Once he was out the door, Annai sat in one of the chairs and slumped forward with a sigh. “Thank goodness. I’ll confess, I was worried there for a little while, but I kept telling myself to treat this like any other interaction I would do before Lidda’s attack. If I did that—”

  Quilla hurriedly pull up a chair beside her. “Annai, something’s wrong, don’t you realise that?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Didn’t you notice the way he kept looking at me?”

  Annai rolled her eyes. “That’s because you’re an Eloorin. I understand it’s somewhat uncouth, but that’s how—”

  “No, he recognised my name.”

  “Did he?”

  “Yes. How did he do that?”

  Annai shrugged. “Well, my father made you a noble. I’m sure the news must have spread a little. He must have heard it through his contacts.”

  “Your father did that just before Lidda launched her attack. How did the news get out?”

  “Maybe some of the people there got away. They could have told others.”

  “Do you really think if anyone escaped that massacre, the first thing they’d do would be to tell people, ‘Hey, an Eloorin was made a noble’?”

  Annai looked aside. “They...might have. It’s possible.”

  Quilla shook her head. “I doubt it.” She stood up and walked over to the door. “I think we should get out of here.” Slowly, she placed her hand on the door handle and turned. It didn’t move. Fuck. “It’s locked.”

  Annai looked over in alarm.

  “Loyal Ulises has locked us in. Why would he do that?”

  “Maybe it was already locked and he didn’t realise, and…” Annai slumped over and put her head in her hands. “There has to be a reason. He wouldn’t...I mean...he… Oh gods, I’ve fucked things up, haven’t I?”

  Quilla went back over and sat beside her. “Kind of.”

  “Oh gods, he’s going to turn us over to Lidda Plavin, isn’t he? Or worse, kill us! What are we going to do?”

  Quilla put an arm around her. “I don’t know.”

  Annai leaned her head on Quilla’s shoulder. “Oh gods, Quilla, I can’t take this anymore. This isn’t the way things are supposed to be. Why is this happening?”

  “Because people are awful, especially some people.”

  Annai whined and rolled her head onto Quilla’s chest. Quilla held her tightly while she sobbed heavily for the next little while. Quilla tried to think of things to say to comfort her, but nothing came to mind. At this stage, there wasn’t really any comfort left. Still, she wished she could say something. As annoying as Annai’s near-constant sobbing over the last couple weeks had been, she understood it, and right now seemed somehow appropriate.

  After a couple minutes, Annai looked up, sniffling loudly. “Lidda Plavin’s a Darker, right?”

  Quilla nodded.

  “Do you think that means Ulises…? I mean, if he recognised you. You spent that time with them and…”

  “Hard to say, but probably.”

  “Why are they so interested in you? Because that one that got away was your ex-husband?”

  Quilla gave a non-committal shrug and looked aside. “Could be.” She should tell Annai more. Tell her about being the Catalyst—whatever the hell that meant. But now was not the best time. She’d tell her later—if they survived.

  The wait seemed interminable, but it couldn’t have been more than a half hour or so before Ulises returned. The woman from earlier was with him as well. After another of his ridiculously extravagant bows, he said, “Your Highness, my Lady, I apologise for the delay. Jona here will take you to where you can clean up and then to a place you can rest while we make arrangements.”

  Annai stood up, and Quilla quickly copied her. “Thank you, Ulises. We…” She sniffled. “We appreciate it.”

  Ulises tilted his head slightly and looked at Annai closely. “Your Highness, you appear to have been crying.”

  Annai sniffled again. “Yes, well, we’ve been through hard times.”

  Ulises bowed his head. “I understand entirely, and I promise you, your Highness, we will have you out of Arnor City in a few days, a week at most, and on your way to Quorge.”

  “Thank you again,” Annai said. “I have no doubts in your abilities and I’m sure I will be fine once I’ve bathed and am in better clothes.”

  With a curtsy and motion of her arm, Jona said, “This way, your Highness.”

  Annai followed Jona out the door. Quilla tried to follow, close behind Annai, but Ulises slipped between them, close enough that the edges of his fine clothes just touched her rags.

  “My Lady,” he said. “A word, if I may. You can rejoin her Highness shortly.”

  Quilla looked up at him. Her heart pounded and all she wanted to do was try to run around him and get out of there, but he reminded her in some ways of Dyle. Not in appearance, but attitude. And she knew exactly how to deal with Dyle. “You can start by taking a step back.”

  With a smile, he did just that. “Of course. My apologies, but there was limited space between you and her Highness.”

  “You could have just asked.”

  “Again, apologies.” He closed the door and walked round behind his desk, where he spread his cape so it went over the back of the chair and sat. “I’d like to discuss a couple things with you, if you don’t mind. To ensure your forthcoming journey goes as smoothly as possible.”

  Quilla crossed her arms. “Let’s cut the bullshit. I know what you are, and I know you don’t have Annai’s best interests at heart. Or mine.”

  With a chuckle, he raised his eyebrows. “Quite the contrary, I assure you. I have your best interests at heart, and I assume that means also having her Highness’s best interests at heart.”

  Quilla wanted to say something biting in response, but nothing came to mind. So she just stared at him. Staring usually worked with Dyle.

  He gave a slow nod with closed eyes and leaned forward in a more relaxed stance. “Please, my Lady… May I call you Quilla?”

  “No.”

  With a sad smile, he nodded. “Of course, my Lady. I understand your doubt, but I assure you, I am loyal to your husband and fully support his eventual rise to Dusk Supreme. Even if I had some reason to want to oppose him, I am far too afraid of his reprisal to ever allow harm to come to you. You are safe with me.”

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  “He’s not my husband.”

  “Of course. Ex-husband. My apologies. But the sentiment of my words remains. So please, relax. Sit. Let’s talk openly. No deceptions. I promise you.” He gestured to a chair.

  “I’ll stand, thank you, but...go ahead...speak.” She resisted the urge to start pacing.

  “As you wish. I’ll start by assuaging any fears you might have that I intend to turn you over to Lidda Plavin. When I said I would get you out of Arnor City, I was not lying.”

  “Why? Dyle and Lidda were working together. Surely it makes sense to turn me over to her.”

  Resting his elbows on his desk, Ulises steepled his hands. “I note your use of the past tense there.”

  Damn. She needed to be more careful with her words. Did this man know Dyle’s state right now? Did he know if Dyle was dead or alive? And which state would he prefer? He said he was loyal to Dyle, but…

  “You needn’t worry. It was an apt use. Mister Aderman was working with Lady Plavin, but as best I can tell, she betrayed him. The fact you’re on the run and not either with him or safely ensconced in the Palace is fairly direct proof of that. I confess I have been worried about Mister Aderman. We haven’t heard from him in some time. I don’t suppose you could enlighten me?”

  Quilla stared at him for a moment. What should she tell him? What was most likely to keep her alive? She sighed, and uncrossed her arms. “I...I don’t know. Not exactly. He got away with the Pearl, but he was injured. I don’t know if he survived.” She wouldn’t tell him how Dyle got injured. Let him believe it was Lidda Plavin. If there was animosity between the two of them, she needed to stoke it.

  He lowered his head with a sigh. “I see. Thank you for being honest with me.” He looked up again. “We must hope he survived, but either way, we must act as if he is still alive. Under no circumstances must anyone think he’s dead. Your safety depends on it. He’s your protection.”

  She stepped closer to his desk. “But I’m the Catalyst. You people need me.”

  “Yes, but that doesn’t keep you safe. Just because most Servants wouldn’t kill you, that doesn’t mean they won’t do terrible things to you. Surely Mister Aderman explained—”

  “Yeah, yeah, he did.” She waved her hand dismissively. “I get it. So you’re not turning me over to Lidda Plavin. Where are you sending me? Not Quorge, I take it.”

  He shook his head. “Alas, no. The Servants there are in disarray. It would seem Lady Plavin’s uncle attempted a coup, which was put down rather brutally by the Will-Breaker and her allies.”

  At least some good news. Quilla did her best not to smile.

  “Believe me,” Ulises continued, “I would be delighted to reunite you with your son. He’s there, isn’t he?”

  Quilla nodded.

  “Yes, it would be good to reunite you with him, but it’s just too dangerous at the moment.”

  “Not because you don’t want me near Felit?a?”

  “Not as the principal reason, but it is one of them.”

  At least she had confirmation now that Corvinian was probably still in Quorge along with Felit?a.

  “You are as valuable to the Will-Breaker as you are to us. Perhaps more.”

  She crossed her arms again. “You want me to be cooperative with you? Stop treating me as a commodity. I don’t give a damn how valuable I am to anybody. I’m not a fucking item for sale. Felit?a and I have had our problems, but at least she always treated me like a person.”

  He held up his hands defensively. “Of course. I was speaking hastily. I apologise.”

  She chose not to acknowledge the apology. This guy seemed to do a lot of apologising and probably didn’t mean any of it. “So?”

  He peered at her with raised eyebrows.

  “Where are you sending me?”

  “Still to be determined. In the next day or so, I will be consulting with the people who will actually be escorting you. I’ll make a final decision based on their recommendations. It will be somewhere with an enclave of Servants we can be confident are loyal to Mister Aderman.”

  “Fair.” She supposed she couldn’t expect more than that. He hadn’t had much time to plan anything. Gods, she could barely believe she was just accepting this. But what choice was there? If Annai hadn’t… No, what was done was done. The only choice was to go along with it for now. She’d lived with Darkers before. She could do it again.

  She hoped.

  She pulled back one of the chairs and sat down. Perhaps it was time to look more relaxed. “What about getting out of Arnor City? Any idea how to do that?”

  He sat back in his chair and smiled. “That will actually be the easy part.”

  “What about the embargo?”

  “That pertains to ships. Arnor City is reliant on neighbouring villages for food. If they stopped that, they really would have a rebellion on their hands. They’re checking people leaving the city, but not stopping them. Getting you past unrecognised will be easy. We’ll touch up her Highness’s dye job and hairstyle, pick some appropriate travelling clothes for her, and she won’t be recognised. Once you’re out of the city, you’ll be taken to an area up the coast used for smuggling.”

  Oh yes, she knew that area somewhat well. Images of her time with the Volgs flashed through her head and she shivered. She hoped Ulises didn’t notice.

  “We can get you to a ship from there,” Ulises continued. “There is some risk, of course, but it is minimal.”

  Quilla nodded. “That sounds fine.” Her own fears of being anywhere near those caves again notwithstanding, it was a plan that made sense.

  “The real danger comes after that, and I’m afraid I must ask you to do something you will probably not like.”

  With a sigh, she crossed her arms again. “What?”

  “You’re not actually a Servant of Sunset, are you?”

  “A Darker? No.”

  If he was bothered by her used of the term, he didn’t show it. Damn. “So you don’t have the tattoo.”

  “The stupid goat skull Dyle has on his ass? No, and I’m not getting one either, if that’s what you’re implying.”

  He steepled his fingers again. “It really would be to your advantage.”

  “No.”

  “Wherever we end up taking you, you will have to pass through areas that might not be as loyal to Mister Aderman. Even amongst those who are loyal, you will be received better if you have a tattoo. Amongst those who aren’t...well, they may treat you better if you have one. They almost certainly will treat you very poorly if you don’t. Now, the people I’ll be sending with you will defend you with their lives, but they will not be an army. Two or three at most. They will be good at what they do, but not invincible. Please, allow us to give you a tattoo. It will be unobtrusive. Indeed, it needs to be. And of course, somewhere out of sight.”

  “That fucking tattoo. Does Dyle really go around showing his ass to other Darkers just to prove who he is?”

  Ulises spread his hands. “Yes, when necessary.”

  Quilla rolled her eyes.

  “But yours doesn’t need to be in such a spot. Perhaps on your upper arm, a little below the shoulder. A spot normally covered by the sleeves of even a short-sleeved gown, but easy to reveal without having to disrobe entirely.”

  Quilla shook her head.

  “Please, consider it. It really will make things easier for you.”

  “Fine, I’ll consider it.” She wouldn’t, but if it would get him off her case, she’d let him believe she’d think about it.”

  “Her Highness.”

  “Oh no. No fucking way! I will not make Annai do that. She’s been through enough.”

  “And she’ll be through more. Indeed, it’s probably more important she get one than you do. You at least have your position as Catalyst to fall back on. She doesn’t.”

  “Again, no.”

  “Please, Quilla, at least—”

  “My Lady.”

  “Apologies. My Lady, please just talk to her highness. I am not in any way asking you to force her. We won’t force her. We won’t force you. But it is in your best interests to get one.”

  “Fine. I’ll talk to her.” She would tell Annai what they wanted of her, but there was no way in hell she was recommending getting the tattoo. She was recommending the opposite.

  “That’s all I can ask.” He placed his hands, palm down, on his desk. “I will summon Jona to take you to where you can bathe, and we’ll get you fitted with some proper clothes. I’ll let you inform her Highness of everything that is happening. I suspect she’ll take it better from you than me. She’s likely going to feel I’ve betrayed her.”

  “Haven’t you?”

  He stood up. “I don’t think so. Not exactly, at any rate. As I said, I do have her best interests at heart. Truly.”

  “And you would never ever consider it?”

  He chuckled as he headed round the desk and over to the door. “I never said that. If it benefited me or the Servants in some way to betray her, then I would do so in a heartbeat. But it really doesn’t.” He bowed in his ridiculous fashion again. “Jona will be with you shortly. We will speak again soon, my Lady.” He opened the door, stepped through, and closed it behind him.

  This time, Quilla heard the lock click.

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