chamber.
'I killed her. I gave the Lady Urquentha the Seal.'
His father became flesh again. The Seal?' He looked as if it was the first time he had ever heard the word.
The coomb was not as you left it. Spinel had taken the Seal and forced the Lady Urquentha into the forbidden house.'
His father gave a slow nod and narrowed his eyes.
'She was trapped there like an animal.'
'And so you gave her the Seal to set her free?'
Carnelian grimaced. 'It was done as much from a dislike of Spinel.'
His father opened his hand. 'And so? It was your right, you are higher than he.'
'But Fey was crucified.'
His father looked down, his eyes unfocused. 'Why did my mother do this?'
'She believed that Fey had conspired against her with the second lineage.'
'And had she?'
'In a manner of speaking.'
Then my mother did what she had to.'
Carnelian gaped. 'Had to?'
'What Fey did was unforgivable.'
'But she did it for you, for us.'
'Nevertheless.'
'You mean she was only a slave.' His father's eyes flashed. 'She was my favourite sister. I trusted her… I loved her, even.' Carnelian slumped. Then why…?'
His father put his hand on Carnelian's shoulder. 'My son, when I chose exile, I knew that I was choosing suffering for many others apart from myself. I could not take all the household with me. Fey asked to be left behind. Even if her actions were carried out from love of me, she betrayed my mother. No servant, however loved, can be allowed to live after betraying one of the Chosen.'
'She knew,' said Carnelian, holding back tears. 'She knew and yet she said nothing. I made her put the Seal in the Lady's hands.'
'She was always brave.'
Carnelian felt a tear dribble down his face. 'She asked me to tell you that she had always loved you. I had forgotten.'
They stood for a long while sharing their misery. It occurred to Carnelian that it was not the news of Fey's death that had made his father cry. What then? The election. 'You believe the election lost,' he said at last.
His father rubbed his forehead. 'Yes.'
'Jaspar has taken with him many votes?'
His father's flapping hands were like the last leaves on a winter twig. 'If it were only that. Such a breach in our wall of votes we could hope to repair, but he also took with him much knowledge of how that wall was built. We are defenceless.'
'Surely you can do something.'
'Aurum has thrown his last daughter in to plug the breach, but the whole wall is fatally compromised.'
Carnelian turned to ice, remembering the threat Molochite had made to his father. He gritted his teeth. 'Rebuild it then.'
His father glared at him. 'Just like that. We have two days to build a second wall when it took almost a month of weary labour to build the first.'
'Surely fear of Ykoriana can be exploited. Will the Great not fear Jaspar triumphant more than you and Aurum? They have before their eyes evidence of how little he can be trusted.'
His father frowned.
‘I assume that the last wall was built carefully, with an attempt to minimize the concessions to the Great?' His father nodded.
'What will iron or high-blood brides matter to Nephron if his brother wins the Masks? Let him spend all the wealth of the House of the Masks if needs be to throw up another wall.'
Carnelian closed his mouth and saw that his father was thinking. He began shaking his head. 'It could not be done only with audiences. I would have to also go into the nave. I cannot be in two places at once.'
‘Send Aurum out into the nave while you remain in the Sun in Splendour.'
His father shook his head. 'Aurum has to be at my side to witness the agreements.'
'Could no other Lord do that?'
There is none that we could trust. Whoever we chose would be unable to resist the incentives that Ykoriana could throw at him. We would suffer another betrayal.'
'Could I do it?'
His father narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to speak. He shook his head once. They might not accept a witness from my own House.'
'Do you put your own seal on the agreements?'
'I use Nephron's.'
'With the mark of my blood-ring beside it, the two would not be of the same House.' His father was still frowning. 'What would we have to lose?'
Suth paced away. He stopped and ran his fingers round a pomegranate graven into the wall. He turned, grimly smiling. 'Go and rest, Carnelian. Come with the dawn to attend me in the Sun in Splendour.'
A knocking woke Carnelian. Before he was fully awake, Tain had gone to the door. The door opened, there was a mutter of talk, the door closed. Tain came up to him.
'One of the half-black men. He says someone's come to see you and it's very urgent.'
Tain helped him dress and bound on his mask. Carnelian opened the door and looked out.
One of the cohort commanders was there. 'Master, I waited to disturb you till the time you asked me to wake you.'
'What is it?' asked Carnelian.
'A Master from your House needing to see you urgently.' 'Who is he?'
The commander shrugged. 'He came alone.'
'Please bring him to me.' Carnelian closed the door. He asked Tain to help him put on his court robe. Standing on the ranga he watched his brother struggle with the straps and screws. Every time Carnelian tried for intimacy, Tain responded like a slave. Carnelian was kneeling inside his court robe when there was another knocking on the door. It opened when he gave leave and a massive shape slid in. Its gold face looked down at Tain.
Though he does not wear our cypher, my Lord, he is one of ours.'
The Master spent some moments gazing down disdainfully at Tain before he reached up two white hands to remove his mask.
'My Lord Opalid, what a pleasure it is to see you. You have come without your father?' 'I have come alone, my Lord.'
Carnelian raised his eyebrows as the Master fell into silence. 'Well?'
Opalid frowned. 'I was waiting for your minion to finish here so that we might talk alone.'
'My 'minion' is more kin to me than you, my Lord, so please tell me what you came to say.'
Opalid looked horrified and stared at Tain as if he were trying to blast him with his eyes. Tain seemed oblivious as he stood on a stool to do up Carnelian's robe.
'Very well,' Opalid said. 'I come, my Lord, on a delicate matter.'
'Indeed?'
'I come to offer your lineage my fealty.'
'It is welcome, my Lord, but this hardly seems to me to constitute an urgent matter.'
Opalid produced some pantomime gestures of distress. 'I came to tell you that my father has betrayed you.'
'Go on.'
