Mancini grunted. “I suppose then that you want me to try and steal it.”
Owen felt his insides twist with anger as he looked at the lazy spy.
As if reading his thoughts, and perhaps she was, Ankarette gave him a sad, weary smile, and gently stroked his hair. She smelled like faded roses.
“What’s going to happen?” Owen whispered. “They’re taking me home tomorrow, but I’m afraid to go.”
She cupped his cheek. “I told you I would help you, Owen.”
“You told me you would help me,” Mancini quipped. “I don’t know, boy. I think she’s out of tricks this time.” He grunted and huffed and made it to his feet ponderously. “If you couldn’t steal the book, how am I supposed to do it? Your game is about played out. There are too many pieces still on the king’s side of the Wizr board. Not enough on yours. Best to realize this one is over. You can’t save the boy.”
Owen turned and gave Mancini a blistering look. But he saw the cunning in Mancini’s eyes. He was trying to provoke Ankarette into admitting or revealing something.
A small smile flickered on her mouth. “You no longer want to help me then? You think you can step into Ratcliffe’s place on your own?”
Mancini shrugged. “Actually, I do. The king pretty much dismissed him today. And what I know about foreign courts will be much more useful to him if all his enemies at home are dead.” He scratched the corner of his mouth.
“His trust must be earned, Dominic,” Ankarette insisted. “He’s been betrayed too many times. You are Genevese. It would take something incredible to change his opinion of you. But I am helping you, as I said I would. I need a conversation with John Tunmore, but that can’t happen while he’s in sanctuary.”
Mancini chuckled. “I thought you were behind his escape?”
Owen was surprised when she shook her head no.
“Not directly. I just helped him unlock the door. And because of you, the king has Our Lady under constant guard. Deconeus Tunmore has merely shifted his prison from one cell to another. He won’t last long in there. He needs freedom. Are you ready for your next assignment, Dominic? Or will you quit now?”
He squinted, looking puzzled. “I think I am done,” he said ominously. “If you are pushing Tunmore to lead the Espion, then our interests no longer align.”
“The king will not trust Deconeus Tunmore,” Ankarette said. “Have no doubt of that. We need to get that book.”
Mancini shook his head. “Impossible.”
She knelt down by Owen’s side and rubbed his shoulder. She glanced over at Mancini. “You can never fully earn the king’s trust, Mancini. There are too many barriers. But someday Owen will lead the Espion. And he will need you, and you will need him. Your fates are entwined together. You must help the boy when I am gone.”
Mancini looked shocked, his mouth hanging open. “But I thought . . . we agreed . . . that I would lead the Espion!”
“And you will!” she said smiling. “Through Owen. The king is sending you with him. Don’t you see? It gives you permission to be near him, to advise him. To help him gain the information he needs to survive. I’ve wrapped your fates together in silk threads. You need each other to be successful. I won’t be able to come with you.”
Owen started in surprise. “You’re not coming?”
“I can’t, Owen,” she said. “I’m very sick. It is difficult even coming down the steps into the kitchen. Mancini is going. He will help you, and you must help him.”
Owen blinked back tears. “I don’t want him to help me.”
“You should have mentioned that down in the cistern, boy,” Mancini said sharply.
“He already has,” Ankarette said. “Owen, he saved your life. He was the one who rushed down to save you. He was there for you. He pulled you and Elysabeth Victoria Mortimer from danger.”
Mancini came closer, looming over them both. “I don’t want to be saddled with this brat!” he chuffed.
She looked up at him. “He will not always be this small, Dominic.” She stroked Owen’s hair again. “Do you remember the last time the Fountain touched someone so young?”
Mancini snorted. “That Maid of Donremy was a trick of the King of Occitania!”
“No, Dominic,” Ankarette said. “She was Fountain-blessed. She was just a little girl, but she led the army that overthrew Ceredigion’s influence in Occitania. There are many who remember her. Duke Horwath remembers her. Her legend will last for centuries to come. Owen . . . our Owen will be like that. Remember the Battle of Azinkeep? The King of Ceredigion defeated twenty thousand and only lost eighty of his own men. He became the ruler of Occitania when he married the princess and her father died. He was Fountain-blessed.”