consented.”
Slowly, they learned from Aziz that Cesare had had him cook the books for all de Lunis properties under his control. Then the old duke had his physician set a psych block that hid Aziz’s own actions from even himself, a block that would only be released when the de Lunis uttered to him the phrase, The thirteenth man will rise. And further, should anyone question the accounting, it compelled him to come up with plausible explanations. The result of the accounting manipulations was that profits were continuously funneled out of Charlie’s companies into hidden accounts. It made his companies seem less profitable than they were, though Charlie was nothing close to wealthy. But it did support his cover as the poorest of the Ten.
“You are no longer destitute, Your Grace.”
From Toellan they transited to Andyne-Borregga, and Charlie immediately sat down with Winston, Roacka, and Arthur in Arthur’s office. He’d pulled in the eight hunter-killers, leaving two of them docked at Andyne-Borregga, the other six running silent just outside Borreggan nearspace. Two more were under construction now and would be operational soon. He’d also sent courier ships to Sague and Ethallan, asking them to meet him on Andyne-Borregga. He’d asked Ethallan to arrange for the Free Aagerbanni Resistance leaders to meet Edwin Chevard there, and Sague to arrange for representatives of the independent states to meet the de Lunis there. He’d sent Ell to Kinatha to ask them to send a representative. And Telka had also received an invitation from Edwin Chevard to meet him there, though he wasn’t confident that she’d comply. None of them knew that he’d arranged to meet the others. In fact, with few exceptions, none of them knew he was collaborating with the others.
“I tell you, lad,” Roacka said. “You got a fucked-up mess on your hands.”
“I have to agree with him,” Arthur said.
“And I agree with both of you,” Charlie said.
Winston said, “But I do have some good news, got it from Pelletier, who got it from one of Theode’s servants he’s still connected with there. Theode was at Almsburg when Goutain and Nadama had a horrible row. Apparently this war that’s not a war is costing both of them dearly, and they’re quite upset about it. They can’t account for the loss of ships, and since they don’t know about the hunter-killers, they’ve concluded it’s sabotage.”
Charlie closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.
Arthur asked, “What about the princess?”
“Ya,” Roacka grumbled. “She’s a complication. What are you going to do with the girl?”
Winston and Charlie had argued about this at some length, and at that moment the older man gave Charlie a pointed look. Winston thought it time for Charlie to openly reveal his right to select Del’s husband, while Charlie wanted to forget the documents existed. Charlie sighed, reached into a pocket, and retrieved a copy of the documents. He handed them to Arthur without comment.
Arthur scanned them quickly, started suddenly, frowned and reread them more carefully. When he finished he said, “Holy shit,” as he handed them to Roacka. It was one of the few times Charlie had ever heard him swear.
While Roacka read them, Arthur asked Charlie, “These are legitimate?”
Charlie looked at Winston for the answer. The older man said, “I drew those documents up myself. They’re properly registered, and ironclad.”
When the meaning of the documents finally hit Roacka he roared with laughter. “Your father was a sneaky son-of-a-bitch.”
Arthur stood and leaned on his desk. “You told me earlier Delilah wants to know how she can help the resistance. Well, the answer’s rather simple: she can marry you.”
“What?” Charlie said. “Me? It says I get to pick her husband, not be her husband.”
“So pick yourself. You’re the best compromise candidate of all the Ten.”
“Compromise?” Charlie said, and Arthur laughed. “Besides, she’s already betrothed to Dieter. It’s not an easy thing to just dismiss that contract.”
Winston said, “I didn’t write it up, so I’m sure that engagement is not as unbreakable as they think. And more important, with Martino dead, that becomes a dangerous union. It’ll divide the Ten almost immediately, could conceivably result in civil war. Whereas you, the de Lunis, with no military resources and near destitute, would be a weak king, which would please the Ten enough to prevent strife. I have no doubt we’d have their support to throw aside her betrothal to Dieter.”
“But I do have military resources, and we just learned that, while I’m not wealthy, I’m far from destitute.”
Arthur shook his head, shared a look