Of Bone and Ruin

by T. A. White

  “Are you prepared to accept the consequences of that declaration?”

  Roslyn’s shoulders squared and she nodded. “I do. I am no longer your daughter. No longer of your line.”

  “All privileges extended to you because of your ancestors will be rescinded.”

  “I am prepared for that outcome.”

  He gave her a long look. For a moment, a brief one, he looked sad and unhappy about that response. Then his lips firmed and his expression iced over. “Very well. You are no one to me.”

  He brushed past her, following the Black Order’s men and leaving without a backward glance.

  Looking at Roslyn was painful. Although her face was turned away from them, every line in her body spoke of agony. Tate felt sympathy for her. Even if the duke was an asshole who deserved to be behind bars, he was Roslyn’s father. Cutting ties like that would have hurt.

  “Let’s head back up,” Jost said. “I need to call everyone together for my verdict on the mediation and then I need to write this whole debacle up.”

  “Oh?” Tate asked. “You know what your decision will be?”

  “I don’t know how to say this, but you’ve pretty much managed to screw these negotiations to the Northern Reaches and back.”

  “So you have no clue, huh?”

  “None.”

  That sounded about right.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Jost gave Tate long enough to get the knife taken out of her shoulder and her wound dressed by a medic before he put her in a carriage and they headed back to the city. He wanted to call a meeting to give his final verdict, but Tate convinced him to hold off until she had an opportunity to resolve a few loose ends.

  She’d come to a few realizations while underground and she wanted to test her theory before he made his announcement and finished the mediation. If she was right, his decision was going to create a few waves. She wanted the opportunity to make a few things clear before that happened.

  That’s how she came to be standing, a few hours later, in the mansion where all this had begun waiting for the Shodon to show up.

  She stared out the window, hands clasped behind her back as the Shodon and his guards arrived. She turned to face them and gestured to a couch. “Please have a seat.”

  The Shodon said, “I prefer to remain standing.”

  “That’s fine; this won’t take long.”

  His face showed a trace of amusement at that statement.

  “I imagined, when the mediator called this meeting, a room more suited to the occasion.” The Shodon’s gaze had a hint of disdain as he looked around.

  “Oh, yes. That room is much better than this. I’ve seen it. Very impressive.” Tate gave an airy wave. “He didn’t call this meeting. I did.”

  The Shodon's eyes sharpened on Tate. “I hadn’t thought your status high enough to make such demands.”

  Tate gave him a grim smile. “Your mistake. I’m sure after this, you’ll be a little more aware of your facts in future. I called you in here to tell you the mediator’s ruling.”

  “I already know his decision,” the Shodon said.

  “I doubt it.”

  “We are the only ones left who haven’t broken faith. Should he not rule in our favor I will have him brought up before the tribunal for incompetence.”

  “I don’t think so,” Tate said, taking a step forward.

  His guards shifted, hands sliding to weapons. Ilith pushed forward, the dragon making itself known in Tate’s glare. Their eyes darted away. Tate wondered what they saw when Ilith did this. Was it a hardness to her eyes? A feral hunger that said she’d be just as happy picking her teeth clean with their bones? Or did they see a faint shadow of the dragon moving deep in Tate’s eyes?

  “It’s true that the Silva and humans were on their worst behavior during this mediation. Because of that Jost plans to rule in the Academics’ favor with the caveat that they have two Silva historians on site at all times. Also, credit for anything discovered will be shared with the Silva, and all artifacts will be put into a trust in the Silva’s name. There are a few other pieces that I’ll let Jost explain during the meeting. None of those will affect the Kairi, however.”

  “I see.” The Shodon inclined his head and gestured at his guards. “There is little more to discuss. I have no choice but to pay a call to the tribunal head.”

  “You know, I couldn’t figure out why you decided to file a claim when your tie to the discovery was practically nonexistent. Then I learned that Ithor was an assassin. That he was the person the Kairi nobles used to make problems go away when you didn’t want it traced back to you.” The Shodon’s face gave few clues to what he was thinking. “Suddenly it all started making sense. This is just a guess, but I think you knew that the Academics were seeding the tunnels with defunct artifacts from other sites, and that the Silva were smuggling in bones to make it look like their ancestors had buried their dead there to make their right to the find unassailable.”

  “By your own story, I would only need to sit back and let the two disqualify themselves due to a breach of faith during mediation.” The Shodon gave a faint smile.

  “Yes, none of it made sense to me, but I kept going back to the fact that you brought an assassin to what were essentially peace talks. Then it hit me, you use assassins to eliminate enemies.”

  “I imagine that is what assassins are usually used for,” he said in a dry voice.

  Tate continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Only your target wasn’t the Silva or the Academics.”

  The Shodon didn’t look amused at Tate’s words now. His gaze took on a watchful look as did his guards’. They knew where she was heading with this.

  “Tell me, when was it that you decided I had to die?” Tate asked, pinning him with her gaze. “Has it been brewing since you first heard of your granddaughter’s death or was it a little more spontaneous?”

  It was a wild guess, but it made sense. From what Tate knew about the Kairi, they were obsessed with two things. Family and honor. Umi might have been the one doing the betraying, but in the complicated way of the Kairi, the Shodon’s honor would demand satisfaction from Tate for the role she played in Umi’s death.

  “You have no proof.”

  Tate gave a careless shrug. “Nope.”

  “Then your threat is meaningless.”

  “Are you sure of that?” Tate tilted her chin down and gave him a chilling smile. It wasn’t every day that you faced someone who plotted your demise. “I’ve worked around thieves and other unsavory sorts and there is one thing they all have in common. They always have a backup plan. Especially when working with those of the noble set. Your sort aren’t exactly known for dealing honorably with those you consider beneath yourself. Loose ends and all that.”

  His mouth tightened at the corners. It was very faint and Tate would have missed it if she hadn’t been watching him so closely.

  “I’m willing to bet your assassin kept some sort of record or evidence that would point directly back to you in the event of his untimely death. Should you try to overturn the mediator’s verdict I will make it my mission to uncover that evidence, and if I can’t I’ll just have to create some.”

  “You’ve just made a mistake. My guards and I will testify that you threatened us with this. You and your mediator should prepare for a long stint at one of the work camps for fraud committed in the emperor’s name.”

  Tate’s smile was humorless. “It’ll be your word against mine, and since you’re the one that the evidence will point to I think they will be less inclined to put stock in what you say.”

  “You delve into waters you do not understand. I am the Shodon, my word is my bond.”

  “You are not the only one with powerful friends. As we speak, the Silva Doyenne is being released. Who do you think she will be grateful to? Do you really want to risk a battle where the outcome is so unpredictable? It is not me who will suffer the greater cost of having my name dragged through the muck. I have no ancest
ors to face in the next world. The only one affected by dishonor is myself. Can you say the same?”

  Tate waited as the Shodon stared at her impassively. A large part of what she said had been a bluff. Tala was being released, but there was no guarantee she’d be grateful to Tate for that. Tate was the one who convinced her to consent to her arrest in the first place. Ryu was the only other friend she had with something akin to power in this government and she wasn’t sure how far his goodwill extended.

  “You play dangerous games, little dragon,” the Shodon finally said. “Be careful that they do not drown you.” He nodded at his guards and they swept out of the room.

  Tate watched him go. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask whether that meant he’d drop any notion of interfering with Jost’s verdict. She held the words back, not wanting to appear anything less than utterly confident in the outcome.

  Ryu stepped into the room, glancing at the departing backs of the Kairi.

  “How’d it go?”

  “I think it worked.”

  “Think?”

  “He’s got a face of stone. It’s hard to tell what’s getting through.”

  Ryu sighed. “Good enough.”

  Tate studied Ryu as he stepped into the room, surprised that he had come. She thought he would be interrogating the duke to get whatever information he’d gone undercover to find.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I have news.” He looked tense.

  “What news?”

  “We just received word from the Black Order. Their people were ambushed on their way back into the city. The man you called Christopher escaped.”

  “Damn, I’d hoped to question him on how he managed to turn Bridgette to his cause. I thought she would be too devoted to Tala to betray her in such a manner.”

  Ryu shrugged. “She probably didn’t think she was betraying her doyenne. Christopher could have made it appear that the orders originated from Tala. He also could have made it seem that by poisoning you, Bridgette was protecting her doyenne. Although the obeziku are very childlike, they still retain the Silva’s protectiveness to their own. We’ll never know all of the details, I suspect.”

  “What will happen to Bridgette now?” It might be odd for Tate to want the woman who poisoned her to go free, but Bridgette struck her as the victim in all this. Was it truly a crime if the perpetrator didn’t understand the consequences of her actions?

  Ryu’s face got still.

  “Ryu?” Tate asked when he didn’t immediately answer.

  His response was slow in coming. “She’s dead. She committed suicide early this morning.”

  Tate stared at him in shock. The image of Bridgette’s relieved smile wouldn’t fade. It was hard to reconcile that smile with someone who no longer walked in this world.

  After a long pause, she forced herself to move on.

  “And Elijah?”

  Ryu shook his head. “Also dead. We think Christopher killed him during the escape.”

  “Probably because his use was at an end and Christopher didn’t want him talking,” Tate said, thinking out loud. She rubbed her forehead. So many deaths.

  Christopher’s escape was not good. His interest in her didn’t seem like the sort of thing to just disappear. He’d come after her. Maybe not now, while every guard in the city was looking for him, but eventually.

  “What about the Duke? He seemed to be in on everything. Arrest him and see if he knows where Christopher might go.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  Tate stared at him in shock. Yes, he could. All he had to do was order the arrest or if he didn’t have enough power find someone who could. Ryu’s jaw tightened and he glanced away.

  “You can’t or won’t?”

  “Both.”

  This didn’t make sense. Something was going on. Something he hadn’t told her.

  Ilith agreed. She shifted and fluttered her wings.

  “He’s working for you,” Tate said, finally putting the pieces together. “That’s why you inserted yourself into his party.”

  Ryu’s jaw worked and he met Tate’s eyes with an intense stare. “Yes.”

  “That’s why he hasn’t been arrested, despite being clearly affiliated with the other two.”

  Ryu’s nod was grudging. “Yes. He’s been working with me for a while. His daughter’s inability to bond with an artifact was the perfect excuse. We felt that he’d be more likely to be able to infiltrate Christopher’s network if they assumed he was power hungry.”

  “Why involve me, then, if you already had a man inside?” Tate was angry. This whole thing was a set up.

  “It wasn’t supposed to go the way it did. At first, it was just a way to see how you would handle acting in a situation like this. By the time we knew that your friend from the tunnels was involved, it was too late to pull you out. The Duke and I decided to keep everything in play to see if there was something we could learn.”

  And it didn’t really matter if Tate’s life was at stake. This was why she didn’t trust Ryu. There was no guarantee that he wouldn’t betray her in the name of his empire or whatever nefarious plot he had going on.

  “The duke did something to the circle to break it, didn’t he?” Tate asked, things from the tunnels making more sense now. She’d had such difficulty dropping into the elemental space and then suddenly it was clear.

  “Yes.”

  Well, at least they hadn’t left her to die. Small relief as it was.

  There was one part about all this that bothered her. She never had figured out who killed Ithor and Ronald. From what she could tell, the Silva and Academics hadn’t been anywhere near where the murder occurred. The only people whose movements were somewhat unclear were the duke’s people because they arrived after everyone else was already in the study.

  There had been something about that wound that had been nagging at her for days. It hadn’t looked like something a knife would make.

  She remembered what Christopher had said about a dragon being responsible for the murders. At the time she had thought he meant her, which she knew was absurd. The problem was that she wasn’t the only dragon to attend that party, and the other dragon had shown up late.

  She gave Ryu a considering glance and then stared at her own hands. Was it possible to just change one part of a body to that of the dragon?

  Ilith considered the question. Maybe for someone who has lived with the dragon for many years.

  “Did you kill Ithor and Ronald?”

  The shock and the faintest trace of guilt on his face told Tate everything she needed to know. She had no doubt he’d done it.

  The question, now, was why?

  “I’m not answering that question,” he said, his face calm and his voice resolute.

  “Why?” She couldn’t help but ask even as his voice warned her off.

  He advanced on her quickly, she took a step back before holding firm. She stared up at him as his eyes moved over her face.

  He breathed, “You know the answer to that already.”

  He ran the back of one knuckle along her cheek in a gentle caress. He gave her a searching look, before he stepped away, spun on his heel and walked out, leaving Tate to stare in shock after him.

  *

  Tate groaned as she climbed out of the carriage, her shoulder letting her know it’d had about enough of her absurdity for one day. It was one dull throb that got worst with every heartbeat and each slight movement.

  The thought of climbing the stairs to her apartment was enough to leave her in the fetal position. The only thing keeping her going was the promise of the comfortable bed waiting for her once she made it.

  She dragged herself out of the conveyance and into her building, only noticing the fancy carriage parked right in front because its presence meant she had to walk several steps further to the building’s entrance. It was all black with silver detailing. It looked expensive and was the nicest carriage she’d ever seen in the Lower. Or the Upper for tha
t matter. Who the owner could be visiting at Colton’s Place was a mystery though. No one here rated such highborn guests except maybe Ryu, and he stayed in the Lower only when business called for it.

  Tate made it up the stairs and to her door, using her key to unlock it. She stopped short three feet into the room.

  “What are you doing in my room?” she asked the man whose back was facing her.

  He had a thick head of brown hair and clothes fine enough to match the fancy carriage downstairs. When he turned, a warm pair of green eyes met hers. Familiar eyes.

  “Thad, how did you get into my room?” The question was simple given the shock Tate was feeling at his appearance. She knew Thad as a homeless man she occasionally gave money to, not this person with clothes that cost what Tate paid in rent for an entire year.

  "I never did thank you for your kindness these past few weeks," Thad said with a charming smile.

  Tate blinked. That was not an answer. “You could start by not entering my home without permission.”

  He laughed, flashing straight, white teeth. How had Tate ever thought he was homeless? Everything about him screamed high class and nobility.

  “You’ve impressed me with your handling of current events.”

  Tate blinked again. Who was he to be impressed and how did he know about her role in the mediation?

  “You seem confused,” he stated, his eyes observant as they cataloged the way Tate had turned partially to the door in anticipation of a quick getaway. “I take it that Ryu failed to mention my interest.”

  “What does he have to do with this?” And how did he know Thad? Unless he, like Tate, had helped Thad out of a tight spot.

  “Ah, perhaps he’s hoping I’ll change my mind.” Thad’s eyes dropped to the floor in thought.

  “Change your mind about what?” Tate couldn’t help it. She was curious.

  “As you can see, I’m not exactly homeless,” Thad said, the change in conversation abrupt and jarring.

  “I’d put that together.”

  He smiled again. It was a smile that would have made him handsome if it hadn’t belonged to someone who had broken into her home and was currently making her more than a little nervous, given recent events where she’d ended up injured and almost killed.