fragile, feshy companions wouldn’t.
Malvery came to a halt, pulled out his pocket watch and consulted it. He looked back at the Delirium Trigger, where the angry crew was already marshalling for pursuit. The militia had blocked their escape route. There was no way out.
‘Alright,’ he said. ‘Now we’ve got problems.’
Trinica Dracken looked at her pocket watch, snapped it shut and slipped it back inside the folds of her black coat.
‘You need to be somewhere, Trinica?’ Frey enquired.
She looked up at him across the card table. She seemed to be weighing a question.
‘I think we’ve beaten around the bush for long enough, Darian. You wanted to parley. Speak your piece.’
Her tone was newly impatient. Frey put two and two together.
‘Why the hurry, Trinica? You were happy to make small talk until now. You wouldn’t have been trying to buy time, would you? Delaying me here for some reason?’
He caught the flicker of anger in her eyes, and felt a small satisfaction. She’d had the best of this meeting so far: it was good to score a point on her.
‘Make your offer,’ she said. ‘Or this meeting is over.’
Might as well try, thought Frey. ‘I want you to give up the chase. Turn your back and leave us alone.’
‘What good will that do? You’ll still be wanted by the Century Knights.’
‘The Century Knights I can handle. They don’t know the underworld. I can scatter my crew, duck my head till the worst of it blows over. Maybe I’ll get out of Vardia. Sell the Ketty Jay, get a real job. But not with you on my heels. Most of them don’t even know my face except from some old ferrotype, but you do. I think you’d find me in the end. So I’m asking you to give it up.’
Trinica was waiting for the punchline. ‘Grephen is paying me a lot of money to track you down. Certainly more than you’ve ever seen in your life. What can you possibly offer me that would tempt me to give that up?’
‘I’ll keep your name out of it if I get caught.’
‘You’ll what?’ She was midway between amusement and astonishment.
‘You’re a traitor. You’re a knowing accomplice in the murder of the Archduke’s only son. The Coalition Navy never managed to pin anything on you - maybe because the witnesses have an odd habit of dying - but they know what you are and they’ll jump at the chance to see you swing from the gallows. You know Grephen is afraid of the Knights getting me before you do. He’s afraid I’ll make accusations against him.’
‘That’s the best you’ve got?’ Trinica laughed. ‘The accusations of a condemned man, without any proof to back them up?’
‘Have you thought what’s going to happen if whatever Grephen’s planning doesn’t work?’ Frey asked. ‘My accusations might not save me, but if Grephen makes a move on the Archduke then he’ll prove what I said about him is true. And that will mean everything I said about you will be true. Now maybe Grephen will win and everything will be alright for you, but if he loses, you’ll have the Navy all over you for the rest of your days. You certainly won’t be docking in a place like Rabban anytime soon.’
‘Why would you believe he’s making a move on the Archduke?’
Frey gave her a look. ‘I’m not stupid, Trinica.’
