scrutinizing him. His gaze had a weight to it that made him seem more formidable than his age and size suggested. Maybe it was simply the fact that he could order Maldynado beheaded with a wave of his hand. Even soldiers loyal to Ravido would have no qualms about complying with that order. Maldynado was an outlaw with a bounty on his head, after all.
“Very well,” Sespian said.
Maldynado blinked. Distracted by the idea of axe-toting soldiers chasing him, he’d momentarily forgotten his proposition. “You’ll wait while I go in? And get you a disguise? Do you want me to collect your belongings too? If your business is elsewhere, maybe there’s no need for you to go into town at all.”
“I’ll fetch them myself,” Sespian said, his tone cool.
Maldynado winced. He’d sounded too eager. If the emperor’s “belongings” included the hundred thousand ranmyas he’d promised the team, he might think Maldynado wanted to make off with it. As if Maldynado needed to steal when he could find female patrons to finance his desires. But Sespian had no way to know that yet.
“Whatever you wish,” was all that Maldynado said-an indignant proclamation about his trustworthiness would sound suspicious. “Does anyone else want a costume?” He propped his fists on his hips and eyed each of his teammates. “Never mind. You all look like you’ve been wrestling in a particularly muddy pigsty. I’ll bring everyone clothing.”
“Gee,” Yara said, “a chance to be dressed by a fop who thinks a blue-dyed fur cap is stylish.”
“Do you have any money?” Books asked.
Maldynado fished in his pockets and came up with a quarter-ranmya coin. He displayed it for the team and winked. “Far more than I’ll need. You’ll see.”
“Good.” Books plucked the coin from Maldynado’s fingers. “I need a recent newspaper. Who knows what chaos has ensued in the days we’ve been out of the capital?”
Maldynado’s shoulders slumped. The last person he wanted to go shopping with was Books. He could take the joy out of anything.
“Actually,” Sespian said, “I’d prefer it if you stayed and talked with me, Professor Mugdildor. I have a few questions on finances and economics, and I believe you may be able to help.”
“Oh, no.” Maldynado lifted a hand. “You’re new around here, Sire, so nobody’s told you, but you do not want to ask Books for a lecture. You don’t even want to ask a question that might lead to a lecture. It’s bad for your health. And the wakefulness of those around you.”
Maldynado smiled, expecting a chuckle from his warning, but only Akstyr smirked. Books scowled at him- nothing unusual there-and Sespian’s lips turned downward too.
Basilard waved for attention and signed, The soldiers may have spyglasses and wonder why a group of men are dallying by the side of the road.
“Yes, yes,” Maldynado said, “I’ll go do my task. Where will you be waiting?”
“Crow Landing,” Sespian said. “Take Sergeant Yara with you.”
Speaking of taking the joy out of things…
Yara frowned, but she squashed whatever objection might have leapt to her tongue, and bowed toward Sespian. “Of course, Sire. I’ll watch him.”
“ Watch him?” Maldynado asked. When had he become someone who needed watching? He’d been one of the first people Amaranthe recruited for the team, and he’d never failed to follow orders. Not like Akstyr. He could understand Sespian questioning his loyalty, but Yara? She wasn’t even officially on the team. Maldynado looked to Books and Basilard for support.
Books cleared his throat and avoided Maldynado’s eyes as he said, “I have voiced a concern over the fact that you went out of your way to arrange that dirigible for our transport, a dirigible that came with spies and a pilot who was happy to see us dead.”
Maldynado gawked at him. Books was accusing him of betraying the team? And he’d already voiced the concern? In front of the emperor? It took a gargantuan effort for Maldynado to keep his fingers from clenching into fists, fists that could launch themselves into Books’s nose. Didn’t he know what a tenuous line Maldynado already walked, thanks to his family’s plotting? “You think I had something to do with that?”
“You were quite insistent on Lady Buckingcrest,” Books said.
“Because we needed to fly for the boss’s scheme. Lady Buckingcrest the only person I knew who could make that happen.”
“Amaranthe did not request flight,” Books said. “No sane person would. In fact, we had a lorry at our disposal that would have worked fine.”
Maldynado wanted to argue. He wanted to explain that the main reason he’d been desperate to keep his distance from Amaranthe that night was because she’d had the look of a hound on the trail of a raccoon. She’d wanted to chat privately with him so she could finagle information on his brother out of him. But if he said so now, everyone would think he had a sly reason for not wanting to talk about Ravido. He hated his cursed brother, that was all, and talking about family history was painful. Why didn’t anyone get that?
Maldynado looked to Akstyr and Basilard. He couldn’t believe the entire team was suddenly suspicious of him. After all this time together? After so many battles fought and so many near-deaths?
Akstyr looked… indifferent to the conversation, or maybe tired. Either way, he wasn’t patting Maldynado on the back in a gesture of support.
At least Basilard met his eyes. A crinkle furrowed his brow, as if he weren’t sure why everyone was turning on Maldynado either. Good, but that might only mean that he wasn’t from the empire and didn’t care what Maldynado’s relatives were up to. Still, Maldynado found himself asking, “Bas, you know I’m honorable and trustworthy, right?”
I believe you would not intentionally harm the team, Basilard signed.
Intentionally? So, Basilard just thought Maldynado was inept and had been fooled by some woman?
One of Akstyr’s surly whatevers wanted to find its way to Maldynado’s lips, but, no, he wasn’t going to let them know how much this upset and rattled him. And he certainly wasn’t going to give anyone another reason to believe him untrustworthy.
“Fine.” Maldynado plucked his coin out of Books’s fingers and handed it to Yara with a flourish. “The new person fetches Books’s newspaper.” Pretending he had no worries, he gave her his best smile. A sane woman would find it gorgeous and irresistible.
She scowled at him.
Chapter 3
Maldynado considered the hat-filled nook in Madame Mimi’s Evenglory Boutique, lamenting the limited selection and the fact that most of the clothing in the shop featured the previous year’s styles. He plucked at an orange-feathered scarf. It was unforgivable, really. Sunders City wasn’t that small or that far from the capital. He was on the verge of walking out when a black hat, half-hidden on a stand bristling with garishly colored yarn beanies, caught his eye.
“Huh.” Maldynado plucked it from its unseemly perch. “This might do.”
This was the hat of a killer, a serious no-nonsense hat for serious no-nonsense people. Black, low, and sleek, it possessed the finest brushed velvet and represented quality craftsmanship. Maybe with this hat, Sespian and everyone else would take him more seriously. It oozed menace and whispered of blood-soaked deeds carried out by dark men of sinister purpose. Yes, this was the hat. He was vaguely surprised Sicarius didn’t already own one. It could use an accent though. Maldynado tapped his lip thoughtfully, then added a large, bright pink plume so that it stuck jauntily out of the side. There. Perfect. He placed the hat upon his head.
“Can I help you, mister?” the shopkeeper asked.
Mister? Women usually took one look at Maldynado and assumed the title was “my lord.” He supposed, in his swamp-bathed clothing, he did have the appearance of street riffraff. He’d have to disavow the woman of that notion.
Turning, Maldynado swept the hat from his head and offered a deep warrior-caste bow. The aging female shopkeeper wore so much lip paint and rouge that he was surprised her face hadn’t fallen off under the weight.
