into the harbor the night before to drop off our infiltrators. Then Brenda and I can scout a target ship to steal. Conrí and Lord Percy can take the Last Resort.”
“And what?” Lia twirled elegant fingers in the air. “Sail it into the harbor in broad daylight and request an audience?”
“We could do exactly that,” Percy said quietly. “We’ll dock in the nobles section of Anure’s harbor. I’ll request the audience and the Imperial Toad will receive us both. Our shared history will get me that far.”
We all stared at Percy, Lia as baffled as the rest of us. “Is there some information you’d like to disclose, Percy?” she asked, all velvet-covered steel.
Percy shrugged, pouting dramatically. “I might be Anure’s cousin.”
Nobody said anything. Only Ambrose seemed unsurprised. Percy looked around at the shocked faces. “I didn’t tell you because I foolishly thought you might not like me anymore.” He sounded uncertain, even a little sad.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Percy,” Brenda said drily. “We never liked you.”
He stuck his tongue out at her but smiled, relief in it. Then he gave me a pointed glare, lifting his nose. “The story will be that you and I became friends—perhaps even lovers—during your time on Calanthe, Conrí. Between us we decided to bring the orchid ring to Anure, to curry favor.”
“Fine.” I nodded, then looked to Lia. “If Lia agrees.”
She rolled her eyes somewhat but nodded. “Fine. Fill the holes. I have an idea for making an orchid ring that seems magical long enough to fool them.”
“I may have something that will help with that,” Ambrose said, patting down his robes absentmindedly. “Now, where did I put that? Oh yes.” He raised a hand and reached out—the hand oddly warping, then disappearing in midair. I blinked, my brain not quite grasping what I’d seen, and his hand reappeared with a rolled parchment. Ambrose handed it to Lia, who took it gingerly.
“It stinks of magic,” she noted, looking like she’d rather not be holding it.
“Yes, yes. Take a look.” Ambrose gestured at the thing genially.
My nose itched, and even before Lia unrolled it to reveal the vivid illustration of the orchid ring, I recalled the nosebleed I’d had in the Tower of the Sun in Keiost at the first sight of it.
“An image of the ring,” Lia said, then frowned for her obvious statement but found nothing more to say. The orchid on her finger billowed like a sea anemone.
“An alchemical reproduction,” Ambrose corrected with a delighted smile.
Comprehension dawned on Lia’s face. “Aha. Yes. Yes, I can use this.” She looked to me. “They won’t suspect a fake until close inspection, I think.”
“Thank you,” I said to her, hoping she understood all the ways I meant it.
“You’re welcome,” she replied in a wry tone. “Pay Me back by figuring out how you’re going to set off this smaller, more powerful bomb without getting yourself killed.”
Lady Calla stepped into the room just then. “I beg Your pardon, Your Highness,” she said. “Lord Dearsley asked me to remind You of the meeting this afternoon with the regional heads?”
Lia looked to the clever spring-wound clock on the wall, all glittering copper wheels. “Blessed Ejarat, I’m late. I have to go.” Her gaze rested briefly on me, worry in it.
“We know what we need to work on,” I told her, then addressed the rest of the group. “Let’s fill in those holes.”
“Remember, Con: contingencies for the contingencies.”
“I remember,” I promised. “We’ll hammer it out.”
“There’s no fallback position from this one,” she warned me. “No Ambrose to suddenly appear to save your ass. I won’t be able to do anything to help you, not even via Vesno.”
“We won’t need it. This is going to work, Lia.”
“I’ve heard that before,” she replied, but some of the worry relaxed from her face. “You know where to find Me should you need anything,”
“Yes. Go be regal. I’ll see you later.”
She smiled a little at that, then swept out the door.
19
By the time I finished meeting with Dearsley and the regional heads from throughout the island, hours more had passed. Naturally every village and region regarded their problems as the most pressing—and just as naturally, they wanted more aid and support than they’d already been given. Calanthe was fortunate in Her prosperity—even after feeding Anure’s insatiable hunger all these years—but even the largesse of my realm only went so far.
Still, by dint of rational problem solving and even more meticulous diplomacy, we had them all sorted by evening. At least the headache of it