so colloquially put it. She followed your orders, Jewel. She followed them in her own context. She died because she did so—not more, not less.”
She hated him, then. At this very moment, she couldn’t see a point when the hatred would stop. Her hands were fists, her knuckles white with the strain.
“I have taken the liberty of speaking with Finch and Teller,” he continued, as if her hatred, the sudden pit of rage that had opened beneath her feet threatening to swallow her whole, was insignificant. “Therefore, I will continue. Lefty died following your orders. Fisher died following your orders. All of your den present on either of those two days survived; Lefty and Fisher did not.
“Only Lander died because he failed to obey you. His death is not on your hands.” Haval continued to drink his tea. In the background Ellerson watched, his expression for the moment as hooded as Haval’s. If she wanted rescue, it would not come from that quarter.
It wouldn’t come at all.
“But were it not for your order to Duster, your den would be dead. You might have survived, but it was not your survival that was your concern at the time; it is not your survival that concerns you now, you are so certain of it. What would you change, Jewel? If you could go back to the day of her death—the day of your arrival at the Terafin manse—what would you change? What could you change?”
She struggled for a long moment with helpless rage. But when she faced Haval at last, her face was as hard, as neutral, as his. “I can’t change anything,” she said coldly. “It is a pointless question.”
“Is it? Examine facts. She died; the rest of your friends did not. It was not a conscious decision on your part, but that is the truth of it.” He sipped tea.
“I am aware of that, Haval.”
“Good. You were, on that day, a better leader—for your den—than you are on this one. You have given them safety—inasmuch as safety is possible in these times. They are not starving in the streets; they are not required to steal or expose themselves to different forms of danger, merely to put food in their stomachs. They are, by all external measure, successful.
“They have grown, Jewel. Finch is not the child you rescued in the streets of the holdings. Nor is Teller. But you guard and hide them as ferociously as if they still were. You let them be competent only in your absence. But in your absence, they presided over the slow crumbling of The Terafin’s power. They were placed upon the House Council with very little political preparation, but their roles within the bureaucracy of the House prepared them in other ways, and they have yet to disgrace themselves. I do not believe they will.
“Teller is young, yes—but so are you. He is, in my humble opinion, worthy of the title right-kin. Barston will remain as his secretary if you affirm Teller in the role, all of Gabriel’s protestations to the contrary aside.
“Finch will not, in my opinion, as easily replace Jarven—and any hope that Jarven will peacefully retire or gracefully expire is a vain one. But she understands the Merchant Authority, the treaties that have been made—and broken—in the last sixteen years. She understands the ways in which the Port Authority and the Merchant Authority are tied, and she has overseen some small handful of agreements with the Royal Trade Commission. She seems delicate and retiring; she will not, however, be moved in the face of threat or danger. Lucille is quick to jump into the breach of Finch’s silence—I feel Lucille vastly underestimates her—but absent Lucille, Finch is capable of holding her own.”
Jewel lifted a hand. It was shaking. “Haval, enough.”
“You even hide Daine, and he is healer-born; he is Alowan’s successor.”
“Daine is barely twenty! He is only barely—”
“You were a member of the House Council at sixteen years of age.”
“I was a member of the House Council because I’m seer-born!”
“Daine is also talent-born, as I have pointed out. He is granted the lesser respect because he is forced to hide the symbol of the twin hands.”
“Are you unaware of how Alowan died?”
“Jewel, please.” He sipped tea, eyed the bottom of the cup, and set it down. Ellerson then moved from his stiff and perfect position by the doors to refill the empty cup. He did not meet Haval’s eyes; nor did he meet Jewel’s. Jewel was the only one who tried