Fox’s Tongue and Kirin’s Bone

Chapter 37: Disowning Speedrun

They met in the Ladys apartments some hours later. She had acquired sketches of the assassins from the scribe master. Aaron looked down at them spread across the round table, and tried to figure out who had drawn each. There were two different styles to them. Curt, heavy strokes outlined the features of that pair, but a delicate curl, wispy at the edges, had been added to Gwens hair. It was almost like shed just sat down for a portrait. Like she had stood again once it was done, and gone her way with that last wistful smile the artist had captured.

Aaron needed to have a talk with Mabel about her art, and the time and place for putting in unnecessary details. It was those very details he was focusing on, though. All the little pieces, so he wouldnt see the whole.

We killed three, the Lady recounted, as she mixed their tea from porcelain containers kept tucked in between volumes on her bookshelf. Rose hip, dried apples, and Aednats cure. Apparently she hadnt slept well either, if she was including the former queens favored pick-me-up. At least one escaped that we know of. Mrs. White said, and I quote, You didnt get the tasty one.

Aaron could picture the little cat saying such a thing, with a flick of her tail before she walked off, or perhaps with her eyes half-lidded and her paws tucked, purring in someones lap. He couldnt picture her voice, though. Did her lips move when she spoke, or were pusses like foxes and kirin, and a man simply heard the words?

She followed the scents, then? His hands tightened under the table. Has she said anything on how they got in?

Shes a cat. The ability to speak makes her more so, not less, the Late Wakes leader answered, in perfect resignation. And you? Do you know?

I havent been back to the Downs since I woke.

She stopped to check on the pot hanging over the little fire in her hearth. A fleck of ash caught in her hair, but she didnt seem to notice. Who were they?

Aaron closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he looked. Chancellor, barn owl. Armaan. Silver bat. Gwendolyn. Same.

No Clever Hands.

They didnt tell you how they planned to get in? They didnt tell you the date? The Lady brushed her hair over her shoulder as she stood, but the ash still clung.

They were suspicious of me. They didnt think I was Markus, but they hadnt ruled out that I was someone different from the friend theyd known. They only talked with me about little thingswho was at each others throats lately, how the new Faces were breaking in, which parts of Twokins would be safe for me to go. That sort of thing. They had no reason to step to less certain stones.

They had no need. Aaron had been the one doing the telling. Theyd needed a safe way in, and Aaron had found one. They hadnt even known if it would work, not for surethere had always been the risk that some alarm might sound, some old Letforget trigger that would kill them all before they even reached their targets. Getting the job done and getting out again had always been their problem.

Aaron had done his part. Hed gotten them in. And now three sketches were in front of him, because none of them had factored in simple betrayal, least of all him.

The pot bubbled, but didnt yet boil. The Lady stared at a painting above her mantle. It was of a waterfall: just a small one, a little splash falling between two rocks in a stream. There was nothing to place the image in time or space. It was not an impressive painting. Childish, almost.

And youre sure its your father who hired them?

Was he supposed to be sure of that? Aarons mind scrambled to catch up. Had he ever said?

Oh. During their first meeting, when hed gone off the script Markus Death had been feeding him.

The princes life is in danger. Orins. There will be an assassination attempt within the next few weeks.

Can I guess who paid the coin?

No doubt.

Is this why you came north?

Maybe it was why Markus had come north. Hed never asked. Not that the boys Death would have answered.

Im not sure, Aaron answered now. But hed get a regency out of it. More, if Connor were to have an accident in the next few years. Do you know of anyone else who stands to gain so much?

No. The Lady played with the chain around her neck, absently running her thumb between keys and ring. But I had an easier time believing it when I thought only Orin would be targeted. A quiet assassination, a tragedy that left the memory of our honorable prince unsulliedthat I could see. Its more how I would handle things than what Id expect of your father, but I could understand it. Even Rose could make sense, though I didnt think he believed her such a threat. But for Connor to be targeted as well

She didnt know. She didnt know that Connor hadnt been targeted, that the youngest prince had been explicitly excluded from the Kindly Souls contract. It made sense for her to assume otherwise. Thered been at least four assassins she knew of, maybe moreif the alarm hadnt sounded early, Orin wouldhave died. If Aaron hadnt been there, Rose would have, too. Four assassins for two targets might seem overkill to the Lady; it was just as easy to imagine that the one whod escaped had been after Connor, and simply never gotten a chance to act.

Clever Hands hadnt been after Connor, though. Theyd decided to work in teams of two for this, so Clev

Would have been after the princess. Right.

Had he been there? Had he seen? Did he know how Gwen died?

A hand settled on his shoulder. It was light, hesitant; when he looked at it, when he traced it back up to the Lady, she almost took it away. But she seemed to steel herself, and gave a squeeze she probably thought was comforting.

None of this is your fault, she said. The king knows that. As do I. Youre doing more than most apprentices of the Late Wake could. More than most would dare to. Because of you, everyone is still alive.

She was entirely and exactly wrong. But he took the gesture as it was meant, and smiled, because he knew how to smile at his cue.

It wont be much longer, she said. Stay out of the Downstheres no need to keep risking yourself like this. When spring comes, well start your journeymans training. Ill teach you to flyeverything looks so small from the sky.

She gave a final squeeze, and let him be. The water was ready. She put in the tea leaves to steep, and let there be silence between them. It was a comfortable silence. Maybe it shouldnt have been, but it was.

Chancellor and Armaan and Gwen stared up at him, as the Lady poured their drinks.

He needed to leave. If Clev knew what hed done, then he was a dead man in Twokins. If anyone in the castle learned who he really was, he was dead here, too.

If Rose knew hed let the assassins in, if she realized shed opened the door for them herself

He took his cup and drank. The Lady had slipped in some anchor root, as well. It helped settle his stomach. She sat in her chair sideways, after dragging up another to perch her feet on. She blew over her own tea. Thats about when Aaron realized hed burned his tongue.

Right.

Setting his cup down, now.

Is he telling the truth? Aaron asked. The duke. Has the prince been doppeled?

Theres no way to tell for certain, she said, her cup clasped in both hands. Not unless he shifts, or lives long enough to start showing changes, or cares to be skinned. Or a dragon with his face turns up, I suppose.

Doesnt it worry you? A rat doppel might bite, or a bat sleep through the winter. But a dragons nature was something else entirely. Territorial, jealous, wrathful. Possessive. Not even Twokins would welcome the prince, if his mind festered in that way.

Ill let it worry me tomorrow, or the next day. Tonight weve enough worries. She sipped her tea. Aednats Cure and anchor root, curing headaches and settling stomachs and making sleepless nights fade away. Sometimes I wish you hadnt sent me that letter, Markus. But its as you said: when theres everything to lose, we must risk all. A lingering death was never mans choice.

He sipped his tea discreetly, burned tongue or no, and did not comment on letters his better half had sent.

Her eyes were back on the no-name painting. I still feel as if were missing something. The Niall Sung I knew would come before the council and ask for justice, certainly; he would not hire assassins to kill children.

Touching.

Aaron froze at the sound of that voice. They both did. It came from behind the rooms door. A door that was opening, as they watched. Not even the Lady seemed to know what to do.

Do continue, my lady. I had no idea you still thought so highly of me. The dukes expression was utterly composed as he shut the door behind himself, civil as can be. The tilt of his dark eyebrows went so far as to suggest that they were the ones in the wrong, not he: after all, who had caught whom gossiping behind noble backs?

Listening long, my lord? the Lady asked, and winter gained a day with the ice in her voice. She stood, setting her tea cup on the table with a very distinct click.

The duke stepped farther into the room. He clasped his hands at his back, and regarded the waterfall painting. His expression was perfectly composed; there was nothing to be read, and nothing worth reading writ in its lines.

Your door was unlocked. In Three Havens, one would never be so careless. An unguarded door is an invitation to unwelcome guests.

His eyes settled on her necklace, and the ring and keys that her hand had frozen around.

She slipped them back into the neck of her dress, and met his gaze steadily. Not everyone wishes to live in Three Havens.

No. Not everyone does. There was silence in the room; the silence of heartbeats too fast, and breaths carefully slow. Of small snaps and pops from the fireplace, and a waterfall forever caught mid-fall. The duke removed his eyes from the painting, and turned around. Are we really going to hold this discussion in front of him?

Him. That would be the mans rather pointed reference to his son, who his eyes summarily dismissed, in the same manner men dismissed dogs skulking in alleys. Aaron felt his spine stiffen on the dead boys behalf.

Markus. Leave.

Stay, the Lady countered. I dont know what discussion you allude to, my lord.

Perhaps you would, if you read your correspondence. A reply would be too much, of course.

It is a great pity, but my hearth was lacking kindling. You couldnt stand for a woman to be cold at night, could you my lord?

Is His Majesty so poor he could not provide a single stick?

The Lady smiled. It was a bright thing, like sun glare off ice. Get out.

The duke did not leave. Convenient, for your fox to die the night my party arrived in the city. Its all the common folk have a head for: the enemy who died, rather than the enemy in line for the throne.

Convenient he was murdered the night before you spoke your facts over kirins bone, the Lady countered.

By tomorrow, no one will believe a word that was said in that room, the man continued. The petition will be thrown out, and in a few months or a year, a dragon will be king.

So what will you do, Niall? Stand here and convince an empty room? There are no ears to hear you, in here.

Liam was right, he said, using the kings name as casual as could be, I do what is best for the kingdom.

Liam wasright. You do what you think best. As do I. As does your king. Who will lead, if Liam and his children die? The Last Reign belongs to the OShea line.

You still believe in stories.

I believe in people. Theres been an OShea on the throne for nearly eight hundred years. You think humanity would survive long if that trust breaks? The south would follow a Sung, but would the enclaves? Would the salts men? The foresters? The capital? Sit the One Kings throne, and it will splinter under you.

The silence of cracking ice spread between them.

Aaron must have moved, or breathed too loud, because the dukes gaze snapped to him.

You have something to add, Markus?

Hed been holding his tea cup in front of him, like some kind of defense. He set it down, with a click much quieter than the womans had made. Only what the Lady has already asked. You should leave.

Aaron had seen the duke from the castle walls. At that height, seated astride his horse and watching over his men, hed seemed unreachable and strong. When Aaron had shadowed him through the halls, he seemed as lofty as men in power always took themselves to be, but not unkind; at least, not unkind to everyone not spying on him from doorways. In the council chamber, there had been flaws in that facade: the dukes hesitation to speak, the way he could not meet Orins gaze. He stood here now, and this was all Aaron could think:

He recognized the man. Hed followed him yesterday as if bewitched, and this was why. He recognized him. Hair and eyes. The way he set his feet on the floor and squared his shoulders. He recognized the man, because the man had the same features, the same dignity, as Aarons own Death.

And Aaron realized something he should have seen from the beginning: his Death looked like him. An older him, to be sure, but him.

The duke had Aarons chin, nose, cheekbones, brow; had the same way of holding his shoulders stiff to keep them from shaking with fear or anger. The man looked like him. Far too much for coincidence to explain. Aaron did not like where those thoughts led; hed been avoiding his resemblance to the mans real son too long to welcome them now.

Aaron stood. He squared his shoulders, uncomfortably aware of how similar his stance was to the dukes. Even their feet rested in mirror images of each other. A low flush rose to his cheeks.

The Lady asked you to go, sir. Please respect her wishes.

Markus, the duke said. This time, his voice carried a warning.

Duke Sung, Aaron replied.

The dukes face was flushed red now as well: and the color made the resemblance between them even harder to miss. His voice was quiet as he spoke: Know your place, Markus. Your lark in the capital ends now. Go to my quarters. Once Ive discussed matters with the Lady, we willdiscuss your loyalties, and whether you will be returning to Three Havens as my son or my bastard.

You will not threaten me, Aaron spoke, his voice low. I saved the princess, and nearly died because of it. I was given the royal red to wear by the crown prince. I remain here at the request of His Majesty himself. I owe no allegiance to you.

Go to my quarters and wait, Markus, or you are no son of mine, Sung said.

I see we have an understanding, then. Aarons hands fisted, with the same fury he saw in the dukes eyes. Now. You have entered the Ladys apartments uninvited: I suggest you leave. The royal guard may be hesitant to lay hands on someone so mighty as yourself, but dont think Id have the same respect.

You would not dare, the duke said.

Aaron shrugged his shoulders, and continued to meet the dukes gaze. Gray on gray. The same color that Markus had been. It was a rare color in the capital. Hed never met anyone else with gray eyes, until hed seen a dead boy in an alleyway. There was an ache growing behind his temples that not even Aednats cure could hold at bay.

The duke seemed to find something in that gaze that settled matters for him.

So be it, he said. I see that you are in fine company, my lady. We will speak another time. Perhaps you will even see fit to respond, the next I send a request for your presence.

Neither of them spoke again until well after the man was gone. Aaron stayed where he was: still standing, still looking at the place the duke had been, though now it was only the waterfall painting on which his eyes fell. There was a title plate set in its frame, but he couldnt read it; his mind refused to turn the lines into letters just now.

It was the Lady that broke the silence.

I wish you were my son. I truly do. There was a sadness to her smile that he could not place. Ill see you tonight, she said.

Tonight, then. Tonight, whatever was meant by that; whatever may come.

For now, for this afternoon: Aaron took his leave. There were questions he needed to know the answers to, and there was only one person he trusted to give them.