Raina moved to the sliding glass door. Beyond lay a balcony and a view of the farmed fairways. "I need to speak to my friend Mauser. He walks these dark paths better than anyone."
"Sure thing." Cinder tossed the toy into the air again, catching it mid-spin. "Be aware—right now, you're enjoying this all-expenses-paid vacation because I'm telling them we need you around to troubleshoot the sickness. Which is almost all cleared up now. At some point—could be next week, could be next month—Winslowe's going to say, 'Vacation's over, get the hell out.'" She cocked a brow. "Or she'll fabricate a new excuse to kill you."
Mauser and the others were being housed in the golf clubhouse. Raina was allowed to see him and then to walk with him along one of the harvested cornfields. They were shadowed by an armed knight, but there was enough distance for them to speak without being overheard.
She explained what Cinder had tasked her with. As soon as she finished, Mauser shrugged broadly. "So what's the problem?"
"If I achieve the first part of my task, they'll chop off my head. You can try to make a Mauser-argument that I'd be dead and wouldn't have any problems, but I say my problems can't run any deeper than this."
"Hardly." He glanced behind him at the knight chaperoning them. "Jeckel wants you to do away with Heckel, yes? But the way you see it, if anything happens to Heckel, then you will be blamed for it."
"It's an impossible task. It's like being instructed to use a hammer to hit itself."
"Hang on, you may have engaged my Zen mode." He put a hand to his temple, then shook his head. "Here's the thing. Your if/then statement is incomplete. Here's how it should read: you will be blamed for it if no one else is to blame."
"You're talking about framing someone. For my crimes."
"Do you want to be blamed for it? Anyway, is it really such a heinous suggestion? Choose any random knight, and I bet his list of offenses would twist your bones. You could argue that by finally making him pay for something, you're increasing the net justice in the world."
Raina eyed him. "There are times when you frighten me."
"The feeling is mutual." Mauser stepped over a broken hoe someone had left in the grass. "If you want to get back to San Pedro, the road will pass through Murder and Mayhem. I am only providing you with directions. Sometimes the road gets crooked. It's your choice whether you want to take it."
"I will think on it. But I must decide soon."
"Here's my concern with this arrangement. Once Heckel is dead, and Jeckel has the throne, why should Jeckel honor her promise to you? What does she have to gain?"
"Are you suggesting I promise her something? Part of the spoils?"
"I'm saying don't get so busy playing the game that you get played by someone else."
She returned to her room with more new questions than answers gained. She had barely sat down on her cot when she was summoned to see Lady Winslowe. Georgia accompanied her to the plush chambers, then stepped outside, closing the door. Winslowe sat on her throne, her hair like a plastic doll's still in the packaging. As before, two knights stood behind her. One was a blond man with washed-out eyes. The other was dark-haired and one of his eyelids drooped, giving him an air of contagion although he appeared to be in perfect health.
"The Lady Raina," Winslowe said. "I am told there has been but a single new case of sickness in the last week. Truly, you are a worker of miracles."
"It would not have been possible had I not recently faced a similar trial myself."
"How sad that we should benefit through your misfortune."
Raina shrugged. "Better than it being of no use to anyone."
"Indeed." Winslowe leaned against her chair's high back. "I am curious. If all is well, then why are you still here?"
"I wasn't aware I had a choice."
"What if I told you that you and your friends are free to go?"
Raina met her gaze. "I should like to stay a little longer, milady. To ensure that no more work needs to be done to combat the sickness."
"How noble." Winslowe brushed an elegant braid from her neck. "What happened on the road, Raina? When you encountered the Sworn?"
"I am sure it is just as Cinder told you."
"I'd like to hear it from you."
She had been over the details with Cinder and did not hesitate. "They caught us by surprise. I tried to stay behind the wagon, acting as though I was a servant, but they insisted on seeing each of us. When one of them recognized me, he tried to drag me away. Cinder commanded the knights to stop him. When the Sworn who had me went for his pistol, that is when the shooting began."
"So, if I am hearing you correctly, Cinder put your life above the safety of the realm."
"Milady, we were on a mission to save the realm."
"Do you think it is right for the realm to be 'saved' by the one who killed its king?"
"I don't think anyone would wish for such a thing to come to pass," Raina said. "But it's like the misfortune we suffered on Catalina allowing us to know what to do here."
An oak-hard smile blossomed on the woman's face. "You feign humility, but there is not a liar in the world who could hide the pride that burns in you. I wonder if there is anything that could quench it?"
Raina said nothing. The knight with the drooping eyelid winked at her with his good eye.
Winslowe flapped her hand as it to wave away a fart. "I can't stand your face any longer. Be gone."
Raina bowed and exited. In the hall, Georgia closed the door and escorted her back to the basement.
Inside her room, Georgia pressed her back to the sealed door. "What will you do with her? When the time comes?"
"You were listening," Raina said.
"Tell me that you'll kill her." Georgia's eyes were awash with pain. "She's everything that's wrong with this place."
"There is no way for her to coexist with our plans. You won't have to fear her for much longer."
To Raina's surprise, Georgia embraced her. "Thank you. I can't believe it's finally coming to an end."
"Can you tell me more about Cinder?" Raina said. "Does she really have a claim to the throne?"
"Cinder's claim is real. She was married to one of Dashing's most favored courtiers. When her husband died, all his influence passed to her."
"How did he die?"
"He fell from his horse." Georgia's brows lowered. "Do you think there may have been foul play?"
"I wouldn't know. Just assessing the lay of the land. It won't be long now, Georgia."
A plan had already taken shape in Raina's mind, but she didn't arrange to meet with Cinder until the next day. Leery of being seen in public together after Winslowe's suspicion, this time, Cinder visited Raina's room.
"I know how to weave all the strands into the same rope," Raina said. "There is no way to kill her without it coming back on me. Not unless we serve them up a scapegoat."
"Frame someone?" Cinder bunched her lips in thought. "There are a shitload of people around here who'd like to see her dead. Especially the servants. Kill her, drop one of her enemy's bodies at the scene of the crime, and it'd be a stampede to indict them."
"I think I know a better way. Return to the woods where we left the Sworn. Take their capes and their trinkets. Then dress your most loyal men as the enemy and use them to assassinate her."
"That's not bad. Way more complicated, though. Not to mention the risk of one of my people being identified during the attack."
"So make sure the only surviving witness is one of your men."
"Right." Behind her thick-rimmed glasses, Cinder scrunched her eyes. "There's also the matter of stirring even more hostilities against the People of the Stars."
"We will be fighting them together soon enough, won't we?"
"Yeah, but maybe not that soon. Or that aggressively. If you want war with them, your people need to shoulder most of the risk."
Raina pointed her finger at Cinder's chest. "You wish to take the crown. Be careful not to let your wants convince you that it will be
a simple task. If Winslowe is gone, are you the only contender for the throne?"
Cinder stuck out her jaw. "The only good one."
"But there will be others."
"Yeah. Of course. It'll be a feeding frenzy. But they're small fish. I'm the only shark."
"Even the largest beast can be brought down by a pack of determined foes. Come at her as the Sworn. Then forge your people's fear and anger into a sword to strike down the People of the Stars. Do this, and there will be no question who leads Better San Diego. The succession will be yours."
"There's no opportunity like a crisis, is there?" Cinder pinched her chin in thought. "There's just one problem. The Sworn can't ride in here like Mongols and go straight for her. We'll have to work out a way to get her outside the walls."
"What would lure her forth?"
"Don't you worry." Cinder smiled, deeply pleased. "It'll take a few days to gather the gear and prepare. I'll figure it out before then."
She left Raina to herself. Raina felt great triumph swell in her chest. With one stroke, she would rid the realm of Winslowe, elevate Cinder to power, and compel the new queen to war with Raina's most hated enemies. It was as if the universe was unfolding before her.
A deeper part of her remained cold, however. As instructed, she had entered the bear's den. Yet the cave in the woods had been empty. Ready to be claimed by a new inhabitant.
In San Diego, one bear had died, yet the cave was still aswarm with others. If she wasn't careful, she would be devoured.
* * *
For the next few days, she rarely left her room, keeping her head down. She didn't speak with Cinder except on matters relating directly to the sanitation of the palace. She thought a few of Cinder's knights were missing, but she couldn't be sure.
Six days after finalizing their plan, Cinder called Raina in to discuss long-term sources of the purification supplies they had taken from the university. Raina didn't have much advice to offer, and said as much, but Cinder smiled and waved a hand.
"We strike in two days," the woman said. "Be ready."
"Where?" Raina said.
"Ah ah ah." Cinder wagged her finger. "There's no need for you to know that. Be on your guard, though. I'm going to move to stabilize things as fast as possible, but when the news hits the palace, it could get violent."
That night, Raina had Georgia smuggle her in a steak knife which she hid below her mattress. It was a worthless gesture. The following noon, as she ate in the common room, the droopy-lidded knight interrupted her meal and marched her to Winslowe.
The woman's slender braids were frayed. Her eyes were red, her pale cheeks blotchy. Her hands shook on the arms of her chair.
"For some time," she said, voice strained, "I didn't understand why you stayed here. It was as if you wished to taunt me. As if—"
"All I want is to keep—"
Winslowe thrust to her feet and pointed down at Raina. "Silence! Speak another word, and it will be your last."
Raina clenched her jaw tight so no words could escape.
Winslowe bared her teeth, then lowered herself into her chair. "It was as if you came here to gloat: 'I have murdered your regent, yet here I am to the rescue, and you cannot touch me.' You claim, however, that you are here to protect your citizens. That you would do anything for them. I would like to believe this—and yet, when I look in your eyes, I see defiance. Disdain. Pride."
She smiled, but it was without joy, the face of the wasp as it stings the spider that has already poisoned it. "I have determined how to test your dedication—and, at the same time, to cure you of your pride. For the next twelve months, you will live upstairs as one of the midnight doves. If you serve our knights faithfully, without arrogance or complaint, once the year is up, you will have proven yourself pure. And may go free."
Raina's heart galloped. Her muscles clenched, begging to fling herself at the woman and tear her apart. But Cinder had told her the strike would come today. Endangering that could cause everything to collapse.
"You see?" Winslowe stood, walked toward her, and took Raina's chin in her hand, turning her head from side to side. "It's right there in your eyes. Pride burning like a bonfire. What do you think of my suggestion?"
"It is unnecessary," Raina said. "I am not here to torment you. All I wish is to right a wrong as best I can."
"Yes, that's what you say. And yet…" She glanced between Raina's eyes. "You see?"
"That is why I accept your offer. As I said when I came here, I considered my life forfeit from the moment I tasted Dashing's poison."
The woman tried to smile, but her mouth wouldn't cooperate, as if she'd been hoping Raina would defy her, attack her, and be put down by her knights.
She nodded to the droopy-eyed man. "Take her upstairs."
He took Raina from Winslowe's chambers and shoved her up the stairs. It was hardly afternoon, yet a handful of men were already by the kitchen counter, glasses in hand. They all watched as Raina climbed.
One whistled. "New chicken in the coop!"
Raina was too numb to look down. The droopy-eyed man brought her to a room. Folded sheets sat on the bare mattress. Iron bars latticed the windows.
He winked at her. "See you tonight."
He closed the door. A lock snicked. Raina moved to the dresser and rifled the drawers, but these held nothing but dresses, tank tops, cutoffs, and underwear. There wasn't so much as a belt. The closet had shoes, but there were no shoelaces or high heels. As she was inspecting the window frame for a shard of wood she might pry loose, the door opened. A thirtysomething-year-old woman walked in. Her mousy hair was as flat as her expression.
"Turn out your pockets," the woman said. "Stand with your feet apart and your arms out."
"If I refuse?" Raina said.
She sighed. "Either I search you, or the knights do it. Your choice."
Raina relented. The woman moved her hands up and down Raina's limbs with professional quickness. She took everything from her pockets, along with her belt and shoes.
"Get those sheets on the bed," the woman said. "You'll need 'em."
As soon as she left, Raina continued to search, but the room held nothing but clothes, a few candles, and the two pieces of furniture, neither of which had so much as a strip of metal she could pry loose. She tried the bars on the windows, but they were locked down tight.
For lack of anything else to do, she spread out the sheets. If Cinder succeeded, perhaps Raina would have to endure no more than a day or two. After all she had been through, would she not pay that price for her people? Was she so prideful? If she could not set that aside for just two more days—or three or five or however long it took—was it possible that Lady Winslowe was right about her?
The door opened again. Georgia walked in, arms folded tight over her stomach. "I just heard. I'm so sorry."
Raina could only shake her head. "She was furious. It was like she'd been possessed."
"You're not far from the mark. She just got word from the Sworn. They recovered Dashing's body from Catalina. Winslowe's on her way to fetch it right now."
"She is? Where is this meeting to take place?"
"I don't know. I just heard the gossip."
"Why aren't the Sworn bringing it here?"
"From what I've heard, they're wary of a trap. They're leaving it for her on neutral ground." Georgia swept her hair from her temple. "It's no wonder she lashed out at you. I don't think she truly let herself accept that Dashing was dead. Now, she doesn't have a choice."
"Do you have any knives?" Raina said. "Pens? Anything with a point?"
"They searched me before I came in." Georgia reached into her pocket. "This was the only thing Kaya let me take to you."
She dropped a small piece of clear, crinkled plastic into Raina's hand. Inside were two white pills.
"To kill their seed?" Raina said.
Georgia shook her head. "Poison."
"How long will it take to kill him?"
"Not for them—for you
. If it becomes too much."
"Where did you get these?"
"I used to work up here, too. We all have them. Up here, killing yourself is the only freedom you have left."
Raina's eyes skipped between hers. "Yet you never used it. Why?"
"I wonder that a lot." Georgia laughed, blinked hard at the brightness in her eyes. "I just don't think it's in me. You know what else? I want revenge. To turn this place upside down. Maybe I'm deluding myself. I'm still here, after all. But maybe that's to make sure that I'm here when this fucking farce is finally burnt to the ground."
"You will be."
Georgia stood, gazing down at the ground. "Remember this. Deep down inside us all, there's a diamond that can't be scratched. No matter what happens to the rest of us."
She left Raina to herself. It was mid-afternoon and the sunlight was getting stretched and yellow. Normally, Raina liked this time: the sun was recusing itself, making way for those that moved better in silence and silver. Now, however, the waning of the sunshine felt like exactly what it was: the removal of all light and warmth from the land.
She searched the room again, but there was nothing. They must have cleared it beforehand. She stood in the window and watched the sun steal away to the west.
As it was about to disappear, someone knocked on the door. Raina didn't answer. It opened and the droopy-eyed man walked inside. He carried a big brown bottle with the label scraped off. Earlier, his hair had been greasy, but now it was soft and clean.
"Fancy seeing you here," he said.
"Am I your reward?" she said. "For your faithful service to Lady Winslowe?"
His smile faltered. He lowered his eyes and locked the door with a key. "Getting kind of dark in here, isn't it? How about some light?"
He produced a faded box of matches and lit the candles on the dresser. He took a drink from the bottle, then extended it to her, shaking it with a slosh. "Want a snort?"
"Do you drink because your sober mind hates itself?"
The man blinked at her, deciding whether she'd said what she'd said. "You heard what Winslowe said about your pride. Learn to mind your words or else you'll be up here for good."
Relapse (Breakers Book 7) Page 27
