Lindsay Buroker - Forged in Blood I

“Well,” Amaranthe replied, meeting everyone’s eyes before she continued, “as I’ve warned a few of you, I have a plan.”

“That’s why everyone is watching you with looks of concern,” Yara said, her voice still gruff and no-nonsense despite whatever cuddliness Maldynado might have drawn out in private.

“And here I thought they were gazes of trust and adoration.” Amaranthe supposed Yara was officially one of the team now if she’d joined with the teasing.

Sicarius, who had set himself up a few paces away, where he could see all the roads and paths an enemy might take to approach the group, gave Amaranthe a cool, get-to-business look. So much for gazes of adoration.

“Before I unveil my plan,” Amaranthe said, “we need to do some intelligence gathering.” A large part of her plan involved infiltrating Forge, and, right now, she had no clue as to where they might be.

Basilard nodded-the gesture might have had a tinge of relief to it. Did they think she’d go barreling into the city, hurling explosives, without finding out exactly what they were facing? Perhaps a couple of her schemes had been a tad extemporaneous of late.

We must learn who controls the majority of the forces , he signed, and if Forge has regrouped and arrived yet.

“Agreed,” Amaranthe said. “That’s why Maldynado and I are going to visit his old journalist friend, Deret Mancrest.”

This time Sicarius’s look had a baleful undertone.

“With his resources, he ought to know what’s going on in the city,” Amaranthe said. “Also, given that his newspaper’s been prematurely reporting Sespian’s death, among other Forge-favoring tidbits, I want to find out if he’s in the coalition’s pocket, being coerced to write their stories for them, or-”

“Is open to being wooed to our side?” Books suggested.

“Didn’t we already woo him once?” Akstyr asked.

Perhaps men only stay wooed so long as the wooing influence is present in the area. Basilard pointed to Amaranthe.

Maldynado raised a finger. “Is anybody else concerned with how many grown men are using the word ‘woo’ here?”

Amaranthe made a chopping motion to halt the tangent. “While Maldynado and I are looking for Mancrest, I’d like Basilard, Yara, and Akstyr to locate a promising hideout for us. While you three are doing that, you can mill about on the streets, listen in on conversations, and tease out what tidbits you can from the general public. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you to keep your hoods up and your faces in the shadows. Many of us are still featured on wanted posters, and Forge may have bounties out on everyone by now.”

Yara’s lips twisted into a sour expression. She might be lamenting her choice to stay with them. If so, she didn’t say anything. Those deadly rockets the team had uncovered on the steamboat ride back upriver seemed to have convinced her that, even if Sespian wasn’t the undisputed heir any more, it was worth risking her career to keep Forge from playing puppet master to the new emperor.

“Where are we all going to meet up in the meantime?” Maldynado asked. “Until we find a suitable secret hideout, and, as long as we’re on the topic, might I suggest an above-ground hideout without any vermin, scat, urine, or otherwise unsavory leavings in the area? I know the boss is handy with a broom, but she might not have time to clean things up for us for this mission.”

Yara took a step away from Maldynado. “ Handy with a broom? Clean for us? Are you telling me that you need Corporal Lokdon to tidy up after you?”

Maldynado avoided her eyes. “Not me specifically, but, uhm.”

Amaranthe watched the exchange with some amusement. She was certain her fastidious streak had been brought up in front of Yara before, but perhaps her new relationship with Maldynado inspired her to want to… hammer him into the mold, as the marines liked to say of their young recruits.

“I’m positive that Basilard, Akstyr, and Yara will find a suitable hideout,” Amaranthe said to keep Maldynado from getting himself into trouble. More trouble.

“Hot water and indoor plumbing would be appreciated,” Books said with a weary sigh, one that spoke of being ready for a year’s worth of hardship to come to an end.

Amaranthe could understand that; she wouldn’t mind easy access to hot baths either.

“I notice you haven’t assigned Sespian, Sicarius, or myself to tasks yet,” Books went on. “Is that because you know it’s important to leave me to my current project?” He tapped the open tome in his hands. “I’m close to having a preliminary constitution fleshed out.”

“That’s good news, but no,” Amaranthe said. “I’d like you to go with Sespian and Sicarius.”

Books blinked a few times. Meanwhile, Sespian eyed Sicarius warily out of the corners of his eyes. He’d grown less vocal about his distaste, but he hadn’t noticeably warmed up to the idea of having an assassin for a father.

“Go where? And to what end?” Books asked.

“As soon as people from that Forge meeting get up here, if they haven’t already, we can expect a newspaper announcement that shares the truth of Sespian’s heritage. Maybe they won’t bother as long as they believe he’s dead, but as soon as we present him as the rightful heir to the throne, they’ll seek to discredit him.”

“Correctly so,” Books said. “If his father is of lowborn origins, his claim to imperial rule comes only through his mother’s side.”

Sicarius’s flat expression turned toward Books. He probably didn’t care if he was “lowborn” or not, but Books squirmed and lifted an apologetic hand beneath the stare.

“True, but his mother’s line gives him as good a claim as many of the other potential candidates,” Amaranthe said, “with the possible exception of Ravido, thanks to the Marblecrests’ not-so-distant history with the throne, but what if Sicarius isn’t of lowborn origins?”

“What do you mean? We don’t know who his parents were, do we?” Books pointed at Sicarius.

“No,” Amaranthe said, “but we can surmise that Hollowcrest chose based on intelligence and physical prowess, hoping the offspring would receive the traits of the parents. If some notable Crest man were involved, the populace-and the Company of Lords-might find Sespian’s pedigree more appealing.”

“A Crest?” Maldynado sounded affronted as he regarded Sicarius with new eyes.

“For all we know, Fleet Admiral Starcrest could have been his father,” Amaranthe said.

A wistful expression flashed into Sicarius’s eyes; it was gone so quickly she doubted anyone else noticed it.

Books scoffed. “Starcrest wasn’t blond.”

“Not many Turgonian men are,” Amaranthe said. “Maybe Hollowcrest picked a Kyattese, Mangdorian, or Kendorian woman to birth him, in hopes that his features would be less classical empire, and that he’d be able to blend in when visiting other countries.”

“ Visiting ,” Sespian muttered.

Amaranthe ignored the grousing. She couldn’t blame him for that one. Visiting was an innocuous word for what Sicarius had really been doing when he entered other nations.

“This is baseless speculation,” Books said.

“At this point, yes. That’s why you’re going to research his heritage.”

Amaranthe met Sicarius’s eyes, wondering how he’d feel about having other team members prying into his past. She could send him alone-his records were probably in the Imperial Barracks somewhere, if they existed at all-but thought Books might have some useful insight into genealogy studies, should Hollowcrest’s notes prove difficult to decipher. Sicarius didn’t avoid her gaze, but he was being inscrutable, as usual.