She stared hard at Paet. 'Never.'
Paet and the Shadows went to Everess, and Sela went through the documents with him as she'd done with Paet.
'Very good work, Sela. Very good,' said Everess once the story was done. He leaned back in his chair.
'Do we recommend him to the high prosecutor?' asked Paet.
'Heavens no,' said Everess. 'We can't let him know we suspect anything.'
'You can't think to let him get away with this!' said Paet.
'Oh, he won't,' said Everess. 'But Glennet is a very powerful man, one who's owed many, many favors. Who do you think recommended the high prosecutor to his post? No, we can't take the direct route with someone like him.'
'Are you proposing that one of my Shadows eliminate him?' asked Pact dourly. 'I thought I made myself clear on that point.'
'No, Glennet is more useful to us alive and well at the moment,' said Everess.
'At the moment,' said Silverdun.
'At the moment,' repeated Everess. 'And trust me, I know precisely how to take care of him after that.'
Everess fell silent, lighting his pipe. 'We've a more pressing problem, though,' he said. 'Our troops are outnumbered by a great margin, and if war is indeed inevitable, we need to find ways to even the odds. Any suggestions?'
Silverdun sat up. 'I've got a few ideas,' he said.
Estiane's office was as warm and cozy as Silverdun remembered it. When he barged in, Estiane was sitting at his desk with a huge slice of peach pie in front of him. Estiane made to hide it, then saw it was Silverdun and decided not to bother.
'Perrin! It's good to see you, though I'm told that things are not progressing as one might hope with our neighbors to the north.'
Silverdun sat. 'It's worse than you know,' he said. He told Estiane what he could, leaving out the more classified details.
When he was done, Estiane said, 'What can I do to help?'
'I'm glad you asked,' said Silverdun. 'Because I'm about to ask something very large of you.'
'What's that?'
'We are going to war with the Unseelie,' said Silverdun. 'That seems inevitable now. All we can do is try to make it as unpleasant for the Unseelie as possible.'
'I'm not sure how I can help, other than by praying.'
'How many devout Arcadians are there in the Unseelie?'
Estiane frowned. 'It's hard to say for certain. Perhaps five thousand? Ten thousand at the most? As I told you before, the less we know about them, the safer they are.'
'I want you to contact them, as many as you can, in secret.'
'And what shall I tell them?' Estiane now looked deeply worried.
'You're going to tell them to do everything they can to sabotage the Unseelie war effort. Disrupt supply lines, disrupt communications, destroy spellcraft depots, steal weapons, horses. Stab commanders in the back. Whatever they're able to do.'
'I can't ask that of my people!' said Estiane. 'These are Arcadians! They're committed to love and peace. That is what brought them to Aba in the first place.' He pushed the pie around on his plate, dropped the fork in frustration. 'I won't do that. I'm sorry.'
'You will do that,' said Silverdun. 'You put yourself on a pedestal, making a martyr of yourself, believing that if you do a little evil in the name of good, then you're protecting your people. You claim that this is a sin you take upon yourself to save others. But now it's time to give all of your followers in the Unseelie the same opportunity. If they're as principled as you, they should be happy to make the same choice.'
'You don't know what you're asking, Perrin,' said Estiane. 'Joining Everess and his Shadows has changed you. You've forgotten what it means to be an Arcadian.'
'I haven't forgotten,' said Silverdun. 'I've just learned a few things since then.'
'I'm sorry, Perrin. I won't do it.'
'If you don't, then Paet is prepared to testify in the High Court that you
