Pax tensed beside me but I maintained my composure.
“And who is she supposed to have murdered?” I asked calmly, using his own words to frame the question.
“My beloved grandson, Bade,” he replied and I hated to admit that there actually seemed to be a bit of grief behind the old man’s eyes.
From the corner where she stood behind him, Myrine’s lower lip wobbled.
“As I understand it, Bade attacked Olympia as she was returning home last night,” I announced.
Cosmo’s gaze sharpened at that. It seemed I held a piece of information he wasn’t pleased I’d gotten.
“Who told you that?” he asked, which I noted wasn’t a denial.
“Olympia,” I replied.
“Impossible. My men retrieved her early this morning where she’d crawled down onto the Third to recover from her wounds. She couldn’t have come to tell you anything.”
“I didn’t say she had.”
He frowned at me, clearly unhappy about my vague indications that I knew more than he thought and wasn’t willing to tell him how. For a moment, we simply glared at one another, neither of us willing to give up the ground necessary to progress the conversation at hand.
“A son of the First Ring is dead, Milo,” Cosmo said slowly after a moment of silence. “Blood spilled means blood owed, you know that.”
“She defended herself,” I argued.
“I suppose we’ll let the Tribunal decide that. Unless, of course, you intend to reconvene your blasphemous little council to see to your cousin’s fate? I don’t think you’ll find the minor houses as agreeable to that as they were before.”
His gaze narrowed in an attempt at intimidation that had me clenching my jaw to keep from exploding and telling the vile old man exactly what I’d always thought of him. Instead, I maintained my composure long enough to give a curt nod.
“We’ll convene the original Tribunal, then,” I agreed. “When?”
“Five days.”
“Five—you intend to keep my cousin wrongfully imprisoned for five days?”
“Wrongfully is yet to be determined. As I said, it isn’t safe to let her roam the streets. What if she were to come after yet another member of my family?”
Every muscle in my body was rigid as I glared down at the Viper Patriarch who seemed to have an answer for everything.
“You’ll allow us to see her,” I demanded. I would not take no for an answer on this. “Every day. You’ll let us visit her to ensure she’s being treated properly while in your care.”
“Youmay visit her once a day,” Cosmo allowed, gesturing between Pax and I. “One of you and no one else.”
I frowned but agreed with a nod. It was likely the best offer I was going to get and, since my cousin had wasted no time turning herself into the Vipers, she hadn’t left me very many bargaining chips to offer in our negotiations. He already held her here, condemned for a crime I was certain she’d committed, surrounded by angry members of the victim’s family who’d be all too happy to slit her throat themselves. I needed to tread carefully here. As much of a risk that this was to the peace of the city itself, it was a question of my cousin’s own safety. I had no intention of mourning my own loss if I could help it.
“We’ll see her now, then,” I announced, raising my head high though fully aware I’d lost this round miserably.
Cosmo grinned fiendishly back at me, eyes alight with the same understanding, before nodding once to his daughter who stepped forward to escort us to my cousin’s cell.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Olympia
Five days.
That was how long I’d been held here and how long Milo and Pax had informed me I would be until the Tribunal could be called and a trial arranged. My prison wasn’t as bad as it could have been, and certainly not as bad as I knew Cosmo could make it. A well-furnished room complete with full bed, attached bathroom, and empty closet, dressers, and vanity table served as my cell. It was comfortable, though drenched in a sickening emerald. They’d taken out all the clothes and cosmetics and removed any wall fixtures or mirrors I could disassemble or break to create a weapon. They’d been thorough. I imagined I had Myrine to thank for that.
She was the only member of the family who ever came to my room. I knew some of Dante’s cousins must stand watch beyond the door but they never dared to enter or see to any of my needs. That task was reserved for Myrine alone and she completed them with an averted gaze and a grimace. Her attitude, more than any other condition of my imprisonment, grated on me until I could no longer take it.
