Chapter Twenty-Seven

[cityofthehand]

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Chapter Twenty-Seven


Vharoi’s office was no longer abandoned, but crowded with Asna’isi - prefects and agents alike had gathered. So had Red Hand officers and even a few of Vharoi’s own people who must have somehow heard the news. It took effort to squeeze past them all, but the marks ensured everyone gave her space when she asked. In the tea room, Lord Shadow, a lieutenant, Yena, Kei-zi and two other Red Hand officers with marks of high rank on their uniforms sat conferring.

Yena, of course, noticed Maira’s bruises the moment she walked in and asked about it.

“It was the talisman. I fell, hit my head,” she lied, pulling on that same mask of calm she’d used when coming here. Yena didn’t seem to buy it, but it didn’t matter. She came further in and did not miss the quick, malicious glare Shadow gave to both his prime and Naran when they closed the door behind them.

“Councilor Vharoi has not cooperated. Can you produce the device now?” asked Lord Shadow.

She considered it, and decided too many people lurked around she didn’t trust. “No. It’s hidden, I’d have to get it. Do you really think that’s safe?”

“You must understand,” said one of the high ranking Red Hand, a bulky looking Alaja human with black hair and dark eyes and a trimmed black beard. Their High Domainish was spoken slowly enough Maira had no trouble understanding. “It is the only safe option. If Councilor Vharoi is shown that we have the device, she may cooperate.”

“Maira, this is Commander Jei Kharaz. They take the first neutral,” Yena said, indicating the bearded commander. Then she nodded to the second, a light skinned, curly haired Barue person. “And this is Commander Tirsa Sevrah, she takes the feminine.”

Maira offered them simple nods of acknowledgement and replied, “No offense, but the Red Hand isn’t secure right now. If she has people there, this could be her plan. I can’t keep it safe once it’s out in the open,” she replied.

“We will safeguard the device,” Kharaz said. “It is far past time that you handed it over. Something that powerful and delicate should have been in expert hands from the start.”

“Prove you’re not working with her,” Maira said and immediately wondered when she’d grown so bold that she’d challenge someone so high ranking like that. Maybe Lord Shadow’s mark had changed more than just her skin.

“How do you prove what you’re not doing?”

Maira just stared, waiting for the truth to sink in. There was a long, long silence. Kharaz breathed loudly. “Even if that is true, we do not have time. We must have the device ready and in place as quickly as possible.”

“If the device is broken or stolen, it’s all over,” Maira replied. “It has to stay hidden until we know for sure. Then I can be the one to take it to the wards. But not before then. It’s too dangerous.”

Sevrah, who had been silent up until then, coughed to be recognized, “Without the device, we have no leverage over the councilor. We can only hold her for so long. Hours at most.”

Maira let out a breath. Did they really think she didn’t know that? “The device is all we have.”
Kharaz demanded, “Why should you have the fate of so many in your hands alone?”

“Because I’m the one the professor gave it to, and he was the one who created it!”

“You think you have hidden it so well? Our people know the city as well as you do, and all its secret places.”

“Not all of them,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sevrah turned to Lord Shadow. “Please, make her cooperate.”

Maira scoffed. “He can’t make me do anything. I’m not his slave.”

“No?” Kharaz asked with a laugh and pointed to her face. “When else does a Lord mark something but to show that he owns it completely?”

“Commander Kharaz,” Yena said, standing quickly and holding her hands behind her back, eyes averted. For the first time, she looked humble. “Permit me to suggest another way. Lady Aialah’s logic does not lack merit.”

“Will it save your career, captain? And your partner’s? Remember, he doesn’t have an ambassador for a mother,” Sevrah said, pursing their lips and waiting for Yena to reply.

“We know what the device is meant to look like. If we constructed a false one, we could present it to the councilor without risk,” Yena said.

“And if it doesn’t work, if she knows that it is false?” asked Kharaz.

“Commander, if the councilor knows what the device should look like, that’s very valuable information in and of itself. Either way, we stand to learn something without taking any chances.”

Kharaz and Sevrah looked reluctantly at Yena and then at Maira, before asking Naran, “Can you fabricate such a thing quickly?”

Naran nodded. “It should only take an hour or two.”

“What will you need?” asked Kharaz.

“There were some sketches done, I think Captain Lookinghard has them. A few materials, I can make a list. And her.” He pointed at Maira.

“If it’s acceptable to Lord Shadow to loan out his woman, then so be it. Captain, Lieutenant, you know where these drawings are?” Kharaz asked.

Yena smiled with more self-satisfaction than was probably appropriate and pulled folded papers from her coat pocket. “Yes.”

“See that Mr. Al-Shahd gets the materials he needs. Lord Shadow, if you’ll pardon us, the commander and I have to deal with the councilors.”

“Of course,” he said and nodded shallowly. “We will continue to interrogate the councilor. I will send an agent if we learn anything more, though it is doubtful she will say anything.”

“Thank you.”

After exchanging brief courtesies, the Red Hand commanders exited. Maira crossed her arms with a sigh. “What do we do if she doesn’t talk to us even after we show her the fake device?”

“Then we will have to interrogate the councilor more vigorously,” Shadow answered, coolly but solemnly. “Commanders Kharaz and Sevrah were not incorrect. By morning, the Tsaqa will have have her freed if we have no evidence besides the spell.”

“So what kind of interrogation do you have in mind? Is there some kind of magic you can do?” Maira asked.

“He means torture,” Graymere supplied. “If we cannot get the information any other way, we will have to make it unbearable for her to remain silent.”

Maira’s turned around in full, staring at Graymere with eyes widened by shock. “You’d do that?”

“If it becomes necessary,” Lord Shadow answered. “And only then. Why does it concern you? The councilor has been the cause of all your troubles. She has tried to kill you.”

“I know that, it’s just…” she trailed off, not sure how to put into words her reluctance to see anyone, even Vharoi, tortured. None of the others would understand what it was like to be rendered helpless and hurt over and over again, at someone else’s whim. After a while, it stripped away parts of you that could not heal or regrow, not in full.

“If she does not comply, we will have no choice,” he replied. “Perhaps we will be fortunate and Captain Lookinghard’s plan will succeed.”

She nodded at him, swallowing down the sour taste that came from the contents of her stomach climbing into her throat. The thought of Lord Shadow torturing someone made her ache and shiver all at once, dredging up feelings and memories it had taken years to bury. Her chain scars itched sharply.

Breaking the silence, Yena asked Naran, “Where will you get these supplies from?”

“A shop a few blocks over. I know the owner, Xiaka. I think I can talk her into doing some after hours business, but we need to move quickly,” he replied.

Disappointed and not bothering to hide it, she lingered on Lord Shadow for a moment before she left with the others. They hurried out into the chilly night with Naran leading the way, walking as fast as he could before he broke into a run.

“Thank you,” Maira said, falling back a little so that she was beside Yena. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if they’d kept insisting.”

“Don’t worry, love, we would’ve figured something out. Probably wouldn’t have had our jobs at the end of it and maybe not our heads, either, but we’d’ve figured something,” Kei-zi assured her with a smile. He reached over to pat her shoulder reassuringly.

“Kei-zi is right. Besides, Commander Kharaz couldn’t have forced you to do anything,” Yena said and there was a smile in her voice, though Maira couldn’t see her face very well in the darkness.

“They could if Lord Shadow let them. So much for these these being protective,” she said, holding up a hand and realizing nobody could make out the marks in the dark anyway. “I’ll be glad when they’re gone.”

“Many people would give anything they had to be marked that way, you know,” Yena said, but said it as though she was merely citing a curious fact.

“Many people should be careful what they wish for,” Maira replied, harshly. Yena gave a startled laugh, as did Kei-zi.

They went on until they reached the darkened shape of a little shop, squeezed between two others, it’s windows shuttered and chained. A wooden sign hung with the symbol for closed rather than the word, so people would recognize it no matter what language they spoke.

Naran stopped short of the stoop and gestured for them to stay. “In case she has booby traps in place,” he said, quietly. “Sorcerers are a suspicious bunch. We expect to be attacked at any moment.” He went alone to the door and reached into his coat for a talisman that he dangled from his fingers on one hand while knocking with his other. “Xiaka?” he called and knocked a little harder.

On the second floor, a window lit up. Maira stepped back to see it. The window opened and a shadowed figure leaned out. “Who’s there?” she called and raised a hand to cast light over the ground. Naran stepped back from the door as well.

“It’s Naran! I need a favor, it’s an emergency!” he yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth to project his voice up. Xiaka did nothing for a few moments. “I’m willing to pay for it!”

Xiaka drew back into the upper room and closed the window. They waited, and Maira wondered if she’d just turned them away without even telling them to fuck off, but then heard cursing and heavy footsteps. When it opened, Xiaka stood there, a sorcerer’s light hovering overhead. She was a tall, curvy albino human woman with rings on every finger and three different talismans around her neck. She was wearing her night clothes and a tattered, brown overcoat.

“Everything costs double,” she said and then looked over Naran’s shoulder. “You brought Red Hand here? What is this, al-Shahd? Are you trying to set me up for something?”

Yena stepped forward. “We are not here in an official capacity tonight. We’re not concerned with anything you may be doing inside your shop, however illegal it might be.”

Xiaka wasn’t convinced. “You look pretty damn official.”

“I’ll level with you. You could have a pile of dead bodies in there and we wouldn’t give a damn tonight. It’s life and death. Tell you what,” Kei-zi said and he fished something out of his coat pocket. “It’s my card. Lieutenant Kei-zi Tutenga. Next time you have problems, show them that card, and it’ll be my problem instead.”

Though she looked even less convinced, she took the card and let them in. Naran didn’t need telling twice. He got right down to business, rattling off what he needed while Maira, Kei-zi and Yena stood by a table piled with jars of herbs and powders. Naran and Xiaka practically spoke another language with all the sorcerer’s lingo they spouted, going around the shop, gathering materials. When he had all the things he needed gathered in a basket, he gestured for Maira to come to him.

“We’ll watch the door,” Kei-zi said to her and they parted ways.

Making her way through the dimly lit shop, trying not to bump into anything, she followed Naran to a back room that was, thankfully, better lit. It smelled of dust, incense, herbs, ash and oil from the many machine parts that crowded the shelves and other tables against the wall. Quickly, Xiaka cleaned off a table for them, shoving cogs, wheels, and tools where she could.

“How long will this take?” she demanded, blowing a lock of white hair out of her face.

“An hour or two,” he said, and she turned to the door. “Xiaka,” he called out. She stopped and turned, lifting an eyebrow. “Thank you. This is more important than you know.”

She nodded and left them alone. Maira climbed onto the only other stool not piled with things and waited. Naran unpacked the basket and laid out everyhting on the table. He donned tiny spectacles with lenses on a hinge on the bridge of his nose and pulled on thick leather gloves. She watched, resting her head on her arm as he spread out the drawing and began to assemble parts with tiny instruments, including a tiny stylus that created sparks and tiny curls of smoke where it touched metal.

The quiet stretched on, filled only with buzzing, crackling noises and clinking of metal on metal or glass. Without lifting his head from his work, Naran said, “I truly am sorry, Maira. I should have controlled myself, and I didn’t. I regret most that you got hurt.”

Maira lifted her head and their eyes met. “Why did you two get so angry at each other?” she asked.

He paused and pushed the spectacles onto the top of his head, blowing dust and curls of metal off the frame. “He took advantage of you. You were touching his wings while wearing that talisman.”

“He was just letting me see them, I was curious.”

“Touching wings has a different meaning in Asna’isi culture.”

She shrugged. “He said it was intimate, and he didn’t do anything. He wasn’t touching me back.”

Naran stopped what he was doing and put down his tools. “Do you understand what I mean by intimate?”

“Yes, I do. Why does it make you mad?”

“You were under the influence of strong magic. It could’ve lead to something you weren’t in any shape to deal with. He had you in a vulnerable position. It didn’t seem right.”

“I don’t think he would have hurt me. I think he likes me.”

Naran chuffed in amusement. “I bet he does,” he grumbled.

“Well, thank you for caring about me anyway.”

He reached out and put his leather gloved hand over hers. “You don’t need to thank me. I owed you that much. And it still ended with you getting hurt. That’s exactly what I didn’t want.”

“I know,” she replied and slid her hand away. “You should probably hurry up.”

“Yeah,” he said and sounded disappointed as he went back to constructing the false device.

The silence wore on Maira’s nerves, as did having nothing to do. “I wish you had time to explain what what you’re doing. It looks really complicated.”

“It’s not,” he assured her, without hesitating. “But that’s only because this device doesn’t need to work, it just needs to look impressive. The real thing would take a lot longer.”

“How did you get the thing you’re holding to make those sparks to hold the frame together?” she asked, leaning forward to get a better look at the small thing in front of him.

“Magic,” he answered.

“No, really?” she answered sharply and frowned.

He chuckled. “This tool is made of a special kind of metal. With magic flowing, it creates sparks that channel elementary energy and fuse metal pieces together without seams.”

“Wouldn’t it melt that thing too, since it’s also metal?”

“No. You never touch the tool to the metal surfaces, you leave just enough space that the sparks can reach the metal. Unless you don’t want to feel your arm for the next six hours.”

Maira grinned. “Sounds like you’ve done that before.”

“Once or twice,” he replied. He put down his tool and raised his spectacles to examine the workings that he had assembled. “Does this look right to you?”

She nodded. “How long did it take you to learn?”

“Everything I know right now?” he asked and she nodded again. “My whole life time.”

When she groaned at him being a smartass, he chuckled and answered her actual question, “As for the magic, that took a little less. Five years to get through apprenticing and five more to become a master.”

Maira thought about it. Ten years was a long time, but if she started now she wouldn’t be all that old when she finished. She wouldn’t be as young as Naran, but she wouldn’t be elderly, either. “How did you get to become an apprentice?”

“After I finished primary school, I showed a talent for it. I’d been doing small spells on my own before then. My mother helped me apply, and I got chosen,” he answered.

“Oh.” Maira felt crestfallen. She hadn’t gone to any primary schools, and had never done a real spell. The only good thing was Naran being too distracted to notice that for a moment, she had held the ridiculous hope that she could be a sorcerer — educated, intelligent, and clever like him. Still, she watched him closely, hoping to glean some knowledge for knowledge’s sake from the way he assembled parts or wound wire around the jewel he put in the device’s housing before he sealed it. When it was done he held it up for her approval.

“It looks almost exactly like the real one,” she said, tilting her head a bit just to see it from another angle. There were some differences, but unless Councilor Vharoi had studied the real thing closely, she wouldn’t be able to tell.

Once Naran carefully packaged the device and wrapped it in soft old clothes, he put inside a plain wood box and went to let Yena and Kei-zi know the work was done. On the way out, he thank Xiaka and handed her a piece of paper that made her gasp with surprise and happiness.

They walked even faster back to the palace and this time, silently. By the time they were at the gates, they were all jogging, trading anxious looks as they made their way back to the occupied offices of Councilor Vharoi and into the sitting room where Lord Shadow and Graymere were waiting.

“It’s finished,” Naran announced and carefully put the wooden box on the table. He slid the lid out of place and lifted the false device. Inside, the gem wrapped in wire glowed green, the way it was supposed to.

Lord Shadow rose and smoothed his jacket. “I do not know the details of this device, so I will require your presence.”

“Whatever you need,” Naran said.

“Captain, Lieutenant, you should brief Commanders Kharaz and Sevrah on our progress,” he said.

“Of course,” Yena replied. With a little bow she and Kei-zi were gone.

“What do you want me to do?” Maira asked.

“Remain here. Rest,” he replied, softly. “Prime Graymere will stay with you. You have done more than enough. It is for us to see this finished.”

“I hope it works,” she said, with an awkward half frown on her face. “Good luck?” she asked, with a shrug, not sure if it was appropriate or helpful.

He seemed to take it in the spirit intended. “Thank you. I am sure we will not need it. Mr. Al-Shahd, are you prepared?”

“Yes,” Naran replied, casting a reluctance glance at Maira and then a much angrier one at Graymere.

She leaned her head in the direction of the door. “Go. We don’t have a lot of time.”

Sighing, he packed up the device and went with Lord Shadow to try again with the Councilor. The doors closed and the silence crashed down like an ocean wave. She sat down on the first cushion she found, doing her best not to may eye contact with Graymere.

“You are angry with me,” he said. She glanced toward him only for a second. “You have every right to be. I acted shamefully, and I caused you to be hurt. I should have controlled myself, no matter how I was provoked.”

She sighed. “Why did you do it?”

“I could not tolerate the accusation. It was false, and there was no reason for him to make it.”

Bracing herself for his response, she grumbled, “Maybe there was.”

“What?”

She raised her head to speak directly, meeting his eyes without any more reluctance. “Naran had a point. You had me in a…disadvantaged spot,” she wasn’t sure how to phrase that, especially not in the High Domainish they were speaking.

“Ah. That explains things,” he said, face blank, but eyes angry. “I did not realize his magic inhibited your judgment. I would have acted different if I had. I believed you were curious and in good spirits. And I did not mind satisfying that curiosity. If it comforts you, romantic and sexual gestures are not the same for the Asna’isi. There is no shame or loss of status because of them and we do not use sex for power or control. I would have never done anything you did not want me to do.”

He moved to stand in front of her and then crouched down until he was on his knees, his long wings let down, draping over the carpet. “Even if it was as it is with humans, I do not want power over you.”
Maira nodded and averted her eyes, hoping that would end the conversation.

“Please look me in the eyes,” he begged.

She did as he wanted in the hopes he would give up soon. “I’m not angry.”

“I wish that were true. I can see it is not.”

She made a wearied noise, not quite a sigh. “It isn’t just about that. You and Lord Shadow are keeping something important from me. How can I trust you when I know you only tell me what you want to?” She glanced down at her marked hands. “How can I look after myself if I don’t know the truth?”

“Lord Shadow and I have told you that we will never allow anything to happen to you.”

“Unless you think you know better than me, then you’ll just lock me up or chase me down without even explaining!”

“No,” he said and stood up, wings still relaxed. “I wanted to let you run until you were ready to come on your own. If I had not been convinced that you would die, I would have. I will never do that again. The next time, if you wish to run, I will not chase you. If you wish me to go away, I will go away.”

Maira was tempted to ask just to see if he would do it, but that was nothing but spite and she did not hate Graymere. She liked him very much. He was intense and wry and when they flew the wonder of his wings and the whistle of the air transformed her entire soul. She wanted badly to trust the words that he spoke with such sincerity and genuine emotion — no small matter for an Asna’isi.

“I just want the truth,” she said and pressed her palms to her eyes. “I want this to be over and I want to stop feeling so afraid all the time and I want…” The list of her desires didn’t end there, but trying to form the words was hard and it had nothing to do with the dialect they spoke.

“That will all happen. Soon,” he said, in a very small, soft voice. She lifted her hands from her eyes to look at him, standing forlornly like he was the lost, scared one.

The door behind him opened. He raised his wings and turned fast, the sadness replaced by his usual neutrality. Maira got to her feet. Yena entered with Kei-zi and Commander Kharaz. The commander carried a wide, flat wooden case by a leather handle in one hand.

“Lord Shadow is still with the Councilor?” he asked, giving only one disapproving, brief glace at Maira and then ignoring her. Too tired to be insulted, she just sat back down, glad her participation was through.

“Yes. What have the solicitors told you?” he asked.

Coming further into the room and taking up the seat that Lord Shadow had last sat in, Kharaz answered, “We have two hours, three at the most. The Tsaqa have threatened to use the sea and river against the Asna’isi if she isn’t freed soon.”

“I will inform him of this,” Graymere said and left without looking back.

Kharaz helped themself to the cushion Shadow had last occupied, arms crossed. “When he returns, we will discuss the matter of you turning over the device. You have held custody of it long enough, Ms. Aialah.”

Yena coughed politely behind her hand and said, carefully, “I believe the proper form of address is Lady Aialah, or your grace, Commander.”

They gave a single, barked laugh in response. “A lady. Ha! Lord Shadow may have elevated his play thing, but this is no lady, Captain. This is a common human, common as mud. She has done nothing to earn the right to such respect. If I were you, Aialah, I would be careful. When this farce is over, you will find yourself back where you were. In the Palm. And it will not be the Asna’isi with whom you have to contend.”

Maira lifted her chin with a cold, thin frown, the kind Graymere would have given. She did not doubt that his words held truth, but even without the marks, she was Taye. Motswa taught her better. She did not have to earn respect, she was entitled to it like everyone else from the poorest, weakest orphan child to the Councilors and the Tract Lords. “I know. And I’m not worried.”

Kharaz huffed and they said nothing more until, half an hour later, Lord Shadow, Naran and Graymere returned.

“She has not offered any information,” Lord Shadow said, answering questions before they could be asked. Naran put the fake device down on the table and he looked disappointed. All that work, for nothing. Maira was tempted to ask if she could keep it after everything was done. The silver frame alone would be worth a year’s salary if pawned.

“Time is nearly out. The Tsaqa are presenting a united front and the judges are sympathetic to them. We have only as long as our solicitors can pick away at technicalities,” Kharaz said, similiarly blunt and direct. “What means have you tried?”

“Everything, save torture.”

“Then we must try again. If you want to do this yourself, I understand. Especially in your case, Mr. Al-Shahd.”

“No thank you. I’ll leave this to professionals,” he said with a false smile and came to plop down beside Maira on a cushion. He looked utterly drained, his color paler than usual and eyes rimmed in red.

“I recommend fire methods to begin with, the Tsaqa do not handle burns well,” Kharaz said and reached beside themself for the case. They put it on the table and flicked open the brass latches, displaying the rows of tools inside - blades, a small hammer, thin wire and other metal and wood things. Maira knew their purpose on sight. Cold sweat beaded on her neck, her palms as her guts churned sourly. “These will help. The Tsaqa are vain, the Councilor particularly. Superficial scarring and maiming will get her talking quickest.”

Maira looked to Lord Shadow and Graymere. Their faces were unexpressive and worse, they said nothing in objection. “You’re not seriously considering this, are you?”

“I am,” Lord Shadow confirmed.

Immediately, she stood up caught between charging forward to yell or retreating back in fear. “You can’t do this. It’s wrong.”

Kharaz got to their feet in a moment. “The entire city could perish! Why are you even here? You’re a courier. These are important decisions, not something for you to get involved in. You don’t even understand the gravity of the situation.”

“I understand perfectly,” she snapped back.

“Would you shut up already, you mouthy little Palm-rat!”

Naran and Graymere instantly turned ugly, vicious looks on Kharaz.

“Commander,” Lord Shadow said. The dark menace in his voice took the sneering superiority off of Kharaz’s face. “Torture is an extreme step, and it will have consequences. If we returned Vharoi tortured, we will have to answer for it.”

“If the wards fall, there won’t be anyone to answer to. We’ll all be eaten alive by the forest and the demons,” Kharaz insisted. “And that’s just in this city. If our wards fail, the outlying ones will topple as well until there isn’t a habitable square of land left in the world.”

“I am aware,” Shadow said, so very quietly as he eyed the tools. He approached them and reached down, running his fingers over the gleaming silvery edge of toothed pliers. Maira knew, in that moment, that he would do this. Kharaz’s argument was convincing and their voice was louder, more important than hers.

The hands that had marked her and held her in flight were going to do the worst thing aside from murder she could think of. She held onto the couch to keep up right against the wave of weakness passing over her. This was the end — their end. Horrified, she knew that if they did this, she would never see anything but torturers when she looked at their faces. If she didn’t stop them now, she would never be able to look on them again.

“Don’t do it,” she said, and it was not a plea. Shadow raised his eyes. “If you do this, then we’re no better than the demons.”

“I think the thousands of innocent people who will die if we don’t would beg to differ. We’re talking about torturing one woman, for an hour or two at most, to save the entire world. We have a duty,” Kharaz said. Though they stared at her, the argument was clearly meant for Shadow.

“This is evil.”

“Why? Because you can’t stomach it?” Karaza challenged.

“Have you ever been tortured?” she retorted. “Please, somebody tell me you understand that this is wrong, that we can’t do this.”

Kharaz gritted their teeth. “She deserves it! She has had every opportunity to tell us the truth the easy way. We can’t play at tea ceremonies with her now. Unless we force her, she’ll stay silent.”

“I take no pleasure from this. It saddens me,” Lord Shadow said. Her heart fell, plummeting like a bird shot out of the sky by an arrow. “I have done everything else. I cannot let so many perish.”

Shaking her head, Maira cringed and stepped back behind the couch. He changed before her eyes, everyone in the room did. Even Yena and Kei-zi who’d been silent were not the same, because even in silence, they were deciding who to support.

“He’s right. This is all we have left. We tried everything,” Naran said, but he didn’t meet her eyes. He didn’t even turn around to face her, he stared at the device. She watched his reflection in the glass flinch.

“I concur with Mr. Al-Shahd,” Graymere said. Maira nearly smirked at the terrible timing. It figured they’d pick this moment to finally agree on something.

“No,” she said and she balled her fists by her side, determined that she wouldn’t be moved from that spot even if the entire army of the domain came down on her. “No, you won’t.”

“What are you going to do, whine some more?” Kharaz sneered.

“If you do this, then I won’t give you the device.”

Kharaz lifted an eyebrow. “I think your master will see that you do.”

“He can try,” she said and aimed her stare right at Shadow’s stormy, solid gray-blue eyes. “If you do this, I will never forgive you. Do you understand me? I will never forgive any of you in this room.”

“Maira, you need to calm down,” Naran warned her, getting up from the couch. “You don’t understand what you’re saying. I know this is hard, but it’s necessary. You need to accept that.”

“No. Whatever you do to her, you’ll have to do to me first. If you torture her, I swear by all the gods who know me, by all my ancestors, whoever they are -”

Naran grabbed her arms and shook her fiercely. “Don’t! Don’t you dare finish that sentence. How can you defend her like this? She killed my friend who I loved and now you’re helping her!”

“I’m helping you, you clueless bastard!” Maira screamed back, shaking from both anger and fear. He hadn’t let go of her and nobody in the room, not even Graymere, made a move to stop him. “She will lie, she will play us, and we will deserve it.”

“Let her go, Mr. Al-Shahd,” Lord Shadow commanded, in a sharp voice. Naran very slowly released her and stepped back, furious and shaking his head slowly.

“I’ll keep my promise, you know I will,” she said, in a voice barely above a whisper.

“Everyone else, leave. Now,” he commanded. There was a pause as the others looked to him in shock. “Now!” he demanded, utterly terrifying every soul in the room with that display of open rage.

The others were startled into quick obedience, in a few moments they had fled and shut the door behind them.

“Sit,” he said, pointing to the cushion. Maira hesitated a moment, trying to gather breath that came in loud, trembling gulps. Her legs were not quite steady and she was convinced she was walking like a drunk person when she let herself down. He approached the tea table and the case. He sat with perfect grace and reached for it, latching it and setting it aside. “I believe that you will do as you say.”

“Yes.”

“When I marked you, you must have peered inside of my mind.”

“I did.”

“So you must understand that I do not want to hurt you, the thought is painful for me. But no matter my concern for you, I cannot place you above the entire city. It is not beneath me to beg. Do not force me to do this.”

“If I let you, how can anything ever be right again?”

He reached down and put his hand gently to the side of her face. “Because you will be safe and the city will be safe. I am not asking you to approve or to participate. I am pleased that you protest, that your conscience is so strong, but I do not have that luxury. I must be a monster when I must be one. I would give anything I possess for another way, but we have little time and less choice.”

Maira shut her eyes and leaned against his hand, aching. She wished she could make her resolve falter, but not even a Tract lord begging from the depths of his soul was enough. She couldn’t let it happen and she wished that she were as clever as the rest of them, so that she could think of a way out. She wished it was already over and done.

Suddenly her eyes flew open, and any idea formed her mind. What if they did just that? “If there was another way, would you try it? Even if it used up all the rest of our time?”

“Have you thought of something?”

“One more trick. It’s dangerous.”

“What is it?” he asked, removing his hand.

“We let the councilor go.”

“We cannot -”

“Wait, listen, please. If we fooled her into thinking we were letting her go because we know where she’s going to take down the wards, we could just watch her and her people to see where they go. How much did you tell her about what we know?” Maira asked.

“Precious little.”

“Good. We tell her Motswa figured it out, she already got this much out of her people. We can make her think that Motswa’s moving people from the Tayeland to stop her. She’ll have to do something, and we follow her.”

“Then we will know,” he said and gave a pure and radiant smile that crinkled his eyes, made him look so radically different: kinder, gentler, more real. It didn’t last, fading like sunlight behind a cloud. “This is very risky.”

“You said if there was another way, you’d do it.”

“And so I did.”

“It can work. It’s better this way. We might even find some of the others if we do.”

“If we fail, many will die.”

“Torture could fail, too.”

He touched her cheek again, softly. “The others will not like it, but I will convince them.”