Afterward. Such an easy phrase. If we win. If the Beast doesn’t destroy humanity. Even given all those ifs, it seemed unlikely that she would be around to see it. That’s why it’s easy to make promises.
After a few more minutes, a battered two-?horse carriage came around to the base of the dock. Goltov got out, exchanged a few words with the driver, and jogged back toward the ship. Winter looked back at Sothe.
“Thank you,” she said. “For helping me get here, and... everything else.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t find you sooner,” Sothe said. “You remember what to tell Raesinia?”
“I remember.”
Abraham bowed respectfully to Sothe, and Alex waved. When Goltov arrived, Alex grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss, which attracted whistles and cheers from the watching crew. A crewman walked Ennika up from below, and Abraham took her arm, helping her down the gangplank and toward the waiting carriage. Alex and Winter followed.
The carriage driver, a burly, leather-?coated man with a wide-?brimmed hat, nodded respectfully to Winter as she opened the door.
“You know where we’re going?”
“Oh, yes, miss,” the man said with a chuckle. “Don’t worry.”
Inside the carriage, shades on the windows cut the glare from the afternoon sun. Ennika sat and ran her fingers over her nearly blank copy of the Wisdoms, while Alex and Abraham stared together out one window, Alex pointing out the landmarks as they passed by. They rattled over the Grand Span and through Farus’ Triumph, the traffic in the great square not nearly what Winter remembered. From there they took the smaller Saint Vallax Bridge and followed the street through the wider, tree-?lined thoroughfares of the north bank.
In Winter’s pack, down under her spare clothes, was a small notebook into which Sothe had copied relevant details from the Concordat surveillance reports of Ellie d’Ivoire. Winter had read through them, weirdly guilty, like she was opening a window into someone else’s life. Ellie’s family had lived not far from here, in a solid, respectable house with a lawn and a front drive, like the ones they drove past. If Duke Orlanko hadn’t issued the order for casual murder, this could have been Winter’s life, growing up as a businessman’s daughter in these safe, quiet streets. Then what? Getting married to some merchant’s son? Or taking up the family business—?after all, her brother had chosen a different career.
My brother. It was no use saying it to herself. It didn’t seem real. What do I do with a brother?
Sothe wanted her to talk to Marcus. That was obvious, even if she wouldn’t come out and say it. Her search for Ellie d’Ivoire was a self-?imposed penance, but she wasn’t willing to betray Winter’s secrets in order to complete it. Does it really matter, though? If I die fighting the Beast, then Sothe can do whatever she likes. And if, somehow, Winter survived... then I can think about what happens next.
The northern boundary of Vordan City was difficult to place. The houses gradually grew larger, the estates more extensive, until they were riding along a country road rather than a city street. Small, well-?manicured forests appeared among the elaborate gardens. Farther along, and the hedge-?and-?fence boundary of Ohnlei came into view, enclosing the vast royal estate that included the palace, Ministry buildings, and mansions of the favored elite.
Rather than going to the grand main gate, their driver took the carriage on a curving road that skirted the fence, coming to a much smaller and plainer entrance close to the palace proper. Two soldiers in the uniform of the Grenadier Guards stepped forward, and the driver presented his pass to them. Whatever it said, it must have been satisfactory, since they waved the carriage through.
“I wondered if we’d have trouble getting into the palace without causing an uproar,” Abraham said. “Evidently not.”
“Sothe was the head of Raesinia’s security for years,” Winter said. “I’m sure she knows every way in and out of here.”
The carriage bumped along a gravel drive at the rear of the palace, past the bulk of the Prince’s Tower. More guards were in evidence, but no one challenged them when they pulled up at what looked like a kitchen door. Winter and Alex got out, and Abraham helped Ennika down, while their driver opened the door without knocking and went inside. A few moments later he came back with a young woman in palace livery, who bowed.
“She’ll take you up to the queen,” the driver said. “Best of luck.” He nodded again, hopped back on the box, and snapped the reins, the carriage’s wheels spitting gravel as it got moving.
The young woman was even less talkative. She merely beckoned, and Winter and the others followed. They went through an empty kitchen and into a narrow corridor, which led to a servants’ stair. From there they followed a twisting path Winter couldn’t hope to replicate, never encountering another living soul. Their guide never faltered, and eventually they came to a door, which she opened to reveal a heavily decorated hallway, with cut-?glass windows and thick blue-?and-?silver carpet. The door they’d come out of closed flush with the wall, so as to be nearly invisible.
Ahead was a much grander door, carved hardwood depicting an armored figure on a rearing horse. Two guards with muskets stood in front of it, staring curiously at the group of newcomers. Winter’s guide held up a hand for her to wait, but Winter was already stepping forward.
“Barely!” she said. “Joanna!”
One of the guards, a tall woman, blinked and then made a rapid series of hand signs in the direction of her partner. The other, a short, skinny woman, stared at Winter, eyes going wide.
“Balls of the fucking Beast,” she said. “Sir? General Ihernglass? You have got to be joking!”
“No need to stand on formality,” Winter said, with a broad grin.
“Shit. Uh. Sorry, sir.” Barely straightened to attention, joining Joanna, who was already saluting. “You’re just the absolute last person I expected to step out of the woodwork.”
“Believe me, I don’t blame you.” Winter looked over her shoulder. “Can you tell the queen I’m here? Quietly, please. I’m not eager to alert the whole palace.”
“Of course. One moment.”
Barely opened the big door enough to slip inside. A few moments later she pulled it wide and beckoned. Winter looked for the servant, but she’d slipped away, all in silence. With Alex by her side and Abraham and Ennika behind her, Winter went into the royal suite.
It looked more or less as she expected the queen’s residence to look, with polished, gilded furniture and paintings of frowning nobility. Raesinia stood in front of her writing desk, grinning broadly. Winter resisted the urge to give her a nonchalant wave, and bowed instead. Alex and Abraham followed suit.
“Winter.” Raesinia shook her head. “God Almighty. We hoped... but I didn’t think...”
There were, Winter was astonished to see, tears in the queen’s eyes. She coughed uncomfortably.