“Security is as you see,” he said. “Six guards watching, two at the door, four in the room, and the Council’s wizard for the Relay so that we could notify Zarin the moment enemy ships were sighted.”
“Yet all are dead inside,” Eli said, silently counting the bodies. “Including the ones who were supposed to be in the hall. And they all died with their swords in their sheaths, correct?”
“Yes,” the admiral said, looking cautiously at Josef. “Sir.”
Eli grinned manically at his newfound authority. “I can see from the lack of blood trails that the bodies haven’t been moved. Combine that with the sheathed swords and we can safely assume that all the soldiers walked in here of their own volition. That means whoever did this was someone the guards knew, else they would have barred the entrance and died outside. Someone respected, for they escorted this person in and were subsequently too shocked to draw their swords when this known, respected person turned on them.”
“Impossible,” the admiral said. “Only officers and members of the royal family can enter this room without challenge.” He said this last bit with a pointed look at Josef, which Josef ignored.
Eli scratched his chin thoughtfully. “My real question is, why the watchtower? The duke I could understand, but why here?”
“I believe I can answer that one for you,” Tesset said.
They all turned to look. Tesset had been standing quietly beside the table. Now, though Josef had not seen or heard him move, he was several feet away, kneeling on the floor. The boards there were scuffed and dusty like any well-used surface, but one spot was darker than the rest. Josef frowned and walked over, kneeling for a closer look. It wasn’t blood, though there was certainly enough of that around. It almost looked as though someone had spilled a tiny bit of water and then tried to wipe it up.
“What’s that?” Josef said.
Tesset leaned down and pressed his finger delicately against the floor. When he lifted it, something was stuck there, glinting in the light. A tiny, curving splinter of glass.
“Question still stands,” Josef said, glancing at Tesset.
“It’s the Relay point,” Tesset said. “Or what’s left of it.”
“Powers,” the admiral whispered, staring at the wet sliver of glass. “I never knew they could be broken.”
“They’re quite delicate, actually,” Tesset said, standing up and placing the sliver of glass on the table. “Sara will be extremely distraught. Relay points are difficult to make, and we are very short at present.”
“I don’t understand,” Josef said. “Why would someone break a Relay point?”
“To cut Osera off from the Council,” Tesset said.
“But, why?” Josef asked again. “Osera has ships going to the mainland all the time. Any disruption in communication wouldn’t last past low tide. Six hours at most.”
“Six hours is plenty of time for many things,” Tesset said, pointedly not looking at Eli. “For example, if a thief were going to pull a heist, six hours would be amply sufficient to grab the goods and get away.”
“Nonsense.” Eli’s voice was equally disinterested. “No thief worth the name would break something as rare and valuable as a Relay point. Not when he can steal it, anyway. Honestly, what kind of idiot thieves do you chase?”
The admiral looked from Eli to Tesset, utterly confused. “Thieves? What are you talking about?”
“Nothing,” Tesset said. “An idle comment. Anyway, if the criminal’s objective was to isolate us, he failed.”
“How’s that?” Eli said. “Point looks pretty broken to me.”
“That it is,” Tesset said. “But Osera has two Relay points. This tower’s point was a first alert supplied by the Council specifically for this emergency. Osera’s official point is kept in the palace for the queen’s use.”
Josef set his jaw, glancing from the dead solders to the dead wizard and back again. “Admiral,” he said quietly. “Who reported this?”
The admiral blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Who found these men dead?” Josef said, his voice annoyed. “You? A guard?”
“Oh.” The admiral wiped his sweating brow. He looked as though this was all getting to be a bit much for him. “It was Princess Adela.”
Josef stopped. “Adela?”
“Yes,” the admiral said. “She had me take over here so she could go secure the Relay point at the palace.”
“Adela went to the palace?” Josef shouted.
“Yes, your highness,” the admiral said, baffled by his sudden outburst. “She thought that would be the criminal’s next target. But don’t worry, sire, I’ve yet to meet a swordsman who could get the better of your—”
Josef didn’t have time to listen, he was already headed for the door. A hundred things were clicking together in his mind: the precision of the sword strokes, the speed with which they must have been laid down, Adela circling him in the throne room, holding back. The deep sleep that he felt and she didn’t, the drugged candles and the bowl of stimulant. He glanced out the window at the castle high above them on the mountain. Even with the horse, it would take him five minutes at least to get to the back gate and another three to run to the Relay room at the top. Josef shook his head. He had no time. He had to get there now.
He hit the door to the stairs with his shoulder, slamming the poor guard on the other side into the wall. Josef didn’t even notice. He stared into the dark and shouted.
“Nico!”
She appeared before he’d finished saying her name, and Josef took a relieved breath. For a moment he’d been afraid she wouldn’t come. “I need your help.”
Nico’s pale face broke into a thin smile. That was all the answer Josef needed.
“I have to get to the palace,” he said. “Can you take me?”
Her eyes widened. “Through the shadows?”
Josef nodded.
Nico bit her lip. “I can try.”
“Try is all I need,” Josef said. “Take me to the top, if you can. The queen’s point will be in the palace watchtower.”
Nico nodded and Josef stepped forward, snatching his hand away a second before Eli’s fingers grabbed his wrist.
“I’m going,” he said before the thief could speak.
“I realize that,” Eli whispered. “But think a second, Josef. Just because she’s been drugging you to sleep doesn’t mean she’s guilty of everything else. This could all be a setup.”
Josef moved to stand beside Nico. “We’ll see soon enough, won’t we?” He looked down. “Ready?”
Nico nodded and hesitantly slipped her arms around his waist. She didn’t look at him while she did this, keeping her face tilted down so that she was hidden in the deep folds of her hood. That was the last thing he saw before the world twisted and everything went black.
Eli jumped back with a curse as Josef vanished, tripping over the top stair and right into the point of the door guard’s sword. He raised his arms on instinct, letting the guard walk him back into the watch room. The admiral was still staring at the space where Josef had been, his wrinkled face as pale as chalk.
“Before you do anything rash,” Eli said, arching away from the sword in his back, “I’ll have you know that there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for this.”
“Hang it all,” the admiral muttered. “I don’t care anymore. You’re all going in irons until we get this mess straightened out.”
“All is a bit much, don’t you think?” Eli said. “It’s just me at the moment.”
“Then we’ll start with you,” the admiral growled. “Tie him.”
Eli heaved an enormous sigh as two guards stepped forward to secure him. They were fastening the rope around his hands when the admiral turned to Tesset.
“I am so sorry you had to see this, Councilman Tesset,” he said. “Prince Thereson has always—”
His voice trailed off. Tesset wasn’t listening. He was standing at the window, staring out at the smooth sea. The admiral blinked and looked as well, squinting against the morning sun, and then what little blood was left in his face drained away.
“Powers help us,” he whispered.
