“What kind of offer?” I counter.
“It is known that the Undersea has threatened the land. Tell your king that if he declares war, I will make him armor of ice to shatter every blade that strikes it and which will make his heart too cold to feel pity. Tell him I will make him three swords that, when used in the same battle, will fight with the might of thirty soldiers.”
I am shocked. “I will tell him. But why would you want that?”
He grimaces, taking out a cloth to polish the earrings. “I have a reputation to rebuild, my lady, and not just as a maker of trinkets. Once, kings and queens came to me as supplicants. Once, I forged crowns and blades to change the world. It stands within the High King’s power to restore my fame, and it stands within my power to add to his power.”
“What happens if he likes the world the way it is?” I ask. “Unchanged.”
He gives a little laugh. “Then I will make you a little glass in which to suspend time.”
The tear is taken out of the corner of my eye with a long siphon. Then I leave, holding Taryn’s earrings and more questions.
Back in my own rooms, I hold the jewels to my own ears. Even in the mirror, they make my eyes look liquid and luminous. My mouth seems redder, my skin glows as though I have just risen from a bath.
I wrap them up before I think better of it.
I spend the rest of the night in the Court of Shadows, preparing plans to keep Oak safe. Winged guards who can sweep him up into the air if he is lured by the delights of the waves he once played in. A spy disguised as a nanny, to follow him and dote on him and sample anything before he can taste it. Archers in the trees, the tips of their arrows trained on anyone who comes too close to my brother.
As I am trying to anticipate what Orlagh might do and how to know as soon as it happens, there’s a knock on my door.
“Yes?” I call, and Cardan walks in.
I jerk to my feet in surprise. I don’t expect him to be here, but he is, dressed in disarranged finery. His lips are slightly swollen, his hair mussed. He looks as though he came straight from a bed and not his own.
He tosses a scroll down on my desk.
“Well?” I ask, my voice coming out as cold as I could ever wish.
“You were right,” he says, and it sounds like an accusation.
“What?” I ask.
He leans against the doorjamb. “Nicasia gave up her secrets. All it took was some kindness and a few kisses.”
Our eyes meet. If I look away, then he will know I am embarrassed, but I fear he can tell anyway. My cheeks go hot. I wonder if I will ever be able to look at him again without remembering what it was like to touch him.
“Orlagh will act during the wedding of Locke and your sister.”
I sit back down in my chair, looking at all the notes in front of me. “You’re sure?”
He nods. “Nicasia said that as mortal power grows, land and sea ought to be united. And that they would be, either in the way she hoped or the way I should fear.”
“Ominous,” I say.
“It seems I have a singular taste for women who threaten me.”
I cannot think of what to say to that, so instead I tell him about Grimsen’s offer to forge him armor and swords to carry him to victory. “So long as you’re willing to fight the Undersea.”
“He wants me to have a war to restore him to his former glory?” Cardan asks.
“Pretty much,” I say.
“Now that’s ambition,” Cardan says. “There might be only a floodplain and several pine trees still on fire remaining, but the four Folk huddling together in a damp cave would have heard the name Grimsen. One must admire the focus. I don’t suppose you told him that declaring war or not was your call, not mine.”
If he’s the true High King of Elfhame, whom we are to follow to the end of days, then we’ve been a mite disrespectful, running the kingdom for him. And if he’s playacting, then he’s a spy for sure and better than most of us.
“Of course not,” I say.
For a moment, there is silence between us.
He takes a step toward me. “The other night—”
I cut him off. “I did it for the same reason that you did. To get it out of my system.”
“And is it?” he asks. “Out of your system?”
I look him in the face and lie. “Yes.”
If he touches me, if he even takes another step toward me, my deceit will be exposed. I don’t think I can keep the longing off my face. Instead, to my relief, he gives a thin-lipped nod and departs.
From the next room, I hear the Roach call out to Cardan, to offer to teach him the trick of levitating a playing card. I hear Cardan laugh.
It occurs to me that maybe desire isn’t something overindulging helps. Maybe it is not unlike mithridatism; maybe I took a killing dose when I should have been poisoning myself slowly, one kiss at a time.
I am unsurprised to find Madoc in his strategy room in the palace, but he is surprised by me, unused to my slyfooting.
“Father,” I say.