She sat, and Revna took up position at the King’s back, arms folded behind her. A messenger and a guard then. How much of herself had she bargained away to fix what Kasira had broken?
Whatever she had to, Kasira thought.
“I’ll get straight to the point, Assistant,” the King said. “It’s come to my attention that you’re working for my cousin.”
When Kasira didn’t respond, the King gave her an expectant look. She raised her brow, seeking a little of Allaster’s imperiousness. She had power here—if she could figure out how to use it. “Was there a question in there, Your Majesty?”
His lips twitched. “What is the nature of your relationship with Vera Helsen?”
“Nonexistent.” She made a point of not looking at Revna.
“Lying to me, however adeptly, will not go well for you.”
He is not the fool his courtiers have made him out to be, Kasira thought as she weighed her options. She had a feeling the King was playing a game of his own: By acting the mark, people spoke more freely around him, thinking he wasn’t a threat. They didn’t realize that he was aware of every move they made.
King Carthur set aside his drink. “I have no great love for mycousin, and I know she wants more power. She has been that way since we were children. Always seeking another foothold above the last. There is only so much higher she can ascend before she becomes a problem for me.”
“She’s waiting for you to reveal what you have on her, Your Majesty,” Revna said when Kasira remained silent. “She’ll keep letting you talk until you do.”
Genuine surprise flitted across Kasira’s face. She hadn’t realized Revna had paid that much attention to her behavior at camp, hadn’t realized how much her Malik partner knew her. Kasira had thought of her time in the Malikinar as temporary, a means to an end, but it had been much more than that to Revna.
The King grimaced. “Very well. I know that my cousin and Paratal Helvarin visited your battalion for the sole purpose of meeting with you. Shortly thereafter, you deserted the Malikinar, apparently to take Eirlana Corynth’s position as Assistant Librarian. I believe those two events to be connected, and any attempt you make to tell me otherwise, I will consider a lie.”
The King was building up to something, illustrating her precarious position before revealing what he wanted, but she would not divulge the truth about Vera until she understood the full implications of her situation.
“Your cousin made me an offer, but I declined it,” she replied, stalling for time. “She wanted me to take Eirlana’s place at Amorlin as her spy. I decided to take it for myself instead. Which is why she exposed me once she found out.”
The King rose to pace along the curtained windows. “Did she tell you what she wanted you to discover at Amorlin?”
“She did not.”
“I see.” He paused, pulling back a curtain to peer out into the garden beyond. “I would be careful aligning yourself too closely with her. My cousin thinks she’s smarter than she is.”
“In my experience, Your Majesty, most people do.”
A crooked smile bloomed on the King’s lips. “I’d like to offer you a bargain of my own.”
Kasira’s gaze flitted to Revna, seeking some indication of where this was heading, but the woman only stared back at her with the icy stillness of a predator. However things went with the King, Revna would be a problem.
“If the rumors are to be believed,” King Carthur continued, “my cousin is attempting to gather enough evidence against the Librarian to call the Conclave. I don’t care who reigns over Amorlin and supporting the Conclave would help balance out this Yadora marriage business with many of my courtiers. But I’m not in the habit of letting my cousin’s plans come to fruition, and knowing her, she did not reach this point in a, shall we say, appropriate manner.”
He faced Kasira, bright eyes calculating. “I would like you to bring me incontrovertible proof of her illicit activities.”
Kasira kept her expression impassive, even as her thoughts warred. The King would let the Conclave proceed and take the credit for it himself. Either way, the Library lost. Either way, she lost the Library. With Vera, at least she had the certainty of her safety. Or as certain as she could be in a game where she held so little power.
“With all due respect, Your Majesty, however I got here, I am still the Assistant Librarian of Amorlin, not a royal’s spy.” She stood to leave.
“If you refuse, I will tell the Librarian of your meeting with my cousin.”
Kasira stilled, and that was all it took for a smile to grace the King’s lips. “I thought you might not like that. I have a feeling your business with Vera goes deeper than what you’ve claimed, but even if it doesn’t, I can’t imagine you want to give up your position, and I know for a fact Allaster St. Archer isn’t the forgiving sort.”
Kasira knew that too. She was still trying to get Allaster to move past Vera’s revelation. Their trust was tenuous at best right now—it wouldn’t survive this too.
Revna was looking at her strangely now, as if she saw something she didn’t understand. Unsure of what her expression had betrayed, Kasira molded her face back into a blank mask.
“If I do this, I want your word that you won’t pursue the Conclave,”Kasira said carefully. “And I want my criminal record expunged and enough coin to start a new life.” The same things Vera had promised her.
The King regarded her coolly. “High demands from a woman without any bargaining power.”
