The warm glow began to escalate. Very soon it felt as though I were standing too close to an oven. How far would the sensation go? If it went too far, I would die, here in this silly room on Opal, worlds away from everyone who mattered. Given what I’d just gone through, the thought of death was more ambiguous than usual, but—
I gasped. It felt like a torch being held to my chest.
A bonfire followed. Joan of Arc at the stake. They bum witches here, don’t they? I was vaguely aware that I’d started screaming some time ago, and I sensed, distantly, that now the screams were dying out. My heart was slowing down. And about time, too.
I slumped in the straps.
“Do you hear me?” said the voice.
“Do you hear me? Keylinn? We’ve stopped the interrogation. We’ve stopped the interrogation. Keylinn Gray, do you hear me?”
“I don’t know,” said another voice. “I’ve done all I can—”
I woke up in the detention suite. I put a hand to my chest and felt a light, woven cloth there—they’d given me a nightgown. My shirt was on a chair by the bed. I felt gingerly under the nightgown, ready for the aftereffects of whatever had burnt my skin, but there was no pain. I checked myself in the mirror in the bath; the skin looked as it always did.
God, what was that stuff? Maybe it was just as well only torturers knew about it, or sadists around the universe would be slipping it into other people’s suntan lotion.
Actually, that was the sort of thing I might do to certain people myself, in dilute quantity. Oh, it was a good thing the Society of Judges had taken me in hand. Someday I might have gone over the edge … there were those who thought I already had.
I walked around the suite, checked the door, and went back to bed.
It felt as though several days had passed before they brought me out again. This time I was taken to the pleasant room with the chairs. Amo was sitting in one, this time in his clothes of rank, and Ennis was lounging against the wall.
“Feeling better?” inquired the Lord Cardinal. “I’m sincerely sorry for what you’ve gone through.”
He sounded as though he meant it. An interesting fanatic, the Lord Cardinal: He would order tortures, but he wouldn’t watch them. Was that a sign of weakness or of mental health? Perhaps watchers were only sadistic voyeurs. I did not feel, as someone whose sense of humor appealed to a vocational torturer, that I was in any position to throw stones.
I took the other chair. “Hello, Lord Cardinal. I’m well, thank you.”
“I’d like to put this situation back on a friendly footing,” said Amo. “After all, you’re not really one of us, why should you involve yourself in our little squabbles? I suppose you’ll be leaving eventually, and returning to … wherever it is you come from.”
I glanced at Ennis, whose face showed nothing. Had he told the Lord Cardinal where we came from? I wouldn’t put it past him. If he did, he was going to have every Graykey in the universe on his trail, and I could almost pity him.
“That may be,” I said.
“Then let me tell you how you came here. Let me tell you something of my own designs, and judge them for yourself. When I sent Ennis to the Diamond, I gave him three priorities: Kill or capture Adrian’s demon. Create confusion and distrust in general. And physically sabotage wherever possible. I did mention that I’d like to meet the second Graykey, but I didn’t make it part of my list.”
He paused as though expecting some response from me. I said, “He didn’t do a very good job, did he?”
“You’re harsh, Miss Gray. I don’t think he did badly, considering his circumstances. Now, may I tell you why I made these requests? First, the Mercati’s demon is an abomination, which is in itself sufficient reason to end its unnatural life. But besides this, Adrian’s counsel from this creature is contaminating the Diamond with Outsider filth—”
“You mean Tal’s advice might give him an advantage in dealing with Outsiders.”
“I mean what I say, young lady.” Amo stopped and took visible hold of his temper. I suspected he was never contradicted on the Opal, and certainly not by anyone of my age and sex. “Child, I don’t mean to be sharp with you. Can’t you see that I’m being as open with you as I can? I want to convince you to stay with us voluntarily. I believe I can do that, because I believe the justice of our cause will be irrefutable—if only you listen with an open mind.”
“May I be open as well, Lord Cardinal?”
He sat forward. “Please. It’s what I’ve been wishing for.”
“Then I would prefer that you not call me a child. I’m twenty-seven standard years old, and a Graykey. I have been many subjects. I’ve traveled a long way. I’ve served more than one contract. I have killed people I don’t even know. I am not a child.”
I stared into his eyes, hearing suddenly a line from a poem: I’ve known rivers more ancient than the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins. I felt like it, at that moment. He pulled away, looking shocked. Don’t turn away, Lord Cardinal. This is what Graykey are. Ennis hasn’t told you the truth.
Then he turned back, his eyes gleaming. “How many people have you killed?” he asked with interest.
My mouth settled briefly in a line of contempt. It was a typical stranger’s question. Why did they only see the Graykey as weapons? There was so much to learn, and to teach, if only ...
“Well?” he said.
Nor was it a question I liked personally. Before the Diamond I had killed only two people, one by
