Palace of Silver (The Nissera Chronicles #3) - Hannah West Page 0,52
give elicrin stones to him and a few select nobles. He was ready to lure you to his side with promises of peace, prosperity, and equality for everyone in Erdem. He would also promise to recognize the Realm Alliance again if you could help him obtain elicrin power. When you rejected his invitation, he sent the Jav Darhu, the only people he trusted to kidnap an elicromancer.”
“Are you saying he had me kidnapped, wounding one of my friends, in order to win me over?” I didn’t want to specify the nature of Rynna’s importance to me, but all the same, my voice cracked in aguish and anger. A sob built in my throat. The horrible irony of it all made me want to knock down every barrel in this cellar, storm upstairs, and strike the cruel Captain Nasso with my bare fists until his self-assured face looked like an overripe fruit.
“King Agmur thought he had paid the Jav Darhu enough to secure royal treatment on your behalf,” Orturio said in Perispi with a shrug. He swirled his wine and inserted his nose in the glass before taking a drink. “But they don’t take any special orders that could slow down the mission or cut into their profits.”
“So you intercepted my kidnapping because you did not want King Agmur to become an elicromancer?” I asked in Perispi.
“That’s one reason,” Mathis replied in the language of his host, his Perispi accent positively atrocious. Apparently, even the best language tutors that a royal purse could buy could not guarantee competence. “But I also could not allow the Realm Alliance to negotiate back into his good graces.”
I laughed, nearly hysterical. “You wasted your resources bringing me here. Valory would never agree to make him an elicromancer.”
“So he was wrong to think Valory Braiosa’s scruples were negotiable, just like the tyrant she overthrew?” Mathis asked in Nisseran.
“She’s nothing like the Moth King.”
“Did Emlyn Valmarys not reward the loyalty of his mortal servants with elicrin gifts?”
“Yes, but—”
“And Valory Braiosa gave you yours in secret, without consulting the other members of the Realm Alliance?”
I didn’t answer. The night she’d given me my elicrin stone, the desire to use my new magic for good had overpowered my unease about outside perceptions.
“Publicly, she claims to comply with your noble majority votes,” Mathis said. “Privately, she’s doling out elicrin gifts to mortals.”
I tried not to reveal how deeply his comment burrowed under my skin. “You’ve prevented King Agmur from making me a means to an end. Am I free to leave at will?”
“In due time,” Orturio said. “But I hope you’ll consider our interference a favor—a favor you might see fit to repay.”
Of course. My freedom would come at a cost. I should have known.
“What do you want?” I asked, steeling myself for the possibilities. Did they plan to extort me? Use me like the Ermetarius men had used Rayed—as a precious Realm Alliance vote that could be cast in their favor when they needed it?
“Your help rescuing my princess from the tyrant queen, as a start,” Orturio said.
Tucking away my surprise, I set my full goblet to my lips and let the robust flavor swirl over my senses. “What has Ambrosine done now? Emptied the royal vault? Taxed the poor people out of hearth and home?”
“She has subdued the king and usurped his authority,” Orturio explained. “She murdered the high priest. She is changing laws to sunder the faith from the crown. She is imprisoning dissidents and persecuting Agrimas believers.”
I stared at him. “That can’t be true.”
“Oh, it is,” Mathis said. “And she’s taxed poor people out of hearth and home. And demanded the edifice tithes as repayment for centuries of support from the crown.”
Guilt bored into my belly like a corkscrew, but Mathis wasn’t exactly trustworthy, and I knew nothing about Rasmus Orturio. “The Realm Alliance would know if that were true,” I said, jutting my chin in defiance.
“Oh, would you?” Mathis laughed into his goblet. “Because you have so much experience maintaining foreign contacts and alliances? Because the myriad problems within your own realm aren’t keeping you occupied?”
“Ambrosine is vain and greedy, but she didn’t challenge Devorian’s claim to the throne despite being the eldest child. And when he abdicated, she didn’t try to stop you from taking over as regent. She’s never been power hungry.”
“People change.” Mathis brushed the rim of his glass again, insouciant.
“How would she even accomplish those things? We restricted her magic just like we did yours.” I gestured at his gold-flecked elicrin