I sighed. “Plots and schemes have never come easily to me,” I told him.
“Nor to me,” he said. “It takes a lot more patience than I have. You’d be better off talking to Blaise, if you want that sort of advice.”
“Blaise?” His suggestion left me faintly baffled. “Why her? I would’ve thought you’d send me to Freda.”
“Freda is no amateur, but Blaise is the
“
He gave a chuckle at my bewildered expression.
“Don’t let her fool you,” he said. “She’s got a regular network of spies. Half the staff is in her pay.”
“And the other half?”
“Sleeping with her.”
I snorted. “Well, it saves money, I suppose,” I said.
It was something to think about. I hadn’t even considered her. From our first meeting, I’d gotten the impression she knew little beyond what jewelry to wear with which clothes to such-and-such a court function—an important skill in its way, I’m sure, but not one I’d ever found particularly useful. Perhaps I had been too quick to dismiss her.
And then, just when Aber had me half believing I’d been fooled into believing we had a spy among us by the planted Trump, I remembered Ivinius the barber, who had tried to kill me in my rooms. He’d been smuggled into the castle for the sole purpose of killing me, and by someone who knew who I was and what I needed to hear to put me off my guard.
So who had sent Ivinius to kill me? And how had he or she gotten the body out of my rooms without being seen?
“But I do know—without any doubt—that we have a traitor in Juniper,” I continued,
He blinked in surprise. “What! Who?”
“I don’t know—yet.”
Then I told him how Ivinius had tried to slit my throat in my room. It felt good to share this secret, too.
“So that’s why you jumped at me when I Trumped in,” he said. “You thought
“Or to finish the job.” I sighed and shook my head. “If it had only been Locke instead of you… things would certainly be a lot simpler right now.”
“You were lucky,” he said slowly, “If it had been Locke, you’d be dead. He’s the best swordsman among us,”
“You’ve never seen me fight.”
He shrugged. “I concede the point. But Locke’s the best swordsman I’ve ever seen. He was schooled by a dozen weapons-masters in the Courts of Chaos. He grew up with blades in both hands. His mother, after all—”
“Freda mentioned her,” I said. “Some sort of hell-creature?”
“The Lady Ryassa de Lyor ab Sytalla is hardly a hell-creature.”
“Then you’ve met her?”
“Not formally, no… but I’ve seen her half a dozen times.”
I shrugged. “You’re probably right. Father never would have married her otherwise.”
“True.”
“And,” I said, “if you say Locke’s a great swordsman, I’ll accept that, even though I’ve never seen him fight.”
“Good.”
“It’s just that I made the mistake of letting down my guard, thinking I was safe here. It won’t happen again. Not with anyone.”
He pursed his lips again. “A traitor… that’s something none of us has ever talked about before. Yet it makes a lot of sense. This Shadow is very, very far from the Courts. About as far as you can get and still use the Logrus. We should have been safe here… and yet they found us fairly quickly.”
I spread my hands in a half shrug. “So… what now?”
“Blaise…” he hesitated.
“The same qualities that make her a likely ally also make her a likely suspect. She could have gotten Ivinius into the castle and sent him to my room.”
“True. She saw what you looked like when we had drinks, so she knew you needed a shave and a haircut. But you could say the same for Pella, Freda, and me, too. Or Dad, for that matter. Or anyone you passed in the corridor.”
“Or anyone who saw me get out of the carriage when we got here,” I said, remembering the crowd that had surrounded Dad. Locke and Davin had been among them… plus several dozen others, any one of whom could have said the wrong word to the wrong person and set me up.
I sighed. Clearly we weren’t getting anywhere.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“Tell Blaise about the Trump you found,” he said, “and your suspicions. The more I think about it, the more I believe she’ll be able to help you. I’ll tell Freda. Perhaps one of them will have an answer.”
“Don’t tell them about the hell-creature barber yet,” I said. “I don’t want to tip my hand.”
“No… you’re right, of course. Save that. It may be important later.”
I found Blaise’s rooms on the floor above, and her serving girl showed me into a sitting room done in bright colors, with fresh cut flowers in intricate arrangements all around. My sister reclined on a small sofa, a glass of red wine in one hand and a pretty young man in the other. He kissed her fingers, rose with a sideways glance at me, and slipped out the side door. I watched him go without comment, thinking of Aber’s jibe that she slept with half the serving staff. An exaggeration, of course… at least, I hoped so.
“Oberon,” she said, rising.
I kissed the cheek she offered.
“Blaise,” I said. “You’re looking lovely.”
“Thank you.” She wore that wide, predatory smile again, and all my mistrust came flooding back. “I’m glad you’ve come to see me,” she said, “May I offer you some wine?”
“No, thank you.”
“It’s time we had a talk. But I certainly hadn’t expected to see you so soon.”
Glancing pointedly at her serving girl, I said, “This isn’t really a social call.”
“No?”
“Aber thought I should seek your advice.”
“Interesting.” She smiled. “Go on.”
“Alone, if you don’t mind.”
She made a little motion with one hand, and her serving girl curtsied and withdrew, shutting the door. Only then did I turn back to my half sister.
“I’m listening,” she said, more businesslike than before. She set down her glass, folded her hands in her lap, and looked up at me curiously.
I took a deep breath. What did I have to lose at this point? I didn’t know who to trust and who to suspect, so I might as well put all the evidence out in the open. Perhaps she would have more insight than Aber and I did.
Quickly, before I could change my mind, I told her everything, starting with Ivinius trying to slit my throat and ending with the Trump I’d found in the hell-creature’s camp. A little to my surprise, she neither interrupted nor showed the slightest concern. She merely looked thoughtful.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“That you are a damned fool,” she said sharply. “You should not have hidden an assassination attempt. This isn’t a game, Oberon. If we are in danger in Juniper, we all have a right to know!”
I bristled at that, but did not reply. Unfortunately, I thought she might be right. I
