Aiden made a face as she sat on one of the chairs. “Not as often as I’d like,” she admitted, sourly. “It was never easy to maintain two identities.”
“I can imagine,” Emily said. She looked around the room again. There was nothing to indicate it belonged to a woman. “How did they find us?”
“I don’t know,” Aiden admitted. “We agreed the meeting would be a complete secret. Only the four of us knew it was going to be held, let alone where. Not everyone was in total agreement, but I would have bet my life they’d keep it a secret even if they didn’t like the outcome.”
“You did bet your life,” Emily said. “Fran was manipulated and turned into an assassin. It wouldn’t be hard for a sorcerer to turn someone into an unwitting spy.”
Aiden blanched. “Are you saying...are you saying someone could have betrayed us without ever knowing what they were doing?”
“It’s possible,” Emily said. “Or a sorcerer could have put a charm on their eyes, allowing him to see whatever they saw. Or a sorcerer could have turned a bunch of insects into spies instead. Or...”
Her mind raced. A person who’d been enchanted into becoming an unwitting spy would pass all kinds of tests, because he didn’t know he was a spy. He wouldn’t be knowingly lying if someone cast a truth spell on him. Or... she shook her head. Aiden could be wrong. One of her friends could have betrayed her. Or the hardliners could have had them under covert observation ever since the revolution. Or... or what?
Aiden cleared her throat. “Is there any way you could check?”
“Perhaps,” Emily said. “I’d have to touch their minds...”
“And no one would be happy with that,” Aiden cut her off. “I...”
Emily winced, inwardly. Aiden could be the unwitting spy. Anyone could be the unwitting spy. If, indeed, there was a spy. She was reminded, suddenly, why she’d never liked spy novels. It was always the person you weren’t meant to suspect. She snorted at the thought. Perhaps she was the spy. Her mental defenses were strong, but not perfect. There was no such thing. Void had made that clear, over the last year.
He taught me to ensure I knew my mind had been violated, even if I couldn’t keep the violator out, she thought. But it was never easy.
Aiden leaned back in her chair. “Thank you for saving me,” she said. “I’m sorry about the damage to your reputation.”
Emily blinked, then sighed. Hedrick would think they’d spent the night together. The rebel leadership would think they’d spent the night together. And... she made a face. It would just have to be endured.
“Better they think we spent the night together than anything else,” she said, finally. It would be embarrassing, but it could have been a great deal worse. “If your friends got captured... what could they tell their captors?”
“Too much.” Aiden stared at her hands. “We were careful not to use our real names even in private, for fear of what would be leaked if someone fell into royalist hands, but... they know too much about me. And they know you attended the meeting. They could be made to talk.”
“Particularly if there’s a sorcerer involved somewhere,” Emily said. “Truth spells aren’t that hard to cast.”
She cursed her mistake under her breath. Attending the meeting had seemed a good idea at the time, but the rebel leadership wasn’t going to be remotely pleased. They’d order her out of the city and then... she wasn’t sure what she could do. Dater wasn’t likely to accept terms offered by people who lacked the power to enforce them... maybe she could convince him to offer the terms himself. The rebel council had to know it was in trouble. Perhaps they’d accept the terms if it looked, on paper, like the royals had made meaningful concessions.
“And someone is stirring the pot,” Emily said, more to herself than Aiden. She’d assumed the mystery sorcerer was a rebel or a royalist, but... what if there was a third party involved? Red Rose? Or... or what? “Councilor Triune?”
Aiden looked up. “Councilor Triune is not a sorcerer.”
Emily blinked. Aiden sounded very sure. And yet...
She put the question into words. “How can you be certain? He could have simply concealed his powers...”
“He’s not a sorcerer,” Aiden said, again. “He was loyal to the king. He wouldn’t have knowingly betrayed his monarch.”
“How can you be sure?” Emily leaned forward. She was missing something. She was sure she was missing something. “He practically sent the king into a trap.”
“Not on purpose,” Aiden said. “He wouldn’t have done that.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed as something clicked in her mind. “You know him, don’t you?”
“Yes.” Aiden looked as if she didn’t want to elaborate, but didn’t dare leave it at that. “He’s my father.”
“Your father?” Emily stared at her. “Did you... that’s how you knew what was happening in the court!”
“Yeah.” Aiden flushed. “Everything I told you was true, more or less. My father was a social climber as well as a merchant. He genuinely did want to put our family on a secure footing. And he was loyal to the king. He wouldn’t have risked sending him into a trap.”
“Not deliberately,” Emily said, slowly. “Does the council know?”
“No,” Aiden said. “Are you going to tell them?”
“I can’t blame you for being related to someone,” Emily said. She remembered Nadine and scowled. “But you do realize he might have been enchanted...?”
She leaned forward. “Did he know?”
“Of course not.” Aiden laughed, humorlessly. “He could never have admitted that his schemes to climb the ladder were doomed to fail. Everything he did for the king... he did everything and yet the aristos looked down on him. He was going to be discarded, sooner or later. Everyone knew it. Everyone but him.”
“And he blamed me for the uprising,” Emily said. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” Aiden said. “But he’s not a traitor.”
“That’s the problem,” Emily reminded her. She was going to have to sit
