The Skull Throne

She took a seat, waiting for Rojer to join her. “Not a sound will pass through the circle. We can scream at the top of our lungs, and Wonda will keep snoring twenty feet away. Now what’s so secret you couldn’t even whisper it in an empty room?”

Rojer blew out a breath. “I think Rhinebeck and his brothers tried to kill Thamos last night.”

Leesha blinked. “You think?”

“It was a … passive attempt.” Rojer quickly related how the duke’s group had held their fire when the battle seemed to be going against Thamos, only shooting when victory seemed assured. “They didn’t try to hurt him themselves, but from where I stood, they seemed content to let the demons do the job for them.”

“There must be some other explanation,” Leesha said. “Perhaps there was a problem with their weapons.”

“All of them?” Rojer asked. “At the same time?”

Leesha huffed. It did seem unlikely. “But he’s their brother, and far removed from the throne. Why would they want him dead?”

“Not so far as all that,” Rojer said. “The royal families of Angiers are still stung from Rhinebeck the First’s coup two generations ago. If the duke dies without an heir, neither Mickael nor Pether will hold the throne without bloodshed, especially with the Milnese buying up allies throughout the city.”

“And you think it will be different for Thamos?” Leesha asked.

“Thamos has his own army,” Rojer noted. “One already bigger and better trained than his elder brother’s. At the rate the Hollow’s growing, it may soon be a match for Angiers and Miln combined. And Thamos is a hero, with more than one song to his name. Rhinebeck was too petty to even let his brother claim his own rockbird kill. How do you think he felt when Thamos shamed him in front of the other men?”

Leesha felt a stab of pain and looked down. She kept her nails short so they would not interfere in her work, but they were still enough to dig into her skin when she clenched her fists tightly enough. She forced herself to relax. “Have you spoken of this to anyone else?”

Rojer shook his head. “Who would I tell? I don’t think Thamos would believe me even if I told him, and Gared …”

“Would do something stupid,” Leesha agreed.

“There’s already been stupid to spare,” Rojer said. “I haven’t told you all.”

“Those idiots!” Araine clenched her fists, pacing with the strength and speed of a much younger woman.

“What are you going to do?” Leesha asked, when the old woman final slowed.

“What can I do?” Araine demanded. “I have no evidence but your Jongleur’s word, and Rhinebeck is duke. Once he sets his mind on something he can be stubborn as a rock demon, and I don’t have the power to overrule him.”

“But you’re his mother,” Leesha said. “Can’t you …”

Araine raised an eyebrow. “Use my magic mother powers? How often do you listen to yours?”

“Not often,” Leesha admitted. “And I usually come to regret it when I do. But Thamos is your son, too. Can you not beseech—”

“Believe me, girl,” Araine cut her off, “I’m not above playing every guilt and wile in my considerable repertoire to get my sons to alter course, but this … this is pride, and no man lets that go without a spear at his throat.”

She began to pace again, but it was slow, stately. She reached up, stroking her wrinkled chin. “He probably thinks himself quite clever. If Thamos is killed, he has one less rival. If Thamos succeeds and makes contact with the Laktonians, he can take credit for the whole thing.” She snorted. “It’s the closest Rhinebeck’s ever come to an attempt at espionage.”

She turned to look at Leesha, and smiled. “But just because we can’t stop it doesn’t mean we can’t turn it against him.”

“Oh?” Leesha asked.

“Rhiney and the others have never attempted espionage because they’ve never needed to. Janson gives them information, and they’ve never once asked where it comes from.”

Leesha felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. “You have contacts in Lakton?”

“I have contacts everywhere,” Araine said. “The dockmistress of Docktown was a friend of mine, did you know? Your Ahmann Jardir’s eldest son tried to force her to marry him when they took the city.”

“Tried?” Leesha asked.

Araine chuckled. “She put his eye out with the quill from the marriage contract, they say.” Her face went cold. “When he was finished with her, they say the lump of meat that was left barely looked human.”

Leesha remembered Jayan. Remembered the savage gleam in his eyes. She wanted to disbelieve, but it was all too plausible.

“We need the Krasians out of Docktown,” Araine said, “if we’re to take back the duchy and press them back to Rizon.”

“Everam’s Bounty,” Leesha said. “I’ve seen those lands, Duchess. The Krasians are entrenched. It will never be Rizon again.”

“Don’t be so sure of that,” Araine said. “I’ve been funding Rizonan rebels for months, and they’ve begun quite a bit of mischief. The Krasians in Lakton will be looking over their shoulders as their ‘safe’ lands burn. They won’t see us coming.”

“So Thamos has a chance?” Leesha asked.

“I won’t lie and say it’s a safe path, girl,” Araine said. “I know you love him, but he’s my son, and the only one worth a damn. He’ll be in danger the entire time, but I’ll see he has every advantage I can.”

“So now what?” Leesha asked.

“Now,” Araine said, “you get back to work curing my eldest.”

“You can’t possibly expect me to—” Leesha began.

“I can and you will!” Araine snapped. “Our circumstances with Miln have not changed. Even if Thamos comes back alive and well, he will always be in danger so long as the ivy throne has no heir.”

She waved a hand. “Let my sons bicker and plot. If we can unite with Lakton and force Euchor into the pact, the ivy and metal thrones won’t be worth a klat. The Hollow will be the new capital of Thesa, and Thamos …

“Why, Thamos could be king.”

Leesha was distracted throughout dinner. It was her first in Jizell’s hospit for quite some time, but the place still felt like home. Jizell and her apprentices had been fixtures about the Hollow the last weeks, and the others, even Sikvah, seemed similarly at ease.

“Delicious, as always,” Rojer thanked Mistress Jizell. “Every man in Angiers laments he could not take you to wife.”

“A wise man never marries an Herb Gatherer,” Jizell replied, winking. “There’s no telling what she’ll put in his tea, eh?”

Amanvah laughed at that, and Rojer smiled. “That’s what Mistress Jessa used to say.”

Jizell’s face went sour. “Both got it from Bruna, if not much else.”

“I’m getting tired of this,” Rojer said. “Mistress Jessa was never anything but good to me, and if you’re going to talk ill of her, I want to know why.”