It was time for the voiceless to be heard.
Luca led us on a circuitous path through the city, winding through the marchés of the Mews and taking a detour through the Paper City before finally climbing the Échelles toward the palais. But again, we needn’t have bothered. The Husterri waved us into the service courtyard without even double-checking our falsified papers.
“All this for Ecstatica?” I grunted when a middle-aged Huster flipped through my merchant’s charters.
“The coronation of the Sun Heir, mostly,” she said, without looking up.
“That’s a lot for you to handle.”
“You’re telling me.” She handed back the papers. “New platoons of Husterri arriving every day too. New recruits never seem to realize the barracks aren’tinthe palais. If I have to give one more soldat directions through the lower city …”
She mimed slitting her own throat. I laughed, saluted, and turned away before she could see my smile.
New platoons of Husterri streaming into the city might seem like a bad thing. But it was exactly what I’d hoped for. It meant no one would think anything of a few more unfamiliar faces.
Inside, the stables and storehouses were utter mayhem. Artificers and tradespeople and soldats and artisans crowded around in confusion, shouting for supplies and mounts and who knew what else. I was glad we’d boarded the distinctive Belsyre horses at the last inn—there wouldn’t have been any space for them here.
In the chaos, it wasn’t hard to duck behind an outbuilding and quickly shuck off our cloaks. Beneath our disguises, Oleander, Luca, and I all wore replicas of servants’ livery. The two-score Loup-Garou all wore Husterri uniforms, although the real Husterri might be surprised by certain hidden design elements. Most of them, like Oleander, had elected to dye their distinctive Belsyre blond hair in varying shades of red and brown and black.
“Everyone clear on the plan?” I whispered to the wolves. “You’re on your own till we rendezvous at the coronation. Try to split up into pairs and blend in. There are plenty of new gardes in the city, but in case you get caught—”
“Beg pardon, dauphine.” Calvet had begged to be included on this mission, and I was loath to refuse those dimples. Besides—by now I owed him my life several times over. “But a soldat’s a soldat. We all speak the same language: drinking and whoring.”
A few of the other wolves laughed. Calvet flushed.
“Sorry, dauphine—”
I brushed away his apology. “I thank you all. Your service will be rewarded, I promise you.”
In twos and threes, they swaggered out and blended with the crowd. Within moments, it was impossible to distinguish them from the other Husterri. I whistled, quelled my nerves, and turned to Luca and Oleander.
“Ready?”
“To watch you ask people who hate you for massive favors?” Oleander flashed a sardonic smile that reminded me rather desperately of her brother. “It’s my one true wish in the daylight world.”
We ducked into the servants’ entrance and moved through the palais. I vaguely recognized some of the corridors and service stations along the way, but if it hadn’t been for Luca I would have been deeply lost. We stopped by Lys Wing first.
Lullaby barely looked up from a stack of official-looking documents when I walked in, her mouth full of macarons.
“Do you mind?” she snapped. “I told Camille I wanted quiet.”
“Sorry,” I said. “But I’m always regrettably loud.”
She nearly spat out her cookies. “Mirage!”
I laughed, and we embraced. Quickly, I updated her on everything that had happened since I’d left the palais. Her eyes grew wide when I told her about the diamond, the Moon, and my theories about the missing Relic.
“But what if you can’t find it?”
“I’m not even going to try,” I admitted. “All that matters it that Gavin thinks I have it. Speaking of which …”
“It’s been mayhem,” Lullaby said. “I didn’t think it was possible for things to be less organized than when you were Sun Heir—sorry—but the whole city has been in upheaval. Barthet quit immediately after the Ordeals. Lady Marta stayed about a week—I think she wanted to give Gavin a chance, since he’s half Aifiri. Dowser’s been head-to-head with Arsenault since you disappeared. He’s stood against Gavin’s new religious edicts.”
Horror jolted me. “Tell me.”
“He’s been using his Husterri to force conversions everywhere. If you don’t swear the Scion’s Vow, you’re liable to be roughed up, exiled, or even jailed.”
“You—?”
