She headed for the door as soon as Cat was ready, careful to check the wards before stepping outside. They didn’t look to have been detected, as far as she could tell, but a very careful magician might not have left any sign he’d noticed them. He’d be more likely to sneak back and send in the army. Her fingers itched, unpleasantly, as she walked through the wards and into the mouldy corridor. Lady Barb had always been scathing when she’d talked about spying magicians. Emily was starting to understand why.
Outside, the streets were surprisingly quiet. They stuck to the pavements, trying to remain unnoticed as they made their way to a different diner. It was a bigger establishment, with a number of filled tables, but she couldn’t help noticing that the menu was practically identical to the last diner’s menu. There were no fancy restaurants in the docklands. Emily wasn’t sure if it was just conservatism or a grim awareness that most folk who lived near the docks didn’t have the money for even something as simple as pizza or burgers. Or it could be a subtle way of separating themselves from the nobility.
“I think we may have located a couple of reliable information brokers too,” Jade added, after a moment. “But approaching them will be dangerous.”
Emily nodded. Lady Barb had given her chapter and verse on information brokers, pointing out they were very much a double-edged sword. On one hand, they were almost always reliable. It was very rare for them to try to mislead a customer. Their reputations were the only thing separating them from gossipmongers. But, on the other hand, if they realized who Jade was–or Emily–they might pass that information on to their other clients. Emily would have been astonished if the Black Daggers weren’t keeping a close eye on the brokers. The king’s counterintelligence agents wouldn’t miss a trick.
“Then we take extreme care,” she said. “Or we do it through an agent of our own.”
“There aren’t many we can trust,” Jade said. “Mouse is trustworthy, I suppose, but…she has her limits.”
Cat lifted his eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“I wasn’t gentle,” Jade said. “I used truth spells, Cat; I practically probed her mind until it melted into mush. She’s not concealing anything from us.”
Emily blanched. “Is she alright?”
“I think so,” Jade said. “I had to be sure.”
“Hah,” Emily muttered.
She felt sick. She knew her friends, she loved her friends…but, every so often, one of them would do something that reminded her they’d been raised on a very different world. Mouse might well have been seriously hurt–or traumatized–by having her mind probed by a magician. Jade should have known better. He would have known better, if Mouse had been a girl of consequence. But no one cared about a lowborn maid.
The food arrived. She ate fast, eating to cover her silence. She didn’t want to talk to Jade, not now. She understood his feelings, she understood the cruel necessity, but…it still made her feel sick. Mouse had every reason to be angry at the three of them now, binding or no binding. Emily wouldn’t care to bet that the binding would remain firmly in place. A smart person might be able to find a way to evade it.
“Let’s go,” Jade said, once they’d eaten. “They’re not that far away.”
Emily followed, trying to keep her churning thoughts under control. She would have to do something to make it up to Mouse, later. Or Jade would have to do something. It was his fault. Mouse had no magic, but that didn’t mean she was useless. Emily could find her a place in Cockatrice, if Alassa didn’t want to promote her into Lady Lye’s post. Mouse was inexperienced, but she was loyal. Or she had been loyal. Mistreatment could drive anyone to the dark side.
Mouse opened the door when they knocked, looking none the worse for wear. Emily eyed her, worriedly, but saw nothing to indicate that she might be suffering from any mental trauma. She hoped Mouse wouldn’t develop any problems, not when the Nameless World had a taboo about treating mental illness. Mouse was lowborn. She’d be lucky if she was allocated a spot in a madman’s prison. It was far more likely she’d be driven out of the city and left to starve. A poor family couldn’t afford to keep a madwoman in the attic.
I’ll talk to her later, Emily thought, glowering at Jade’s back. And if we can find something for her, something that will make up for it, we will.
“There is one piece of good news,” Master Abrams said. “I managed to get in touch with the Levellers…or what’s left of them.”
Jade leaned forward. “And…?”
“They’re skittish, even though I have done work for them in the past,” Master Abrams said, slowly. “Their leader is…apparently…agreeable to a meeting, but they insist it has to be on their terms. They were reluctant to agree to anything until I mentioned you, Lady Emily.”
Emily swallowed a curse. Master Abrams did know who she was, then. Jade and Alassa didn’t have that many friends who happened to be sorceresses. She had assumed he’d figure it out, sooner or later, but she’d never expected him to use her name in talks with the underground. And yet…it might have been useful. There were people in the underground who respected her, even if they didn’t like or trust Jade. She just wished she’d spent more time getting to know them.
“Their terms,” Cat repeated. “And what are their terms?”
“They give us a location, shortly before the meeting itself,” Master Abrams said. “And we go straight there.”
“It’s a trap,” Cat said, flatly. “A meeting place we have no time to check out, a meeting with someone we don’t even know…it’s a trap.”
“They’re bound to be nervous too,” Jade pointed out. “We could be luring them into a trap.”
“That’s what you want to believe,” Cat said. He tapped the table, sharply. “Master Abrams, are you sure you know who you’re talking to?”
“I have done…work…for them in the past,” Master Abrams said. “I’m sure of my contacts.”
“But are they sure of who’s above them?” Cat stood and started to pace. “If I was trying to break an organization like the Levellers, I’d put one of my people in a leadership position and let that person escape when the purge started. And then that person can covertly feel out the survivors and line them up for the chop too.”
Emily swallowed, hard. The hell of it was that Cat had a point. Randor was smart and the Black Daggers had a reputation for competence, although they hadn’t sniffed out either the first coup or Paren’s assassination attempt before it was too late. The Levellers wouldn’t have the protection that came from noble blood, either. Randor wouldn’t let them operate a moment longer than strictly necessary.
“We have to take a chance,” Jade said. “I’ll meet with them…”
“They want you,” Master Abrams said, looking at Emily. “Not Jade, you.”
“Out of the question,” Cat said. “This is a trap. It’s such an obvious trap that it’s insulting.”
“Which means it might not be a trap,” Jade said. “They’re clearly feeling us out too.”
“And whoever is in charge knows Lady Emily by sight,” Master Abrams added.
Emily frowned as the men looked at her. Everyone she knew, everyone who might have been in the Levellers, was either dead or in jail. Paren was dead, his family imprisoned or forced to flee…she wished, again, that she’d spent longer getting to know the others in his group, even the ones who weren’t openly involved with the New Learning. She had contacts, but most of them were in Cockatrice. She had no idea who she should expect to meet.
“I don’t know who,” she said. She’d been seen by countless people, people whose names she’d never know. “But if this is our only chance…”
“It’s a trap,” Cat said. “Look, let me go in your place. I can wear a glamour and pretend to be you.”
Jade snickered. “I don’t think you’ll fool anyone for a moment. Even if you look like Emily, you won’t act like Emily.”
“Then I’ll go with Emily,” Cat said. “Jade stays back, well out of sight. If we walk into a trap and can’t blast our way out, you’ll be on your own.”
“I understand,” Jade said. “Although…I should be with you too.”
“If the three of us go, and we get arrested or killed, there will be no one left to save Alassa,” Cat said. “And what are the odds of us surviving if we do get captured?”