Replace them. He says it as naturally as Artemisia did, as if killing came easily. Maybe for him it does, maybe it wasn’t even his first kill. In fact, it likely wasn’t if he escaped the mines and has been running with Ampelio as long as he has. The realization sits strangely. I can’t help but think of him the way he was as a child, quiet and inquisitive. He wouldn’t even kill bugs back then.
I push the thought aside and focus on the here and now. “Sooner or later, someone will miss them,” I point out, irritated at their shortsightedness. “And what exactly are you planning to do when you meet with the Kaiser tomorrow? I’ve never seen their faces, but he certainly has.”
“It’s actually not as much of a risk as it seems,” Heron says. His voice is quiet, but there’s such a solid quality to it that I don’t have to struggle to hear him. It’s the kind of voice that reverberates through your whole body. “Your guards’ only duty is watching you. The Kaiser is very particular about it, doesn’t want any mistakes. They don’t have families or attend any social events that you don’t. No one will miss them.”
“And this meeting with the Kaiser?” I press.
“Ah, that,” Blaise says, but he doesn’t sound wary. He sounds triumphant. “Artemisia and Heron were working in the mines as well before Ampelio snuck us out. Why do you think he would have freed us out of everyone there?”
“You’re Guardians,” I say as I realize it.
“Not technically,” Artemisia says. “There was no formal training, though Ampelio tried to make up for that.”
“Still, the gods saw fit to bless us with their gifts. Unlike most of the others forced to work down there,” Heron says.
I don’t have to see his face to know the words cost him. I’ve seen many awful things since the siege, but from what I hear, it’s nothing compared to the nightmare of the mines. I’ve heard that a dozen people go mine-mad each week. They’re immediately put to death in front of their friends and families, who must watch and not say a word or risk sharing their fate.
“Magic is well and good, but it doesn’t make an even battlefield between the three of you and the Kaiser’s guards when he learns who you are,” I point out.
“That’s just it, though. The Kaiser won’t learn anything. Only one Shadow meets with him at a time, so the other two can stay with you. And Artemisia has the Water Gift,” he says.
The pieces fall into place.
“Which includes crafting illusions,” I finish.
“I got a good look at the guards when we overtook them, good enough to impersonate them. It won’t hold for long without a gem to channel through,” she admits. “Fifteen minutes? Twenty, maybe. But from what we’ve heard about the Kaiser’s briefings, it should be more than enough time.”
Good enough. Should be. They aren’t exactly heartening statements of confidence.
“You don’t have a gem?” I ask. “Do any of you?”
The silence that follows is answer enough.
“Ampelio did,” Blaise manages finally. “But he was taken with it. Not that it would have done any of us any good. As I said, Artemisia has the Water Gift, Heron has the Air—”
“And you have the Earth?” I finish for him.
“Yes,” he says after a slight hesitation. “But the meetings with the Kaiser are short. Artemisia can hold an illusion that long without a gem, I’ve seen her do it.”
For a moment, I don’t know what to say. None of it is terribly inspiring, and so many things can go wrong with their plan. I don’t have to ask to know that Ampelio would not have agreed to them replacing my Shadows or he would have done it himself years ago. If he were here now, he would want to wait, to make sure everything was perfect before he struck. But Ampelio waited for ten years and it was never the perfect moment. He waited and bided his time until they killed him.
I shake my head. “There must be a better way for us to keep in touch while I’m here.”
“Like inviting a thirteen-year-old to be our messenger?” Blaise retorts.
He sounded like that when we were children, too. Like the year that separated us made him infinitely wiser than I could ever hope to be. I’m not even sure that bringing Elpis into this was the right thing to do, but I know it was the only thing I could do. “I trust Elpis,” I say, lifting my chin a fraction of an inch and strengthening my voice. “I’ll admit that I’ve made mistakes before. I’ve trusted the wrong people and I’ve paid dearly for that. The Kaiser enjoys setting traps for me to fall into. I barely trusted you when you appeared out of nowhere, but I did.”
“It was a good choice,” Artemisia puts in. “She’s a smart girl, and observant. We couldn’t have overtaken your Shadows without her.”
“We could have,” Blaise insists, sounding like an irritated older brother. “And we wouldn’t have had to risk the life of a child.”
“You weren’t moving fast enough.” The words spill out before I can think about them, but arguing with Blaise has always had this effect on me. He was always so calm and condescending and it never failed to reduce me to the petulant child he treated me as.
Which is why I decide I am not going to tell them about the threat of Lord Dalgaard hanging over my head now. Fear of becoming his next bride made me act rashly, and next to everything they have endured, I have no right to complain.
I clear my throat. “I gave her a choice. Elpis wanted to help.”
“She’s a child. She didn’t know what she was agreeing to,” Blaise insists, his voice becoming a growl.
“Come now, Blaise,” Artemisia soothes. “Thirteen is hardly a child, not anymore.”
Blaise’s breathing stretches longer for a few beats. “She’s your responsibility, Theo. If something happens to her, that’s on you,” he says.
I nod, though my temper threatens to overwhelm me. Even if I’m paralyzed by doubt, I can’t show it. I won’t apologize.
He’s quiet, but through the wall separating us, I can feel his anger simmering in the air.
“You can’t talk to our queen like that, Blaise,” Heron says. I can’t know for sure without seeing his face, but he sounds a bit frightened.
Our queen. The title sounds strange, and I have to remind myself that he’s talking about me, that I am their queen. I try not to think about Ampelio calling me the same thing before I plunged the sword into his back. I exhale, letting my anger go as well. “He can talk to me however he sees fit,” I say quietly. “All of you can—and should.”
Heron shifts behind his wall; then he gives a grunt of acknowledgment.
“The girl said you had news?” Blaise asks, no longer sounding upset.
“Oh,” I say. In all the excitement, I forgot why I needed to talk to him in the first place. “Where exactly are the Vecturia Islands?” I ask.
“I’ve heard that name before…,” Blaise says.
“Vecturia is a cluster of islands northeast of here,” Artemisia says, sounding bored. “Why?”
“I think the Prinz is taking at least two thousand troops to the islands in a few days, armed to the teeth with cannons,” I say. “I don’t imagine it’s a social visit.”
“You think or you know?” Artemisia asks.
I hesitate, weighing the evidence in my mind—the types of ships, the heavy artillery, the fact that Dragonsbane can’t have gotten all the way to the trade route if he was just outside the capital only last week. I think of S?ren looking away in the garden when he told me again that he was going to the trade route, how obvious it felt that he was lying. It’s all circumstantial, nothing I can prove outright, but I can feel it in my bones.
“I know,” I say, hoping I sound more confident than I feel.
“Did they have berserkers?” Blaise asks.
I shake my head, then stop. “Well, I can’t really say—I still don’t have a clue as to what they are.”
“Even with just their cannons and warriors, he’ll destroy Vecturia,” Artemisia says, more alert now. “There are five islands, but each can’t have more than a few hundred people. A fraction of that will be trained soldiers, and they’re all spread out. If they aren’t ready for an attack, the Kalovaxians will pick them off one island at a time without a drop of sweat for their efforts.”
“There must be something we can do to help them,” I say.