Kushiel's Scion - Jacqueline Carey [332]
She looked away. "If she sent Canis, yes. Or she's learned our secrets and is using them to get us to do her bidding. From what I know of her, either could be true." Claudia looked back at me. "I truly don't know, Imriel."
"What did the message mean? 'Do no harm'?" I watched Claudia begin to pace back and forth in the atelier, passing easels with rude charcoal sketches, half-finished paintings. "Name of Elua, Claudia! Canis died before he could explain it to me. A man died for my sake, and I'm owed answers. Do you want me to raise a fuss and start asking questions? Because I will."
"No, don't. Please." Claudia flung herself into the chair in which I'd posed as Bacchus, sighing. "Imriel… the message on the medallion simply meant that a powerful Guild member had placed you under the seal of his or her protection. That you weren't to be harmed by other members. I heeded it and passed it on. Does that satisfy you?" She regarded me. "When you told me about Canis, I assumed someone had appointed him to guard you."
"Someone did," I said. "My mother. He did a good job of it, too, although I don't think he reckoned on having to deal with a riot." I stared at her, thinking. "That's why you didn't think I was in mortal danger from Caccini's thugs? Because of Canis?" Claudia nodded. "How did you know the medallion held a message?"
She made an impatient gesture. "It's one of the signs they use. The Cynics' lamp, only reversed. It pointed left. Most people never notice. You didn't."
"So all this business about the Unseen Guild's threats…" I shook my head. "It was a lie, all a lie. I was never in any danger from the Guild."
"Ah, well." Claudia smiled wryly. "It depends on how powerful is the Guild member who placed their seal on you."
I thought about that, and I thought about Canis. "Powerful enough to send a man willing to die to protect me."
Claudia shrugged. "I'm told men have died for Melisande Shahrizai's sake before."
"Not wittingly," I said. "And not smiling." The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. In the midst of all the Guilds intrigues, there was my mother, cursed and inevitable, squatting like a spider in a web. No wonder they had wanted so badly to recruit me. There was a cold fury singing in my blood. I rose from the stool and paced over to her, putting my hands on the arms of the chair and leaning forward until our faces were mere inches apart. Claudia shrank back in the chair, trapped. I could see her pulse beating under her jaw and smell fear in her sweat. "Where is she?"
"I don't know!" Wet voice broke. "Imriel, please."
"Where?" I shouted.
"I don't know." Closing her eyes, Claudia swallowed. "I swear to you by the Triad, on the lives of my family, I don't know. Only what I've told you."
"But you know who does," I said grimly. "Erytheia, perhaps? Artists travel. Or perhaps the princeps' wife. Or Lady Denise, Terre d'Ange's own ambassadress?" Drawing back, I fished the scrap of parchment out of my purse and thrust it below her nose. "Tell me, is there a hidden message on this!"
Opening her eyes, Claudia took it from me. "No." Her voice was taut as she felt at the edges. "If there was, it's been torn away. I don't… I don't believe Lady Fleurais is involved. I don't know. Not for sure."
I believed her. Abruptly, my anger drained away, leaving me tired. I took the scrap back from Claudia and sat down heavily on the stool, putting my face in my hands.
"Imriel." A softer tone. I lifted my head. "Go home," Claudia said gently. "Go home and wed your Alban princess, and forget about this. You can't win this game. Above all else, the Guild protects itself. You'll lose if you try, and whatever power your mother wields, it won't be enough to save you. Or me. Or the people you love."
"Are you so sure?" I asked bitterly. "Elua! What if she's… what is it? A Heptarch?"
"She's not." Her gaze was steady. "Trust me, if she had that kind of power, her dog Canis would have had a vast