crushed under the weight of my mistakes and failings. But no. Finally I saw a way to redeem myself, to live up to the promises I’d made to so many.
I would rescue Rhéiane, liberate the others, and rip Anure’s empire to shreds, and then I’d look into the false emperor’s eyes when he realized he’d lost everything that mattered to him. He’d know how it felt to have your world shattered, to be defeated and broken. Then I’d kill him, even if I had to kill everyone in the room with him. They were all complicit. Those courtiers had stood aside and watched the show when those wizards had butchered Lia. They all deserved to die. Every one.
And it would be sweet indeed. A real victory this time, all the sweeter for having been delayed.
“We’re agreed that we can’t go in by stealth again,” I said, laying the groundwork for the plan that had come to me. The one the prophecy predicted, I was sure. I had the key now. “They’ll have learned and will be checking anyone who tries to enter the citadel, even via the Slave Gates. That leaves either a full assault or some other kind of trickery.”
“A full assault is right out,” Kara put in, staring fiercely at the reproduction of the wall around the citadel. “Anure’s navy might be decimated, but he’s no doubt rebuilding at all speed, and his ground forces are largely intact. The fixed defenses on the outer wall and the walls of the citadel itself are formidable. Even if we had an unlimited supply of vurgsten—which we don’t—we don’t have enough people to place the charges, and neither weapons nor people to cover them while they do it. They’re in a position to dump anything they like on our heads and bring up soldiers behind us to pick us off. Against that wall, we’d be trapped.”
He paced over to the wall, pointing to the guard towers on the crenellations. “These are manned, night and day. Plus, every bit of all the walls—outer and inner—is lit by vurgsten. Any attempt to scale them would be instantly spotted, and the vurgsten probably exploded in our faces.”
“And here I thought the Imperial Toad was just showing off with that excess,” Lia murmured, shifting to cross her legs, one elegantly heeled foot kicking in the air, the only betrayal of her internal agitation. I’d like to tell her she didn’t need to be here for this, but she wouldn’t listen—especially if she thought I was trying to coddle her. Besides, it was important to her to feel like she had input on this plan. Whatever would help set her mind at ease was fine by me.
“His wizards,” Ambrose put in. He’d worn his court wizard of Calanthe robes and perched in his chair, Merle on his shoulder for the moment, wearing a decorative chain around his sleek black neck. “I feel it’s important to make the distinction,” Ambrose added when we all looked at him. “The wizards are keeping the vurgsten perpetually burning, not the man.”
“I don’t see why that’s important at—”
“No, Con,” Lia broke in, giving me a quelling look, her eyes like faceted jewels, cold and sharp. “Something I noticed during My … audience with Anure, and subsequent conversations with the four wizards, is that I don’t think the emperor is fully running the show.”
Merle croaked, bobbing his head, and I didn’t miss that Ambrose looked satisfied by Lia’s observation.
“What did you notice?” I asked.
She lifted a hand, fluttering her fingers dismissively. “It’s difficult to explain. As a person who’s spent many years sitting on a throne, holding court, making decisions, and guiding the flow of events, I have a feel for how a person in power behaves. One pays attention to the atmosphere of the room, to the important players. Minute details can betray what a petitioner’s true agenda might be. Some courtiers wield more influence than others, and there is constant jockeying to gain more power through information or other means.” Her gaze rested briefly on Percy, who fluttered his jeweled nails and simpered at her.
“Anure wasn’t doing that,” she continued. “He was … embroiled in his own thoughts and needs.”
“Not a leader in any way,” Agatha said, and Lia nodded.
“And the wizards?” Ambrose queried, an unusual tension in him. Rarely did the wizard seem invested in answers, but this one held something important to him. And that, I realized, was partly what Lia meant about observing a room.
“The wizards wanted