‘I see,’ I said. ‘Thank you, Governor.’
I gave her my address off Trader’s Row to send back to the house of law, and she dutifully wrote it down. She swallowed brandy, and paused for a moment before she met my eyes.
‘Bombings?’ she asked at last. ‘Are things so bad in the capital?’
I met her gaze, wondering how much I could trust her. Little enough, I supposed, but I was already sure I could trust her more than I could Konrad.
Brother Betrayal.
‘There is civil unrest,’ I admitted, but I stopped short of saying that we had started it ourselves. ‘It has come to light that the queen was assassinated by the Skanians. The house of magicians is possibly implicated. Things are . . . difficult, at the moment, in Dannsburg.’
‘Assassinated?’
Of course, when Schulz had left Dannsburg the queen’s death was still officially secret, and no doubt she had been told some horseshit about an attack of the heart the same as the rest of the populace to begin with. She had obviously heard no further news since, stuck out here in Ellinburg, and that didn’t surprise me.
‘Aye,’ I said. ‘You’ll look to your walls, if you’re wise, Governor, and keep a close eye on the magicians who have come to Ellinburg. I fear war is brewing once more, and who knows who we can trust?’
‘May the gods save us,’ Schulz whispered, and I found I could only agree with her about that.
*
Other than my invitation to the governor’s hall, things were quiet for the weeks after my aunt’s visit. I actually spent time with her out of choice, now that the air that had been dirty between us for the best part of thirty years was finally clear. She was still an old harridan and she always would be, but she no longer looked at me with the thinly veiled hatred that I had become so accustomed to that I had almost stopped seeing it. I saw Jochan and Cutter too, and Bloody Anne and Rosie, entertaining them separately at my big house off Trader’s Row. We got drunk and made merry together like we hadn’t a care in the world, and that was good.
‘What about the magicians, then?’ Jochan asked me that night, after dinner at my house.
He’d been true to his word and not brought the matter up with Enaid or Anne, although it was obvious that he’d told Cutter. They were so close by then I supposed that had been inevitable, but I trusted Cutter to hold his peace about it.
‘Keep an eye on them,’ I told him. ‘If you can forge a bond with the one you went drinking with, do it. I want these people kept friendly. Very friendly, if you can manage it.’
‘I can try,’ my brother said. ‘Fellow certainly seemed to like a drink, for all that he couldn’t hold it. Why, though? Do you seriously think we might need blasting powder?’
‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘Not yet, certainly, but who knows? It’s better to have a thing and not need it than to need it and not have it.’
Jochan grinned at me and poured himself another brandy.
‘Aye, well, you’re setting me a task to go out drinking and that’s well and good. The right man for the right job, eh, Tomas?’
Even Cutter laughed at that, and I returned my brother’s grin. That was a good night, and it made me happy to see my brother so relaxed, so content. It had been a long time since I had last seen him like that.
A very long time.
Life was good, for those few brief weeks I was allowed before the next letter came from Dannsburg.
It came to the house this time. It was from Vogel, and nothing good ever came from his desk.
My beloved nephew Tomas,
I have an opportunity for you, one I think you will excel at. I invite you to return home with all speed, to take up your new position. This will greatly further the interests of the family, and be to all of our benefit.
Your Uncle,
V.
An opportunity. I dreaded to fucking think, but it obviously wasn’t optional. When Vogel invited you to do something it was a direct order and no mistake. I sent out houseboys to round up Bloody Anne and Rosie, Oliver and Emil, and bring them to the house. I thought this time I would let Billy stay behind with Mina as the two of them had been inseparable since our return to Ellinburg. I didn’t want to take that away from him again, and in Dannsburg I had enough power now that I thought I could manage without him for a while.
Once the five of us were assembled in my study I told them the news. Anne’s look was stoic, resigned even, and the soldiers said nothing, but Rosie had something on her mind, to speak lightly of it.
‘In this weather?’ she asked. ‘The West Road must have a foot of snow on it by now, if not more, Tomas.’
‘Aye, I dare say it has,’ I said. ‘Too much for carriages, anyway. Looks like we’re riding.’
‘What’s so fucking urgent?’ she demanded, and I wondered if she had ever spoken to Ailsa like this when she had been her secretary.
I looked into Rosie’s flinty eyes, and thought that yes, she probably had. She had a spine, that one, I have to give her that.
‘Lord Vogel has crooked his finger,’ I said, ‘and so we must ride.’
‘Must we, really, Tomas?’ Anne said.
There was a look about her then, a look that told me she was more the head of the
