The ground shook. Something crashed, inside the burning building. Emily guessed the floor had just given way, dumping the fire into the basement. It wouldn’t be easy to put out the fire, even if anyone wanted to try. Bajingan wasn’t the only person, she was sure, who’d dreamed of burning the royal records. The clerks had been doing just that before the building went up in flame. They’d probably be glad to sit back and watch it burn.
“We have to go,” Aiden said. “Come on.”
Emily followed her, something unpleasant churning in her gut. She’d failed. She’d caught the traitor, the spell-controlled traitor, but... she hadn’t found the proof she needed to present to the White Council. She’d been blocked at every turn, kept from convincing the two sides to come to the table as well as catching the person behind the chaos. She looked into the darkening sky and felt a shiver run down her spine. She’d failed. And hundreds of thousands of people were about to die.
The guns were growing louder. Emily gritted her teeth. It was rare for people to risk a battle at night, let alone in a burning city. And yet, Dater didn’t lack for nerve. He might well launch the attack now, counting on the confusion of the last few hours to keep the rebels from mounting a serious defense. Bajingan could have been in contact with him right from the start, sending messages to keep the royalists informed of what was going on. It could have been him who’d told them that Emily had spent the night with Aiden. It wasn’t hard to imagine him writing a message that would have implied, without ever quite spelling it out...
“I’m sorry,” she said. She wasn’t sure who she was apologizing to. “I don’t know what to do now.”
“We have to go to the council,” Aiden said, practically. “We’ll tell them what happened and...”
Emily nodded. She owed it to herself to tell the council the truth and then... she didn’t have the slightest idea what to do. The rebels had ordered her to leave... perhaps she could make a show of force, in hopes of convincing Dater to back off. But that would be a breach of the Compact and... she wondered, suddenly, if she should really care. The Allied Lands were on the brink of total chaos. It was hard to believe she could make things worse...
I could sneak into the camp and assassinate him and his brother, she thought. Dater would be well protected, of course, but she had access to his brother - and his brother’s blood. It wouldn’t be easy for the royalists to pick a new leader if they lose both heirs.
She ground her teeth. It would be utterly disastrous. The civil war would get worse. And she’d wind up in real trouble. Perhaps that was the plan. Push her into a corner, force her to do something that broke the Compact and put her on trial again...
... And yet, assassinating the royalist leadership was starting to sound like a very good idea.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“IF IT WAS HIM...” AIDEN SWALLOWED and started again. “If it was him... everything he knew might be known to the enemy.”
“It’s possible,” Emily confirmed. They hurried past a line of troopers as they made their way towards the castle. “And we may never know for sure.”
She sucked in her breath. Bajingan had known everything. He’d presumably known who was on the rebel council, who might be open to a negotiated settlement and who might want to fight to the last... hell, he’d known they’d all be in one spot so they could be assassinated as a group, an assassination that would have worked if Emily hadn’t been there. His controller could have sucked his mind dry of every piece of actionable intelligence, without alerting anyone. Bajingan himself might have had no idea he was an enemy agent until it was far too late. The spell had embedded itself so deeply within his mind that he couldn’t have separated its commands from his thoughts.
Aidan stopped and stared at her, sweat glistening on her face. “If he didn’t know he was the traitor... there might be others who don’t know they’re traitors, too.”
She paled. “How do you know I’m not a traitor?”
Emily hesitated. The completely honest answer was that she didn’t. It was possible Aiden could have been enchanted a long time ago, the spell buried so deeply within her mind that it would pass unnoticed... unless she stepped into a magic school. And yet... she’d scanned Aiden thoroughly after she’d been shot by Fran. The spell shouldn’t have passed unnoticed. Merely looking for it should have been enough to trigger the suicide curse.
“I scanned you after I got shot,” she said, finally. “I didn’t pick up any trace of a compulsion spell.”
Aiden looked as if she wanted to ask more questions, but - instead - resumed the run. The square outside the palace, where the queen had died only a few short hours ago, was crammed with guards setting up more and more barricades. The rebel staffers were making their way to the castle, leaving the palace behind. Emily wondered if that would turn out to be a deadly mistake. The castle was tough, but it had been built in the days before gunpowder and cannons. Dater could simply bombard it into rubble, if there wasn’t a secret passageway leading into the castle. Emily wouldn’t have cared to bet against it. King Randor’s castle had had dozens of secret passageways and hidden chambers. There were some so old she thought the king himself didn’t know they were there.
“We have to see the council, at once,” Aiden said, as the guards barred their way. “Quickly.”
Emily braced herself, ready to cast the compulsion spell again, but this time the guard simply led them into the palace and up a long flight of stairs. The building was being
