To keep everyone safe, a secret agreement was reached between the Everards and the Demarrs.
“Publicly, the Demarrs are cool toward Selva and hold themselves as if the Sleepless Duke is the necessary evil they must endure to guard the border,” I said. “Privately, Solentine aids Everard in his ambitions using the Shears, at least for now. In return, if the Demarrs need help, Everard will come to their aid.”
“Good to know,” Reynald said.
While we’re on the subject . . .I handed him a small envelope.
“What is it?”
“Leverage against Solentine. If something happens to me, and you suspect the Shears are involved, you can use this to pressure him.”
Reynald studied the envelope. “Can I look at it?”
I nodded.
He opened the envelope, freed the single piece of paper inside, and read it. His eyebrows crept up.
Yeah. Solentine regretted a few things he had done in his life, but he was only ashamed of one. That one.
Reynald slid the paper back into the envelope.
“Solentine is very dangerous,” I said. “You’re the superior swordsman, but he has magic, and he won’t meet you head-on. He’s more likely to shoot you in the back and call it a day.”
“He wouldn’t be the first to try.” Reynald shrugged, then frowned. “You said Solentine supports Everard for now. Does he switch his allegiance?”
“Yes.”
“To Hreban?”
“No. Not at all. The Demarrs go at it alone.” And it would become their undoing.
“What causes the rift?”
Now that I’d met Solentine, I could picture it in my head, him standing in the middle of a terrible battle, splattered with blood and screaming. It would be a wordless, horrible howl, the sound of grief and rage so awful that it had to be vented or it would’ve torn him apart.
“Solentine is loyal to his family, while Everard is loyal only to Selva. The Sleepless Duke makes a choice that Solentine can’t live with.”
Reynald nodded, his expression thoughtful. “Makes sense. Only a fool expects loyalty from a man who salts fields and burns villages to the ground.”
Loyalty among the Great Families was a touchy subject. Some, like Bors, inspired it. Others, like Hreban, ruled through intimidation and money.
“There is also this.” I passed another folded piece of paper to him.
Reynald looked at it. “What language is this?”
“It’s the Shears’ cypher.”
“What does it say?”
“‘Don’t get into the carriage. Krasta has magic, and he’s fast with a knife.’”
“Is that a warning for Solentine?”
I nodded. “He’s getting desperate to find the source of iron. He took a shortcut and crossed a kir from the of Tangle.”
Kir meant a gang boss, and as criminals went, Krasta was one of the more vicious. Curiously, kir also meant “sergeant” and there was probably some deep meaning in that.
“What happens if he gets into the carriage?”
