Ludwig shook his head. “What does it matter the reason? You’ll never find proof of what he did. He’s too powerful, has too many connections…”
“I can stop him. We’re going to get revenge for Elias, remember?”
Ludwig lowered his hand to his side. “I thought I could change things, but I was wrong. I’m rotten to the core, and he used my own wickedness to get what he wanted. People like me don’t win; there’s no justice.”
“We can; we’re so close.” Liane reached through the bars, fingers grasping, hoping if she could just touch him, he’d see reason.
“I’ve been using stardust. It’s too late for me.”
Her knees turned to jelly as she crashed onto the floor. “You’re using? How?”
Ludwig wouldn’t face her. “At first, I wanted to find answers, figure out who was pulling the strings at court, in the City Watch. But they wouldn’t trust me, so I took it once, and that led to another and another. It made me powerful, impossibly so. I could do anything despite fatigue or injury. And stranger yet, I didn’t wither like others, and my quirks led me to Heinrich; by then, it was too late, and I couldn’t stop…”
Liane glanced at his injured leg. That was who killed the apothecarist on a bad leg. Suddenly he was in front of her, standing at the bars of the cell, grasping them. Liane jumped back, startled, and then regretted it at the shame in his expression.
“I—” He choked on his words. Frowned and then tried again. “I wanted you to see me. I wanted you to hear.”
Liane blinked in confusion, then realization slowly dawned on her. Last night at the club, Ludwig had known she was following him. He’d led her there.
“What do you know?”
“Ca—” he choked. “T—”
Perspiration covered his brow, as he slumped onto the ground, head in his hands.
Something was keeping him from talking, but what could stop him? What more did he have to lose? He was already in prison. Unless it wasn’t fear that was holding him back, but magic.
Ludwig clenched the bars until his knuckles turned white as he looked at her, trying to convey some message with his eyes. Heinrich was plotting something during the Sun Ceremony. Stardust was giving Ludwig and perhaps others special powers… A coup. It had to be; he’d always resented his place second to Aristea. He’d been trying to conceive an heir… Her stomach churned at the thought. But that didn’t explain where stardust fit in to his plot…
“We need to talk,” Captain Rosen said.
“Can’t you see he’s innocent?” Liane said.
“He’s already confessed to killing the opera singer and plotting with elves in a coup. We cannot strike those confessions from the record, not when a member of the royal family has already made the accusations.”
Ludwig looked at Liane with a stricken gaze before turning away. Words would never be enough, not if Heinrich had pointed the finger first. She had to hope her witness was enough to turn the tides and save Ludwig.
With resistance, Liane left Ludwig in his cell and followed Captain Rosen up the stairs and back to her office. Less than a week ago, she’d been summoned here after being discovered in the ruins. It seemed lifetimes away. Captain Rosen offered her a seat, and Liane’s legs practically collapsed under her after climbing so many stairs.
“I have evidence now. I found Heinrich’s mistress. She’ll confess to their affair and maybe we can question her, find proof of Heinrich’s involvement somehow…” Liane said, the words spilling out of her but even as she said it, she knew it wasn’t enough. His mistress had already told her she didn’t know anything.
Captain Rosen didn’t react to her words at all and instead stared out the window which faced the mountain range behind the palace.
“Do you know why I asked you to help me find the traitor?”
“Because you suspected my guard?” Liane prompted. Feeling bitter and angry at Heinrich, at Ludwig, at Captain Rosen for using her like a pawn.
“No. Because you are not swayed by Heinrich’s charms like the rest of court.”
Liane snorted. “Heinrich is far from charming.”
“Isn’t he? Why else would Princess Aristea stay with him, despite his infidelity? Why does your empress side with her son-in-law over her daughter?”
“Do you think I know?” Liane snarled.
“You’re not listening!” Captain Rosen turned to face her at last. Her expression carved from marble as her voice rose scolding Liane, and partially quenching the flush of impetuous anger that had flared in Liane. She felt like a single raw exposed nerve. If Captain Rosen didn’t get to her point soon, she might explode again and lose her chance to save Ludwig.
“Then what do you want from me!” Liane asked between clenched teeth.
