Jim Butcher - Cursors's Fury

“You cannot trust her, sire,” Amara said quietly. “If she gets the chance to move against you, she will.”

“Perhaps so,” Gaius said. “But until that time, I am confident of her assistance against a common foe.”

“With reason,” Lady Aquitaine murmured. “Countess, I assure you that I see the value of cooperation in this matter.” The tall woman’s eyes suddenly burned hot. “And politics aside, Kalarus’s murderous attempt upon my life, on the lives of my clients, upon so many Citizens and members of the League cannot be ignored. Any animal as vicious and dangerous as Kalarus must be put down. It will be my pleasure to assist the Crown in doing so.”

“And when that is done?” Amara asked, her tone a challenge.

“When that is done,” Lady Aquitaine said, “we will see.”

Amara stared at her for a moment before turning to Gaius. “My lord…”

Gaius lifted a hand. “Invidia,” he said. “I know that you are still weary from tonight’s trauma.”

She smiled, the expression elegant and not at all weary. “Of course, sire. Countess, High Lord Cereus has offered the safety and security of his guest wing to all those attacked by Kalarus’s Immortals. Please call on me at your convenience.”

“Very well, Your Grace,” Amara said quietly.

Lady Aquitaine curtseyed to Gaius. “Sire.”

Gaius inclined his head, and Lady Aquitaine departed the garden.

“I do not like this, my lord,” Amara said.

“A moment,” the First Lord said. He closed his eyes and muttered something, making a pair of swift gestures with his hands, and Amara sensed furycraft at work, doubtless to ensure a few moments of privacy.

Amara arched an eyebrow at him. “Then you do not trust Lady Aquitaine.”

“I trust her to bury a knife in my back at her earliest opportunity,” Gaius replied. “But I suspect her contempt for Kalarus is genuine, as is her desire to recover the abducted members of the League-and her aid could be priceless. She is quite capable, Amara.”

The Cursor shook her head. “And the busier she is with me, the less time she has to plot against you.”

“Essentially,” Gaius said, a smile toying at the corners of his mouth, “yes. Make whatever use of her you can and recover those hostages.”

Amara shook her head. “He can’t possibly be holding them nearby. Not someone as powerful as Placidus Aria. He’d need to have her within his own lands-probably at his citadel.”

“I agree,” Gaius said. “There has been much movement in the upper air over the past day, but I am sure that at least some travelers have departed for Kalare. You need to decide upon your course of action and leave before the sun is fairly risen tomorrow.”

Amara frowned. “Why, sire?”

“You may note,” Gaius said, “how the recent discussion avoided one particular subject most scrupulously.”

“Yes. The stars,” Amara said quietly. “What happened to them.”

Gaius shrugged. “I’ve nothing but suspicions, at this point.”

“I don’t even have that much,” Amara said.

“I believe,” Gaius said, “that it is some working of the Canim. The change came from the west and spread over toward the east. I suspect that it is some kind of very high, very fine cloud, that colors the light of the stars as they shine down.”

“A cloud?” Amara murmured. “Can you not simply examine it?”

Gaius frowned faintly. “In fact, no. I’ve sent dozens of furies up to investigate. They did not return.”

Amara blinked. “Something… damaged them?”

“So it would seem,” Gaius said.

“But… I did not think the Canim could do such an enormous thing. I know their rituals give them some kind of rude parallel to Aleran furycraft, but I never thought that they could manage something on this scale.”

“They never have,” Gaius replied. “But the remarkable thing about this working of theirs is that it has had some far-reaching effects I have never encountered before. I have been unable to observe activities and events passing in the Realm beyond perhaps a hundred miles of Alera Imperia. I suspect that the other High Lords have been similarly blinded.”

Amara frowned. “How could the Canim have done such a thing?”

Gaius shook his head. “I’ve no way of knowing. But whatever they have done, the upper air groans with it. Travel has become quite dangerous in only a few hours. I suspect that it will only become worse as time passes. Which is why I must take my leave at once. I have a great many things to do, and if air travel becomes as difficult as I suspect it might, then I must set out at once-and so must you.”

Amara felt her eyes widen. “Do you mean to say… sire, is Kalarus conspiring with the Canim?”

“It would seem a rather large coincidence that he would be in position to attack in so many places, with such precision, and just at the moment when the most powerful furycrafters in his path would have been disabled-just precisely at the same time the Canim released this working.”

“A signal,” Amara said. “The stars were a signal for him to begin.”

“Probably,” Gaius replied.

“But… sire, no one has ever found common ground with the Canim. No Aleran would ever…” She broke off and bit her lip. “Mmm. But the facts suggest that one has. I sound like Senator Arnos.”

“Far less tiresome,” Gaius said. He put a hand on Amara’s shoulder. “Countess, I have two things to tell you. First, if Kalarus manages to prevent Placida and Attica from sending reinforcements, he will in all probability seize the capital and its furies. Aquitaine and the other High Lords will contest him. Our Realm will dissolve into utter chaos. Tens of thousands will die, and if Kalarus truly has thrown in his hand with the Canim, we may be facing the end of the Realm entirely.” He lowered his voice, emphasizing the words. “You must succeed. At any cost.”

Amara swallowed and nodded her head.

“Second,” he said, more quietly, “there is no one else in the Realm to whom I would sooner entrust this task than you, Amara. In the last few years, you have rendered more courageous service than most Cursors do in a lifetime. You do them great honor-and I am proud to have the loyalty of so worthy an individual.”

Amara felt her back straighten as she looked up at the First Lord. Her throat felt tight, and she swallowed and murmured, “Thank you, sire.”

He nodded once, and withdrew his hand. “Then I leave you to it,” he said quietly. “Good luck, Cursor.”

“Thank you, sire.”

Gaius flicked his hands a few times, and the privacy furycrafting dissipated, vanishing from Amara’s senses. At the same time, a gentle wind that hardly stirred the plants of the garden lifted Gaius from the ground, even as he wove another delicate veil around himself, vanishing as he took almost silently to the skies.

Amara stood staring up after the departed First Lord for a moment. Then she felt Bernard’s presence at her side. He slipped an arm around her waist, and she leaned against him for a moment.

“I don’t like this,” he said.

“Nor I,” Amara replied. “But that doesn’t matter. You and Giraldi should go and inform the Steadholder of what happened here.”

“Giraldi can take care of it,” Bernard said. “I’m going with you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Amara said. “Bernard, you’re-”

“Your husband. A veteran. An expert hunter and woodsman,” he said. His jaw set into a line. “I’m going with you.”

“I’m not-”

“Going to stop me from going with you. No one is.”

Amara’s chest suddenly felt very tight. She turned to her husband and kissed him once, on the mouth, and very lightly. Then she said, “Very well. If you’re going to be a mule about it.”