* * * * *
Drips of melting snow pattered from the eaves of the icehouse. Inside, darkness and layers of sawdust insulated the frozen blocks from a similar demise.
Amaranthe chose to take the warming weather as a positive sign, though that didn’t make her any less nervous. Broom in hand, she was cleaning everything in sight as she rehearsed her words for the meeting.
Sicarius took a break from running a new obstacle course he had set up for himself, and Amaranthe waved him over. He grabbed a jug of water and joined her. His hair stuck up more than usual, but he was otherwise neat in his typical black. If they lived through the mission, she decided to buy him an obnoxiously cheerful shirt. Something in sunflower yellow, perhaps.
The other men were swatting at each other with swords near the back wall. Maldynado was supposedly leading a fencing practice, though copious amounts of chatter punctuated the clanks of metal. All that mattered for the moment was that the others were out of earshot.
“Tonight’s the night,” she told Sicarius. And then winced. Emperor’s teeth, could she have uttered anything more inane?
Predictably, he said nothing.
“There’s something I need to know.” Amaranthe brushed a shred of sawdust off her sleeve. How could she say this without alluding to the note? “Tonight when Hollowcrest shows up...” No, wait, she had to explain why she was doubting him. “Uhm, Mitsy Masters from the Maze said you’re still Hollowcrest’s man and the bounty is just a cover. I don’t believe that, otherwise you wouldn’t need me to help the emperor, because you’d be right there in the Barracks, but I do believe you worked for Hollowcrest in the past and...” I spied on you and read the note where he invited you back. No, couldn’t say that. “Anyway...” She should probably be looking in his eyes. She lifted her gaze but only made it as far as his chin. “I certainly owe you a lot—you’ve saved my life half a dozen times in the last couple weeks—so I’d like to trust you one-hundred percent, but you’re always so reticent and I’m never sure...” Amaranthe took a big breath. “What I need to know is if we’re all out there tonight, me and Hollowcrest and the Forge people, who are you going to back if there’s a physical confrontation?”
Finally, she met his eyes.
If her doubts troubled or insulted him, he did not hint of it. Sicarius returned her gaze without evasion—and without answering.
Swords clashed and laughter sounded on the other side of the icehouse. Between Amaranthe and Sicarius...silence.
Frustrated, she wiggled her fingers in a give-me-something gesture. “Please, Sicarius? I need to know how to plan.”
“I’m not backing anyone,” he said. “My only concern is protecting the emperor.”
“So I should plan this as if you won’t be there?” She struggled to keep the disappointment out of her voice. It wasn’t as if he had ever implied he was doing things for her. From the beginning it had been the emperor’s name that had swayed him to her side. “Very well.”
He turned back toward the obstacle course.
“Are you ever going to tell me what he is to you?” she asked.
Sicarius did not answer.
The Emperor's Edge (a high fantasy mystery in an era of steam) Page 42
