Delight had been doing some studying, while Mack and I had been guests of the Corovan clan. She confirmed that there were, indeed, eighteen clans on Costral, and the Corovans were the fourteenth. Clan Hazerna were seventh. For the Corovans to have lost the chance to marry that far up the food chain was a big blow to them, and explained a lot about why they wanted their kidnapped bride back.
“So, it’s a political marriage?” I asked, and Delight nodded.
“As far as we can tell, the first time the bride and groom met was six days before the wedding. Blaedergil kidnapped her the morning after that first meet-up.”
“You are shitting me. Why?”
“The Hazernas are seventh in the pecking order. It’s far enough up the food chain for them to have significant power, and just low enough that they avoid a lot of the more noticeable side-effects of that much power. Blaedergil was setting himself up to have a deciding interest in the trade treaties Costral controls.”
“Blaedergil’s dead.”
“Yeah, but Skymander isn’t,” Mack interjected.
And I remembered something Blaedergil said.
“The guy Blaedergil was going to send his bride to, after the birth?”
“Yup.”
He didn’t look happy, and it took me a minute to catch on.
“Skymander’s the one doing the wheeling and dealing?”
“Yup.”
“But why does he...did he...let Blaedergil...” I swallowed. Hard.
Mack worked out what I was trying to say, anyway.
“Skymander’s world is an unfriendly one. By having Blaedergil source his brides, he could be sure of two things: that they were fertile, and that they were strong in both mind and body.”
“That’s sick.”
“Yup.”
“But I thought Skymander lived on Magnus 19. He doesn’t?”
Mack shook his head.
“Nope, he doesn’t. We’re still trying to work out exactly where he’s based. All we have so far is from Blaedergil’s records. Skymander’s world is hard, and those visiting it tend to get sick.”
“Those girls upstairs...”
“Yes. None could build the immunities they needed for the diseases they’d encounter on Skymander’s home planet.”
“We should burn that place to the ground.”
Mack exchanged a look with Delight, and I couldn’t fathom what passed between them. It didn’t matter.
“It has to go, Mack,” I insisted, and Delight gave a snort of laughter.
“Who made you judge, jury and executioner?” she sneered.
I glared at her, wanting to ask who had made her one. I answered the question, instead.
“You did. When you had Mack kill me so you could get my ass on world, so I could do your dirty work.” I put one hand on my hip and cocked my head. “What’s the matter? Didn’t have the intestines to do it yourself?”
I paused, saw Mack’s mouth open, and forged ahead, before he could stop me.
“Oh wait. Maybe you weren’t Blaedergil’s type. Shame that, because he really isn’t picky.”
Tens had come through the door as I said it, and he stopped dead in his tracks, staring at me and Delight, his mouth dropping open in shock. Up until that point, Delight had been looking mildly annoyed, but, now, she grinned, and it wasn’t a friendly grin. It was more the kind of tooth-baring grin you give when you’re about to smack the crap out of somebody. When she replied, her tone was sugar-sweet.
“Oh, sweetie, we both know I wasn’t the best person for the job. Like you said, Blaedergil isn’t picky, and it’s you who needs the money.”
It was the best comeback she could have made, and I was momentarily stunned to silence. I heard Tens suck air past his teeth.
“Ouch!” he said, and turned to me. “I’d quit while I was ahead, Cutter. We haven’t got time for a cat fight.”
Before I could reply, he’d grabbed a hot cup of kaff and headed back out the door.
“I’ve set us up in Nine,” he told Mack. “You coming, boss?”
I saw Mack raise an eyebrow at him, and then the captain reached over and slipped his arm through mine.
“I think I’d better bring Cutter,” he said. “There’s no telling what might happen to her if I leave her on her own.”
Delight gave a soft harrumph, and got up to sashay after Tens.
“Come on,” Mack said, and we followed after them.
I went with him, mostly because I was curious as to what, exactly we were going to do next, and partly because I couldn’t think of an alternative. What I wanted to do, now that I thought about it, was check my credit balance, and see just how much more I’d need in order to be able to get out from under Odyssey’s great, big thumb.
I followed Mack into the briefing room, and took a seat one down from him, near the head of the table. That earned me a speculative look from all three of them. Understandable, given I was known for sitting as far from any of them as I could possibly manage—and Mack in particular. I ignored them.
Mack must have realized I wasn’t going to say anything, and started the briefing.
“This is Lord Andreus Corovan,” he said, putting a picture of the young, stabby lordling on the screen at the end of the room. “He intercepted our delivery of Melari Hazerna to her mother, Tristel Hazerna. He is currently holding the Lady Melari hostage so that we do as he asks. He wants us to retrieve, Melari’s older sister, the Lady Treivani, from her current whereabouts. When we return with her, he claims he will give us the Lady Melari, and the cure for the disease she is carrying. I do not believe he will hold up his end of the bargain. There is something about him that is...not quite stable.”
He paused, looking at us. When none of us asked any questions, he went on.
“At first glance, it appears he is only in love with the older sister, but once he gets to talking, it’s easy to see that he does not view her as a lover, but as a possession. This man is angry because someone has stolen one of his possessions away.”
There was a snarl of revulsion in Mack’s voice as he continued.
“He
