a way, it was comforting that at least one among them was being honest.
All the other Independents smiled like they were greeting clients or long-lost friends. Shera looked like she’d rather stab him in the back but was holding herself back for the sake of her position.
He trusted that expression more.
Estyr Six jerked her chin at Calder, and he held himself straighter as he realized she was about to address him.
“You sure you want to wear that?” Her eyes indicated his crown. “You’ll have a hard time hearing anything we say.”
In fact, it was taking a great effort of focus to avoid Reading the Emperor’s crown. He had it under control for the moment, but he wouldn’t be able to relax while wearing it or his thoughts would be overwhelmed by the Emperor’s memories.
Of course, now that she’d mentioned it, he couldn’t take it off.
“Thank you for your concern. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
It was a bit of a calculated risk, taking a cocky tone with one of the Regents, but he suspected it would make her weigh him differently. Measure him as someone to be taken seriously.
But she just shrugged. “Fine with me, just don’t pass out. Teach, I heard you gave Jorin a beating with his own sword.”
There was an awkward silence, and when Calder looked to General Teach, he was surprised to find that she was the one who looked like she was about to pass out. Her eyes were wide, her face pale, and she trembled slightly.
“No, I didn’t…I mean, it was hard-fought. I had lots of…help.”
Teach gulped as though about to swallow her tongue, and Calder couldn’t help but stare at her. She lectured him on making sure he was ready, and then she lost her nerve the second she came face-to-face with a Regent?
He couldn’t Read the emotion that radiated off of her, but he thought he could recognize it nonetheless. It looked like awe. Maybe even deference.
As part of her enhancement to become the Head of the Imperial Guard, Jarelys Teach had replaced her heart with a Kameira’s. Calder had never thought of it before, but that had to come with side effects besides her increased strength and resistance to her own sword.
Perhaps that included instincts that made her want to surrender to a larger, stronger predator.
He had to hope it wasn’t a problem.
Estyr turned to Kern next, inclining her head. “Champion.”
“Champion,” he responded.
That was enough of a greeting for them, Calder guessed, because a moment later Bareius jumped into the silence. “Baldezar! Jarelys! How long has it been? Furman, tell me…ah, right, Furman isn’t here. That’s annoying.”
Calder didn’t know who Furman was, but Teach’s expression had transformed from awed admiration to one of annoyance. “Don’t push me, Bareius. I don’t want to break peace between the Guilds just to kill you.”
Bareius’ smile was invincible. “It’s just business, Jarelys! Don’t let it get too personal. If it has to be personal, then let it be for the right reasons! Remember the good times.”
Kern spoke slowly and calmly. “The night after the Emperor’s death, eight out of ten of the alchemists supporting my Guild canceled their contracts. I know why.”
By this time, Teach and Kern were both staring down the alchemist, and even Shera and Estyr had turned to watch him out of the corner of their eyes. Shera took a step away from him.
Bareius cleared his throat, adjusted his glasses, and fiddled with the buttons on his suit. “That was…bad business, I admit, but everything’s on the table now, isn’t it? These are all discussions we can have once the ink dries between us.”
Calder had been silent too long, and as the one person present without unpleasant history between him and the Alchemist’s Guild, he took it on himself to smooth out the situation.
Although he had to do so without siding with Bareius, because by all appearances the man was a snake who deserved what was coming to him.
“There’s bad blood all around,” Calder said. “For now, we should set it aside and work together, or it will lead to a worse end for all of us.”
By the end of the sentence, he was looking into Shera’s eyes.
She gave him a subtle, almost imperceptible nod.
Bareius clapped. “Well said! Now, shall we? Furman!”
At the shout, a man stepped forward from the alchemists—a man who, Calder now noticed, had taken great efforts to look exactly like Bareius. He issued some instructions to the Independent Guilds. They split in half, leaving an opening toward the entrance