm flashed through Claudia. “Marius of the Imperial Collegium of Jewelers” had been one of the many aliases and disguises that Caina Amalas had used, and she had visited Claudia under that guise several times.
For someone to claim that alias now…
Could it be a messenger from Agabyzus? No, if Agabyzus had news, he would come himself. He might not have even known about the “Marius” identity. Caina had been good at keeping secrets. A darker possibility occurred to Claudia. Cassander had not bothered to reveal all the details about Caina’s death, and he might have been able to interrogate her before killing her.
These visitors could be Umbarians.
“I see,” said Claudia at last.
“Shall I send them away?” said Dromio.
“No,” said Claudia. “Separate them. Keep the man in the dining hall. I will meet with the woman alone, here.”
Dromio was too-well trained to show disapproval, but Claudia heard it nonetheless. “Alone, my lady?”
“If she is an Umbarian agent,” said Claudia, “I shall deal with her.”
“Very good, my lady,” said Dromio. He bowed and went to carry out her instructions.
Claudia walked to the corner of the solar, which was the most defensible location and would give her the longest amount of time to cast a spell against any attacker. She had always been good with warding spells, and she cast one now, a ward to turn aside any steel blades before they could reach her flesh. A second spell stood ready in her thoughts, ready to unleash a hammer of psychokinetic force at an attacker. Depending on where the spell hit the foe, it might shatter his ribcage or crack his skull like an amphora dashed against the ground.
She waited, and at last the door swung open. A young woman in a blue dress and headscarf stepped into the room, and…
Ghost in the Throne (Ghost Exile #7) Page 23
