“Find the others,” Amaranthe called. “Get everyone to land.”
Afraid one of “the others” was down below, fighting that creature to help her, Amaranthe took a breath and dropped below the surface again. When the giant eel had been above her, its dark shape contrasting with the light from the sky, she’d had no trouble making it out, but she struggled to see anything against the dark depths.
Though her muscles were reluctant to comply, Amaranthe stroked downward. Swim to the beach, the sane part of her mind said, but if some comrade had come to help her, and now needed her help…
The water grew still. Uneasiness swam into Amaranthe’s stomach. What if her unseen savior had sacrificed himself to distract the creature from eating her? If it had been Books… He’d come a long way in the last year, but he still wasn’t a natural fighter. Dealing with powerful, inhuman monsters surely wasn’t his forte.
When she didn’t spot anyone-or anything-Amaranthe turned a circle, afraid she’d misjudged the source of the agitation.
Something dark floated in the water a couple of meters away. Amaranthe almost dropped her knife. Swearing at herself, she recovered, bringing it to bear in case the eel attacked. But it wasn’t moving. Blood clouded the water.
Amaranthe swam back to the surface. She spotted Books in the distance, paddling toward shore.
A few feet away, Sespian bobbed, treading water. He waved a knife. “It’s dead, right?”
“ You did that?” Amaranthe asked, then, realizing that might sound offensive, added, “I mean, yes, I believe it’s dead. Thank you for your help.”
Sespian smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “I thought I should practice proving myself useful, given that I’m unemployed now.”
“Ah, yes. Well, let’s find someplace dry and talk about that.” Dry and safe, Amaranthe thought. There might be more of those giant eels about.
The rest of her team had paddled for Marblecrest Island, the nearest piece of land. Amaranthe counted heads and accounted for all but one. A blond one.
She tried to lock her emotions away, reminding herself that he had chosen to leave the group against her wishes. If he hadn’t found a way out, it was his fault. Except it wasn’t. Not really. He had been trying to protect Sespian, and probably her as well, the only way he knew how.
Amaranthe wiped water out of her eyes. Don’t get maudlin yet, girl, she told herself. He’d find another way out.
“I must apologize for dragging your team into this,” Sespian said. “You must believe me when I say I had no idea about… I had no idea.”
“I know, Sire.”
He sighed. “At least you were paid well for your time.”
“We were?”
“I gave your men the money I promised.” His laugh sounded forced. “Better spend it before Forge’s plan goes into effect and it’s worthless.”
“I’m sure they’re only planning to inflate the currency a few percent a year. Besides Maldynado probably already spent it on hats.”
Amaranthe ought to swim to shore-Basilard had already crawled out and was waving the others over-but she kept expecting Sicarius to pop up. Unless a passage led to an exit on Marblecrest Island somewhere, anyone who didn’t come up soon… wouldn’t ever. Though maybe he’d made it back to the underwater vehicle. All of the Forge people were probably trying to escape that way-if they’d had time. It wouldn’t take that water long to flood everything. A grisly thought came to Amaranthe. What if her explosion had, however inadvertently, killed everyone down there?
Sespian mumbled something.
“Pardon, Sire?” Amaranthe asked, glad for a distraction.
“I’m having a hard time believing this and wondering if they might be wrong. Maybe they made it up.” Sespian shoved his bangs away from his forehead. “I mean, I knew my fa-Raumesys and I didn’t have anything in common, but I’d never heard any speculation… I wouldn’t have guessed… ”
Amaranthe didn’t mean for her face to give anything away, but Sespian was watching her and frowned at something he saw there.
“You aren’t surprised by any of this,” he said. “You didn’t… know, did you?”
Avoiding his eyes would be suspicious, but Amaranthe couldn’t help it. She’d always feel guilty about being the one who had given up the information to Forge.
“You did,” Sespian whispered. “For how long? Did you know when you decided to go through with my kidnapping request? I know you didn’t do it for the money.” He waved toward the cove where the steamboat had crashed. “You didn’t even ask about it.”
“I believe you’re a good man, Sire, and that your ideas are what the empire needs going forward.”
“You can stop calling me, Sire. If I’m not Raumesys’s heir, then I’ve no claim to the throne. Goodness doesn’t matter.”
“It should be the only thing that matters.”
“Very few in the empire will agree with you. Unless my real father has warrior-caste blood and a link to one of the old imperial lines… ” Sespian was watching her again. “You don’t know who it is, do you?”
Raindrops splashed onto the lake. We really ought to get out of the water, Amaranthe thought, but she didn’t make a move to the shore. They were alone. Maybe it was time to tell him. She’d always thought Sicarius would be the one to do it, but he’d had opportunities and hadn’t. Maybe he couldn’t. For all the dangers he’d fearlessly faced in his life, he’d never had to deal with the crushing feeling of disappointing a family member-a loved one. As long as Sespian didn’t know, Sicarius could imagine… Who knew what he imagined? Some noble future with Sespian ruling the empire and him at his shoulder, guarding his back against anyone who might do him harm. A chance to be a better man at Sespian’s side than he ever was before? Whatever notion he had in his head, the dream could only live so long as Sespian didn’t squash it.
Sespian touched Amaranthe’s shoulder. “Please, Amaranthe. If you know, you must tell me.”
The others were all on the beach now. When Amaranthe looked that way, Maldynado held out his arms in a what’s-the-delay gesture. Nobody was in earshot, unless one counted the dead eel, which had floated to the surface, its bloated body dark beneath the cloudy sky. Movement stirred the water near the mouth of the river, a flash of gray, and then it was gone. One of the Forge submarines escaping? If so, then the world would soon know of the Turgonian emperor’s flawed heritage. Sespian had already heard enough from strangers. Time to tell him the truth.
“Sicarius,” Amaranthe said.
Sespian jerked his head around, checking behind him.
“No, he’s not there,” Amaranthe said. “That’s who your father is.” She refused to contemplate that the tense on that verb might be incorrect.
Sespian’s head swiveled back to her, and he shook it, denial taking up residence behind his eyes. “That’s not very slagging funny.”
“I know.” Amaranthe waited to see if he had questions, but he merely stared at her in silence. “We better get out of this water,” she said and paddled for the shore.
Sespian didn’t follow.
Epilogue
When Amaranthe walked onto the beach, water sloughing from her drenched clothing, the men were arguing. She would have preferred someone be standing watch, but, given the topic of conversation, she could understand how they wouldn’t find security the priority.
“He’s not the emperor?” Maldynado asked. “What’re you talking about, Basilard?”
Amaranthe ignored the flurry of hand signals in favor of squeezing water out of her hair and re-tying her bun. She didn’t want the rehash. Out in the water, Sespian had finally started swimming toward shore, though he was angling for a landing spot farther up the beach. Amaranthe wanted to talk to him eventually, but he needed time to
