*
After Nicholas was settled for the night, Sage went for a walk. Her primary intention was to see where the outer doors of their quarters led, but she also wanted to see how the king’s guard would react to her wandering the palace halls alone. Having been here only a few hours, she could easily claim she was lost.
High windows were set under the arched, two-story ceilings. During the day they allowed hot air to flow out, but now the moonlight pouring in reflected off the white stone walls, illuminating the passage without torches. At first Sage avoided guards, wanting to finish a sweep of the passage that wrapped around the royal family’s rooms and private courtyard. Her count of the doors against the ones she’d seen in her and Nicholas’s rooms indicated at least one set in each led into other places—most likely servants’ passages. She made it all the way to the far end without being seen, but on the way back she heard voices and prepared herself to look lost. The voices didn’t come toward her, though. Sage debated whether to approach or wait for the conversation to end.
She was near Princess Alaniah’s rooms, and one of the voices was feminine, so Sage crept a little closer. Lani had been friendly enough, but when Sage identified the second voice as Minister Sinda’s, she decided interrupting them might not be ideal, especially when the princess’s tone turned angry.
“You didn’t even try, Dev,” she said, her voice straining to stay low. “You have always insisted I be there. Yet now I don’t seem to matter.”
“No, Lani, you matter more than anything,” Minister Sinda answered in a pleading voice, sounding very different from his confident baritone at dinner. “I just have to agree with him right now, don’t you see? I need to be on his good side before I ask him for what we want.”
Lani sighed. “I suppose this meeting isn’t important for me,” she admitted.
“I think this is actually a good thing,” he said. “Getting to know this foreign woman better can only help your brother.”
“Will I see you in the afternoon?” Lani asked hopefully.
Sage was now close enough to see the shadow of Minister Sinda pressing Lani up against the wall. The chessa’s hands were on his jacket collar, holding him close. Sinda shook his head, and Sage backed away from watching and just listened.
“I’m auditing the prison accounts, remember? Because of the council meeting, I have to go in the afternoon.”
“There is a new Kimisar down there. Banneth brought him in with the Demorans.”
Sage hadn’t seen the man Darit captured since their arrival at Banneth’s camp. She’d almost completely forgotten about him.
“Really? General Calodan would be interested in talking to him,” said Sinda.
“You should tell him, then. It could make him like you better.”
“We’ve been on better terms lately, but that’s a good suggestion.”
“That reminds me,” said Lani. “My maid said she heard from his manservant that he’s planning to retire.”
“Calodan?”
She must have nodded. “I can think of someone worthy of taking his place.”
“I have a job already.”
“Not for much longer, if I have my way,” the princess said. There was a long pause followed by a sigh.
Sage’s face grew hot. This was definitely not a conversation she wanted to be caught overhearing.
“Someone is coming,” whispered Lani.
Oh, no.
“I’ll leave,” said Minister Sinda.
Lani’s reply was a little breathless. “I have a better idea.”
Sage heard a door open and close. Then silence. She slowly released the breath she’d been holding and clasped her trembling hands. That had been close.
Heavy, boot-clad footsteps echoed down the curved corridor. The regularity indicated a guard. Sage jumped out of the shadows before it could look like she was hiding. A few seconds later, a man carrying a spear and wearing a curved sword came around the bend, and the relief on her face was genuine.
“Can you help me?” Sage threw out her hands in appeal and so he could see she had no weapons. “I cannot find my room.”
79
THE CELL BLOCK was empty other than Alex and the two Kimisar. Alex managed to sleep a bit before Kamron woke, then he spent a good hour telling the brothers about Gispan’s family and where he’d grown up, which fortunately was far from their home. They knew the places Gispan’s memories described, however, and Alex’s account of the wildfire that killed Gispan’s family seemed to seal him as genuine in their eyes.
Stesh told him Banneth was the name of the prince of the Casmuni camp, and he was, in fact, the nation’s king. The Kimisar were glad to hear he’d returned to Osthiza. Perhaps death sentences required royal approval, as they did in Demora. The pair had been here for over a month, which was probably why their imminent execution didn’t faze them anymore. A man waiting for death could only care for so long.
Alex also recounted Huzar’s actions for Kamron. He, too, was unimpressed. “Should have just waited a few more months. Now he’s brought the whole Demoran army down on his head.”
“Why should he have waited?” asked Alex.
“Once the south pass has dried up, King Ragat will march through and take Demora from behind,” Stesh said, referring to Kimisara’s ruler, who’d been on the throne for over forty years now. “Of course, Huzar’s actions put troops in our way. Jackass.”
Alex shook his head. “Jovan is sealed tight. I doubt our army can get through.”
Stesh cocked his head and drew his brows down. “We mean the pass here, in Casmun.”
Alex had a vague sense there was another pass through the Catrix, but he knew little else. It was safe to assume if Casmun and Kimisara hated each other enough to send assassins, the pass was heavily guarded. Alex feigned puzzlement. “That one would be even harder to cross. They’ll have to fight through Casmuni first.”
“Not if they get out of the way,” said Kamron with a grin. He resembled his brother in the color of his eyes and most other features, except the nose. Kamron’s was crooked from a previous break, while the daintiness of Stesh’s was apparently a source of brotherly teasing. Both were paler than the average Casmuni, which might have explained how they were caught.
“Enough talking,” said Stesh. “The more we babble, the more likely we are to be overheard.” He pointed to the grate in the ceiling that let in light and air.
The two men retreated to the back of their cells and sat side by side, talking quietly through the bars. Alex lay back down, though he was unable to sleep.
He knew the Demoran army was strained and how few defenses were on the east side of the mountains. That was why the king had been so concerned by the evidence of Casmuni intrusions. If he was going to pull resources from Tasmet, it had to be absolutely necessary.
Despite what Kamron said, though, it was unlikely many forces would be brought across the mountains to chase Huzar, especially if Lieutenant Casseck and Ash Carter were able to convince Colonel Traysden what was really going on. That left the Tenne Valley wide open for an invasion force from the south, hugging the mountains until it was past the Casmuni desert.
Letting the Kimisar army march through Casmun was dangerous, however, even if that part was uninhabited. Once the supplies required to get thousands of men across hundreds of miles of barren land were through the mountains, there was nothing to stop them from heading for the Casmuni capital instead. Risk aside, King Banneth’s imprisonment of Alex, Gispan, and the dolofan coupled with his honoring of Sage and Nicholas went against that idea. His sympathies were clearly Demoran.