“Did you not hear me?” Valoriel demanded impatiently.
Gavriel’s arm moved of its own accord, surrendering the Rod of Penance. Haniel watched them both, her expression inscrutable again.
“Why are you here, my seventh son?” Valoriel asked. His eyes, green as fern moss, studied Gavriel intently.
“I have come about Alluin Westwind,” he admitted.
His father looked surprised. “The seraphim guard?”
“Yes. His sentence was too harsh. I intend to grant a commutation.”
Valoriel’s expression cooled. “I hoped you wanted to speak of greater matters.” He glanced at his cunning daughter and Gavriel realized that Haniel had long been whispering in his ear.
“You mean the kaldurite,” Gavriel said, trying to hide his disgust.
“We must control the source before this corruption spreads. It is already happening. Even the angels are changing, becoming like their flock. Look at you, Gavriel.”
“I uphold your laws,” he replied warily.
“It is too late to dissemble. You think you love this cypher. Why else would you be here pleading on behalf of her father?”
Pride flared. “Because it is the right thing to do. The sentence was unjust.” He cast a mutinous look at Haniel. “If she can love a witch, I can, too.”
“Careful now,” Valoriel warned. “I am the one to decide such things.”
His mind reeled. His father knew everything—and didn’t care. “Why aren’t you punishing her? How is this tolerated?”
“Leviathan will be a great asset in the days to come.”
“What about Minerva and Travian?” Gavriel demanded. “Do you honestly believe they will allow this coup?”
Valoriel did not appear concerned. “Minerva lives like an anchorite, distant from the workings of the empire.” He gestured at the sea of darkness stretching to the horizon. “Travian is out there somewhere, gambling and whoring no doubt, but I have not sought his counsel in centuries. He is a child, preoccupied with whatever shiny new bauble he holds in his hand, with no thought beyond gratifying his own desires. It is up to us to preserve the peace.”
“What you describe sounds more like war,” Gavriel protested.
“Then choose a side,” Valoriel growled. “Let us speak of your cypher. Cathrynne Rowan is the most powerful seer in generations. We could use her gift.” He gripped Gavriel’s shoulder. “You may have her as a consort if you persuade her to serve Mount Meru.”
Gavriel stiffened. “She is not a slave to be traded for favors.”
A spasm of irritation crossed Valoriel’s handsome face. “Very well, I shall keep it simple. Do your duty and all will be forgiven. Bend the knee and swear allegiance. I will set you and Haniel above all the others to rule Sion as you see fit.”
To rule.
Long ago, Sion had kings and queens. Some were good, some bad. The last ones were very bad indeed, which is why they’d been violently overthrown and the dynastic system changed to one of popular assemblies.
Yet it was a seductive offer. For a minute, Gavriel’s head spun with the possibilities of limitless power. He could punish the White Foxes for their brutal excesses—and even disband them completely.
He could divert resources to Pota Pras and the countless hardscrabble towns like it. Build schools and decent housing and hospitals. Enforce the ban—widely ignored—on child labor in the mines.
He could end the barbaric practice of cypher infants being taken from their parents.
Perhaps his father was right. The empire needed a firm hand at the tiller. And who was more suited to the task than Gavriel Morningstar?
He looked up and saw Haniel watching him with glittering eyes, a slight smile of triumph on her lips, and Gavriel understood in a flash that the reality would be different. Valoriel only wanted a henchman to enforce his diktats with an iron fist. By the end, Gavriel would have no honor, no integrity.
Yet for once it wasn’t fear for his reputation that swayed him. It was the millions who would lose what freedoms they had. He knew what Cathyrnne Rowan would say. She had more heart, more soul, more courage than a hundred of his kin.
Haniel had to be stopped. He needed to get his father alone, make him see reason. But now was the not the time.
