Steelhands - Jaida Jones [209]
There was a madness in his eyes, I realized. Something frenzied that he was only keeping in check by his enormous will. Surely he didn’t think he could carry on this way? But then, presumably that was the problem: he believed himself capable when he no longer was. It was our duty—the Esarina’s duty—to convince him of the truth. Barring that, it would be our duty to depose him.
“Hello, Antoinette,” the Esar said, coming forward through the pathway his guard had opened up for him. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to see you. I told Troius he couldn’t expect to hold you for long, but he seemed very confident. I suspect he knows what these men do not: that you need blood to work your little Talent. Clever bluff, as always. You’re very frightening when you want to be. I might even have believed it myself, though I, of course, know better.”
“I do not reason with madmen,” Antoinette said, turning her face to the side. “Despite how long I have chosen to stay in Thremedon. Your words are wasted on me.”
“Then I will speak to the Esarina,” the Esar said. “Discover what lies you’ve poisoned her with. Imagine my mistress and my wife, conspiring together against me.”
“It’s happened to other men before,” Antoinette said darkly. “With some success, even.”
“And a member of my old Dragon Corps, I believe,” the Esar added, glancing quickly at me. He still had a discerning eye; I would give him that. “It was only a matter of time before you turned against me. You loathed submitting your personal wills to a master. It’s why, despite how useful your training was, I could never include you in my new plans.”
“Oh, yes,” Antoinette said. “It’s so wise to surround yourself with agreeable lackeys rather than people willing to tell you when your plans are pigheaded and disastrous. That’s how all good empires come to an end, you know.”
“She always does this.” The Esar sighed. “She says she will not speak to me, then offers her opinions despite her promise. I’m afraid there’s no point in arguing, in any case. You know as well as I how this looks. It is my duty to arrest you as traitors to the crown. Please do not attempt to resist. I have more than the soldiers you see here at my disposal, and let me make it perfectly clear—the three of you are not their equal in combat.”
If only Ghislain had been with me, I thought, then we could have made a proper distraction, while the Esarina and Antoinette used one of the secret tunnels as a getaway. But I was the only member of the Dragon Corps in the room, and I still knew—because my years of training under Adamo would never leave me—that I had to defend my country, against all odds. Even if it had been just me and Anastasia left fighting over the Lapis capital, I would have done so until the bitter end. Did I consider myself too important to make the same sacrifice the other men had?
Of course not.
“I cannot allow that,” I said. Antoinette and I had flanked the Esarina. At least I didn’t have to consider myself alone in my efforts.
“Truly,” the Esar said, “what do you believe you will accomplish?”
“What we have to accomplish,” Antoinette replied.
“I would prefer to hear my wife say this,” the Esar said. He took a step closer, and his guard followed suit, closing in on us from both sides. They were blocking all possible exits. I was going to have to make a dent in their ranks somehow, with no weapons, and the odds stacked against me. I only wished I’d been blessed with a more imposing build.
Nonetheless, if I could not look as intimidating as Ghislain, then I would have to act as intimidating. If I believed myself, perhaps I could convince a few others to believe me.
“We will do what we have to do,” the Esarina complied. “They say you kidnapped children for this task.”
“It was necessary,” the Esar said.
“And the treaty with the Ke-Han?” the Esarina asked.
The Esar waved a heavily ringed hand. “Would you have them betray us first? These are my precautions.”
“And these are mine,” the Esarina replied.
The Esar sighed; he’d known all along it would come to this,