'No, nothing even remotely like it. But Mab's only used the thing twice. Once on her own people at Gefi, and once on Selafae. So the question of the year is-
'Why hasn't she used it since, or threatened its use?'
'Precisely. We have our theories, of course, but the consensus seems to be that she's merely biding her time until she can plan a full-scale invasion of the Seelie Kingdom, with little chance of failure.'
Silverdun actually gasped. 'Is this possible?'
'Our best guess is that within a year, given our understanding of her troop movements and placement of her cities, we would be powerless to stop it.
Silverdun knit his brow. 'You and Everess seem to be in agreement, then. Something must be done. Mab must be stopped by any means necessary. Why not the Shadows?'
Mauritane snorted. 'Everess cares about nothing aside from his own position. To him, re-forming the Shadows is part of a strategy to build power for himself. He'll play upon whatever fear, whatever threat is necessary to pursue it. Don't trust him.'
'Oh, I never intended to trust him,' said Silverdun. 'Among nobility, trust is rarer than a hard day's work.'
Mauritane chuckled.
'Then you think I should find a way to wriggle out of this? I admit that I have no more confidence in Everess than you do.'
'No!' Mauritane almost shouted. 'You must accept. You must be a part of this. If he's received approval from Corpus and the queen's blessing, then it's going to go ahead no matter what I do. My best hope is to have someone on the inside, someone who can keep an eye on Everess and his ilk and do his best to ensure that the needs of the kingdom come before his ambition.'
'And to report back to you.'
'Yes.'
The whole thing was beginning to seem hopelessly tangled. But Silverdun could see in Mauritane's eyes that war was not a hypothesis. It was a certainty. A war that could not be won.
'Do you think the Shadows can change things?'
'I certainly hope so. If you do the right things. I shudder to think what those things might be.' Mauritane looked down at his hands. 'And by allowing it to go forward, not fighting it, then I share an equal measure of guilt in whatever those things may be.'
'We do what must be done,' said Silverdun.
'Then do this thing, Silverdun.' Mauritane looked him in the eye. 'Make sure that the end justifies the means.' This was not a request. This was an order, with the full weight of Mauritane's Gift of Leadership behind it. Ordinarily, Silverdun would have been offended at the hint of manipulation that went into such a thing, but in this case he supposed it was forgivable.
'Don't worry, Mauritane. I'll keep all of my most heinous acts to myself.'
'No,' said Mauritane. 'You'll tell me everything. I want to know exactly what it is that I need to be forgiven for.'
'And Paet. What's your opinion of him?'
'We've crossed paths once or twice over the past year. From aught that I can tell, he's a good man, if a bit strange. But I wouldn't trust him, either.'
Silverdun left the Barrack feeling deeply uneasy. He watched the pretty Fae stroll up and down the Promenade, shading their eyes from the sun under parasols. Luxury.
He'd never felt as though he was truly a member of Seelie society; he'd always existed on the edge. He could frolic and strut with the best of them, but something about it had always seemed hollow. There was a hole in him that had never been filled.
And now he was about to become part of something that would only set him apart further. But would it fill that hole, or only widen it? No way of knowing.
He squared his shoulders and stepped into the sunlight, merging perfectly with the perambulations of Seelie life.
Everess wanted to use him. The Arcadians wanted to use him. Mauritane wanted to use him. Even the queen herself had her own hooks in.
For a failed monk, Silverdun was beginning to feel extremely popular.
Sailors call the Inland Sea the One True Queen, and when a man joins the crew of a ship on that sea, he takes part in a secret ceremony in which he renounces his allegiance to his native land and swears to pay fealty only to the waves. It's
