Page 51 of While the Dark Remains
Kallias frowns. “A hole?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. One of our drills penetrated the last bit of rock that keeps us from the mountain’s heart. It’s a small hole—the width of a child’s finger.”
Kallias wheels on him. “Then make itbigger.”
Basileious gulps, sweating so much the edges of his hair are damp. “That is what we are doing, Your Majesty. We got through once. We can get through again.”
My heart beats, beats, as I recall the discussion from two years ago with greater clarity:A vein of iron, mixed with silver. This veinglows.
Impossibly powerful Iljaria magic, somewhere deep within the rock—I shudder to think what Kallias might do with such a weapon.
“How muchlonger?” Kallias demands. “That Aeronan bitch is breathing down my neck. It’s only a matter of time before the emperor stops blustering and sends his army in place of his daughter. I need thatweapon, Basileious. Without it, I’ll never be able to stop Aerona from invading, won’t be able to call Skaanda and Iljariabothto heel.”
A chill shudders through me.
“I know, Your Majesty.” Basileious fidgets with the cuff of his sleeve. “I promise you the weapon will be yours soon. Before the end of Winter Dark.”
“You swear this to me?”
Basileious dips his head. “On my life.”
Kallias sneers at him. “Don’t disappoint me, or that’s exactly what it will cost. You’re dismissed.”
The engineer bows and leaves the room in a hurry. Only then does Kallias turn to Nicanor.
“What happened during the ceremony? Who taught them that hymn?”
Nicanor holds himself perfectly still, the fear clear in his eyes. “I am not certain, Your Majesty, but it will not happen again. They’ve been properly punished, unless you wish me to dispose of them altogether.”
My heart seizes and Kallias swears. “Not while we have visitors.”
“Very well, Your Majesty.”
“In the meantime, find out everything you can about the Skaandan ambassadors. I don’t trust them.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And Nicanor?”
The steward meets his gaze, a muscle jumping in his jaw.
“You have served me a long time,” says Kallias. “But if anything like that happens with my Collection ever again, I will putyouin a cage. I’ll make you play the part of an acrobat, and I will laugh when you fall and dash your brains out on the floor.”
Nicanor dips his head, so white he looks to be made of snow. “I understand, Your Majesty.”
Kallias sighs, like these conversations have worn him out. He plops down on the couch again, staring moodily at the heating grate.
“Anything else I can do for you, Your Majesty?”
“Bring me Elpis. I could do with a bit of company.”
Nicanor bows and goes to do his bidding.
I scurry away as quickly as I can, sick to my very core.
“I know you’re there,” says Aelia without looking up from her writing. She dips her pen in the bottle of ink on the desk. “You might as well come down.”
For a moment I just crouch in what I thought was my hiding spot above her room, blinking through the cracks in the ceiling. Then I crawl across the wood planks, squeeze into the heating vent, slip my hands through the grate, and deftly loosen the screws until one side of the vent swivels free, exposing me.
