AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As for Evemer’s own fate, it was self-evident what that would be. He let himself keep looking at Kadou, devouring him with his eyes for what felt like centuries . . .
It was true, what Siranos had said—he was nothing. He was not fit to be called a kahya, not even fit to be called a guard. He was bound with ropes, and he had no weapons. There was no more that he could do, besides fight fiercely when they took him away and make their job as hard and tedious as possible.
And then they would kill him.
So he let himself look, he let himself yearn, he let his heart ache for his lord, for that noble little fool—that beautiful,goodman.
Seconds. Seconds, that was all Evemer had left before someone got around to saying,The other one, take him away and get rid of him.Just seconds more to look at Kadou, to think of how many more times he could have kissed him, if Evemer had just been someone besides himself, someone who didn’t care at all about the things that were important, and who yet had the strength to destroy Kadou’s enemies. Someone like Tadek, who had done the impossible and reached easily across a few feet of space as if it were nothing.
If only Evemer were someone who could take his hand, as if Kadou were merely a person of flesh and blood who had kissed Evemer back.
Seconds more to think of how Evemer had all but carried him out of the palace on the night they’d escaped the attack, his lord mumbling deliriously the whole way. Seconds to think of sitting on the bed beside him in vigil, taking a great and piercing comfort in the steady rise and fall of his lord’s chest in sleep—Evemer had done his duty that night, at least.
Kadou’s eyes were wide and dark as the sea on a moonless night, filled with panic. It was clear that the same certainty that Evemer held had already dawned on him too. Perhaps he would be generous enough to forgive Evemer his faults and failings before they dragged them apart. Perhaps that would be a weight on the other side of Usmim’s scales when Evemer shuffled in shame up to the gates of the afterlife—if he even made it there. More likely, Siranos would have his body dumped in the harbor on the outgoing tide, and Evemer’s soul would wander, sinking down to the dark, crushing bottom of the sea.
Kadou tugged at his bindings. “Let me go, please,” he said softly. “Please, just untie me.”
“Make sure he’s unarmed, and then you might as well,” said Sylvia, waving one hand airily. “If we want him to write his own hostage notes to Zeliha, we’ll need his hands to work. We can’t have them dropping off from gangrene.”
Evemer didn’t look away as the hired thugs came forward to undo his lord’s bindings. He would have counted Kadou’s eyelashes if he’d been close enough. Seconds left now—he’d already had seconds more than he expected. He’d carry this with him to death—the midnight fall of Kadou’s hair, the color of his eyes, the soft bow of his lower lip. Evemer had kissed that mouth less than an hour ago.
What would he have done, if he’d known then how little time he had left? He would have held Kadou a minute longer, savored the shape of him, pulled in the warmth of him to remember as a comfort when his soul was lost in the cold depths. Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a terrible fate—those dark fathoms would be just the same color as Kadou’s eyes.
“The other one, then, the guard,” said Sylvia, and Evemer’s heart crashed into his gut. Here it was. “We don’t need him, then?”
“I can’t see why we would,” Azuta said. “Unless Siranos has reason to want to keep him around.”
“I don’t,” Siranos snapped. “Guards, take him away. Get rid of him.”
There it was. His death sentence.
Evemer wanted to close his eyes to let it wash over him, but—his lord. Oh, his lord. Evemer would look as long as he could, he’d hold the image of those deep eyes in his heart while they strung him up by his neck, or cut off his head, or tipped poison down his throat, or took him down to the harbor and tied him to a rock and pitched him overboard, or slid steel into his gut. However they thought to do it. Evemer would look and look and look, and he’d close his eyes as soon as they took him out of the room, so that he could tell Usmim that his lord was the last thing he’d seen in life.
“Wait,” said Kadou, no louder than a whisper, and then louder, “Wait. Wait, no. Don’t—don’t hurt him. Listen to me!” His voice grew stronger. “You’re keeping me as a hostage, aren’t you? You know I’m valuable, and that it would be cataclysmic if Her Majesty finds out you’ve killed me. If you kill Evemer, you’ll be throwing away a second bargaining chip.”
Evemer’s heart broke—even here at the very end of things, Kadou was trying to stand for him, to be his champion.
Azuta scoffed. “He’s a guard.”
“He’s one of Her Majesty’s secret police, and he’s here on special assignment from her!” The guards finally finished untying Kadou. He wriggled free of the loosened ropes immediately and took two steps closer to Evemer, seizing his arm. “He’s as valuable as I am.”
Sylvia quirked an eyebrow. “Lying, is he?”
Siranos frowned, hesitating.
“Think of it,” Kadou said quickly, before she could say anything else. “Think of how he never leaves my side. Ever since the night of Eyne’s birth, how often have you seen me without him? Her Majesty will pay you money for this man’s return—as much as she’ll pay for me, I’d wager,” Kadou said desperately. “Why keep only one of us alive when you can double your profit? We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of altinlar! A million.”
“She’d pay that much for one of her officers?” Sylvia asked dubiously. “A mere spy?”
“He’s titled as well,” Kadou said. “A noble—you know we don’t have many of those. There are just a handful of old families left with hereditary titles. Evemer is a count.”
Siranos was silent, his frown even deeper. He glanced at Sylvia and Azuta. “Well, don’t look at me. I don’t know everyone in the court, I’ve been all but locked up in Her Majesty’s jewelry box for the last months.”
Sylvia sighed impatiently. “You can do better than that, brother.”
Siranos exploded. “How am I to know? Tell me that! How am I to know everything? Especially if he’s secret police!” Evemer felt a faint glimmer of hope like a single star twinkling through a cloudy night. “I’ve done my part, Sylvia! I’ve done more than my part!” His voice edged toward hysteria. “I got the sultan of Arast pregnant! I came up with the counterfeiting to pay off our family’s debts whileyouwere wasting your time on hiring thieves! And at every turn you tell me that it’s not enough, that I can do better—what elseexactlydo you want from me?” His voice had risen to a scream by the end. “This is about my mother again, isn’t it? It’s always about her!”
Sylvia sighed again. “I’ve asked you once already to calm yourself. If we kill him off and it turns out he’s worth half a million altinlar, I’ll be rather annoyed with you. So you’d better be quite sure, one way or another. Andpleasekeep the noise down.”
