Brandt wondered for a moment at the change. His prior visits with the governor hadn’t earned him nearly this level of respect and attention.
Brandt told his story. Kye leaned forward as he listened, his whole body involved. At times, he scribbled notes to himself on a sheet of paper. Other times he stopped Brandt, asking a clarifying question.
“And you’re sure your men don’t need further medical attention? I can put them in touch with some of the best private doctors in town.”
“Thank you, but they should all fully recover.”
The governor looked over his notes, then looked out the window. Brandt couldn’t guess where the governor’s considerations wandered, but the intensity of his thought wasn’t in question.
The moment stretched out, silence settling between the two men. Brandt fought his body’s urge to fidget.
“Do you know what was stolen from the merchant?”
Brandt did. He had spent most of the day interrogating the man. It hadn’t been difficult. The man was a smuggler, so he understood his options. He could cooperate and suffer a lesser punishment or refuse and die. Brandt had all the authority to take the man’s life under any pretense, and they both knew it. The man confessed right away, the words pouring out of him. The smuggler possessed no regrets beyond the fact that he had been caught. The questioning had only taken so long because Brandt had been certain the man knew more than he said. Only after most of the day had passed was Brandt convinced by the man’s lack of knowledge. “A diamond.”
Kye sighed and his shoulders slumped. He gazed out the window. “That’s what I feared.”
Brandt frowned. “Why?”
Kye didn’t answer for several long moments. “The emperor himself has been looking for that diamond for almost a year now. He just received information that a smuggler’s network had brought it here. It was thought they hoped to carry it to the coast and onto a boat traveling to an Etari port.”
Brandt absorbed the new information, then made a connection. “That’s why the Arrowoods are here.”
Kye raised an eyebrow, as though he was surprised the wolfblade was so well-informed. “Indeed. Their methods are unique, but the family has been known for its success in such delicate endeavors.”
“Why is the diamond so special? It can’t be about money. He leaves most valuables alone.”
“An astute observation. It is rumored that the diamond can focus and increase one’s personal affinity.” Kye met Brandt’s gaze, watching his reaction.
Brandt blinked rapidly. “Truly?”
Kye shrugged. “I cannot speak to the veracity of the rumors. But I suspect it is those very rumors that have attracted so much attention to our corner of the world.”
Brandt had never heard of a diamond being able to increase a person’s affinity. Ever since the empire had been founded by Anders I, hopefuls had searched for ways to artificially increase their affinity, but all such attempts had failed. Some still searched, but most sensible people considered it the modern equivalent of alchemical gold.
If it was true, though, the consequences were staggering. Affinities could be useful, but they were rarely strong enough to defeat a talented martial artist.
The bandit was an exception. He was strong enough to destroy all five of Brandt’s warriors at once. Did he already possess a diamond like the governor spoke of?
Brandt’s mind spun at the possibilities.
One worried him more than the others.
What if the diamond worked, and the bandit just now got his hands on it? The man’s power was already inhuman. To amplify it further seemed impossible, but what if?
Brandt shuddered.
Kye noticed. “You can well understand why this diamond is so important. Most likely, the rumors amount to nothing, but the emperor can’t take a chance on such an item. It must be retrieved. All of us must turn our efforts toward this cause, now.”
“What would you have of my wolfblades?”
“Search for the diamond.”
“You believe it is here?”
Kye appeared genuinely concerned. “I do not know, but I hope so. Between your squad, the Arrowoods, and the city watch, we have a chance to retrieve the diamond if it’s here. If it’s beyond our grasp, I fear the consequences.”
Brandt wasn’t sure how much help his wolfblades could be. They were soldiers, not investigators. But disobeying a governor’s orders came with a cost, and this time he had no better ideas. He bowed and accepted the charge. Kye dismissed him, immediately returning to the stack of papers at his desk.
One thought worried Brandt as he walked from the governor’s house. Kye had known about the strength of the bandit and the Arrowoods’ search for the diamond before the attack on the smuggler yesterday. Yet he hadn’t put the pieces together.
Perhaps the governor hadn’t believed Brandt’s outlandish story from the mountains. Perhaps the governor just hadn’t put the two strings of events together. It seemed unlikely. His impression was that the governor was sharp. It seemed like a connection he should have made.
There was no telling, though. All Brandt was certain of was that he felt a deep unease as he walked toward the inn to give the wolfblades their new orders.
10
Academy crawled by. To Alena’s sense, every class was at least twice as long as usual, every instructor endlessly lecturing on meaningless topics. She couldn’t care less about Emperor Anders I’s establishment of the monasteries, or the battles he fought to unify the continent after declaring himself emperor.
The diamond felt heavy in her pocket, weighing her down whenever she moved.
She had considered skipping the whole day and going straight to Bayt’s. Only two obstructions kept her from doing so.
The first was Jace. Perhaps she could convince him to keep her absence a secret, but she doubted it. He might try, for her sake, but secrets leaked out of him like water through a sieve. He simply couldn’t do it. She didn’t want another lecture from Father, especially so soon after the last one.
Alena felt in her other pocket for her new knife. The hilt of the blade was
