Seldom stood up, staring at Glass in confusion. “And why would you keep it secret?”
Glass tilted her head and allowed herself a smile. “How else to get a full Inquisition trial beneath the roof of the emperor’s sister and the woman herself in chains before the rail?”
Laughter rose from the lords’ bench at this, some of it simple amusement, some shocked, some nervous and confused. Here and there a hint of realization dawned. Carvon Jotsis saw it and his eyes widened.
Sherzal shook her arms in an attempt to be rid of the silver chain.
“Judges!” Glass barked out the word. “Your witness has not been given permission to depart.”
Agika stood now, then Dimeon, dwarfing her. “What is the meaning of this nonsense?” he boomed.
“Honourable Sherzal!” Agika ignored her fellow judge. “You will remain, please.” She waved to Sera who, white-faced, placed herself in Sherzal’s path. All around the margins of the great chamber members of Sherzal’s personal guard exchanged confused glances.
Glass bowed her head. “I collected you three judges—”
“You did not collect them! I collected them!” Pelter shouted.
“I knew where they would be, and when,” Glass said. “I chose the time of our departure. Thus I selected them.”
“I chose the time of our departure!” A note of desperation had entered Pelter’s voice. He looked to Sherzal for support. “I arrested her!”
Glass looked up. “And I chose when to take the action that made you arrest me.” She had thought Zole might go after Nona immediately but the girl had waited until Kettle left, perhaps knowing that Kettle would not have let Nona go without some means of finding her again. Even then Zole had hesitated. She had come to Glass seeking wisdom, and Glass had told her to follow her instinct. “I wanted you to bring me here.”
“But why?” Pelter, almost helpless now.
“No court of the Inquisition could ever be set up beneath the roof of the emperor’s sister without her invitation,” Glass said. “And neither the emperor nor the immediate members of his family can be put on trial anywhere but beneath a Lansis roof.”
“But Sherzal is not on trial!” Brother Dimeon blustered.
“She will be once Sister Agika has her arrested and charged.” Glass turned her gaze on Agika. “Sherzal’s agent took the Church’s only shipheart. The case for suspicion is simple and well documented. Under questioning she will admit her guilt and return what was stolen.”
Glass had lied when she said that she had chosen the judges. Pelter had been slower to act than anticipated and their journey east more convoluted. However, Agika and Seldom had been high on Glass’s list of possibles and she had prayed they would be found. She had also been aware that Brother Dimeon would be a likely inclusion since the last report on the man had him held by his duties on the path Pelter would almost certainly follow. In a minority, however, Brother Dimeon was an asset, his loyalty to Sherzal well known.
A decade earlier, after Glass had made her decision to leave her high office atop the Tower of Inquiry, but before she had announced it, she had set several acts of forward planning in motion. Prime amongst these acts was the fall from grace of certain of her most loyal inquisitors, Seldom and Agika among them. Their arguments and growing mistrust were both public and false, a deception agreed upon by both parties. Former holders of any high office were vulnerable both to their immediate successor and to all those subordinates who resented them. What better insulation against future extremis than to promote to the top of any list of enemies men and women who held secret loyalty to her?
“There’s no evidence to base any such charge upon!” Dimeon thumped the table before him. Both Sherzal’s bodyguards who had flanked her at the proxy throne now moved to stand behind Sera. Safira was the first to reach her, one hand resting on a sword hilt.
Glass ignored the open threat. “Evidence abounds, Brother Dimeon! Sherzal’s own employee, placed at Sweet Mercy on her insistence, stole the shipheart. Were we talking about anyone other than the emperor’s sister and the prime instigator of the Inquisition, they would have been arrested and put to the question years ago. Only the impossibility of doing so has prevented formal accusation.”
“If this is true,” Agika placed each word with care, as if thinking furiously, “why were we three judges not informed?”
“Yes,” Brother Dimeon demanded. “We cannot be expected to put our host to the question without instruction from Gemon himself! It’s nonsense to suppose he would desire such a trial and yet issue no orders.”
Glass appreciated the judges’ reluctance. Their authority might stand on firm legal ground but they had only the fact that a full third of the Sis stood witness to ensure their safety. Had the party been concluded by the time Glass was brought to trial, as she had begun to desperately fear that it might, then Sherzal would very likely have had Glass and the inquisitors quietly murdered rather than submit to their inspection and judgment.
Safira’s proximity to Sera was a reminder of how swiftly the two Inquisition guards could be overcome. A warning not to take false comfort in the presence of two armed Church enforcers.
Glass motioned for the three judges to take their seats again, and to her surprise, they did. “No word of this possibility was sent out because Sherzal has too many ears among the Inquisition. Any communication would risk discovery. If even a hint of such an idea had reached the palace you three would never have received a formal invitation to enter the premises. Brother Pelter would have taken me to the emperor’s palace instead and hoped for a swift conviction before the wider Church and the Tower of Inquiry became involved.” Glass was willing to bet a very large sum that had
