“I’m a Semira. None of uslikeour spouses.”
What was Jacen supposed to say to someone he had loved and then hurt, not spoken to in years, at a time such as this?
Nothing makes sense anymore. Please forgive me.
I miss you.
He settled on “I’m sorry.”
Seth’s face was unreadable, his red-brown eyes unusually cool, and Jacen did not dare go near his mind. Not just because Seth was trained to protect himself but because he feared what he might find. Feared it might be something like disappointment, or worse: apathy.
Once it was clear Seth had no intention of speaking first, Jacen asked, “When is the wedding?”
“Before the end of the cycle, I imagine. Our fields are failing and we need the Ancarath family to keep bringing in grain shipments, or else people are going to starve. It’s not a wedding; it’s a business contract. Besides, Saraida’s never had any interest in men.”
Seth said this all with an air of abject misery, and Jacen was all too aware he was about to make matters worse. Without the faintest idea how else to broach the dilemma, he pointed at the cat. “Is that one of Neri’s?”
“Probably. They shit in my flowerbeds, but letting them in here keeps them away from Damir.” Seth sat on the edge of his desk to scratch the cat behind its ears. It stirred and made an irritated noise, so he stopped. “I know you’re not here to talk about my nephew’s cats.” Jacen recounted the previous night’s events: the scavenger, the skull, and whispers of a demon powerful enough to burn a god to the bone.
Seth folded his arms. “Go on.”
“Akkani wants to cover it up. She—” Jacen swallowed, shook his head. “Ged takes issue with how your father handled it. He wants to use the demon for a . . . a coup.”
After several seconds had passed, Seth flicked his gaze upward with a sigh. “I suppose that was only a matter of time.”
“I think he believes he can overthrow the gods.” Jacen could scarcely bring himself to utter the blasphemous words aloud.
Seth raised an eyebrow. “Doyoubelieve that?”
“I don’t know.” Jacen answered quickly so he wouldn’t have to dwell on it. “I’m not even sure what I saw. And—you’re taking this rather well.” He was evading the crux of the matter, but Seth needed to understand the full scope of it before he lost his mind. The unsettling lack of hysterics thus far only added to Jacen’s sense that he was about to set off an explosion.
“You’ve met Ged. We Semiras like to think we’re close to godhood.” Seth shrugged. “Are you certain it was a god? Did you see it die? I knowyouthink she’s infallible, but maybe Akkani made a mistake. Or the scavenger misinterpreted what he saw. Can he?—”
“He’s dead,” Jacen said shortly.
Seth had the tact not to press him about that. He knew what Jacen was capable of. “Say you’re correct. What is my dear brother’s plan?” “He’s sending Neri into the canyon,” Jacen said heavily. “He wants him to find the demon.”
Now Seth’s posture went rigid.
“Neri is a weak telepath,” Jacen made himself continue. “Ged expects that the demon will try to use him as a host.”
“A telepath.” Seth drew a long breath and nodded to himself. “I had guessed. I didn’t think anyone else had.” He began to pace. “I just saw Neri saddling up two kirikil with Damir and Casandra. Gods, is that where they’re off to?”
“Ged would send along someone he can control, to ensure Neri makes it through the desert,” Jacen mused. “Someone who would never question him.”
“Damir.” Seth said the name like a curse. “I’m an idiot. I’ve been waiting, justwaiting, for Ged to—” He broke off. “We have to stop them.”
He reached for his sword and baldric on the wall, but Jacen said, “We can’t.” He fought back another pang of guilt at the look on Seth’s face. “Not without alerting Ged.”
“Fuck Ged; I can takeGed.”
“What do you plan to do? Fight him? Fight Damir, and Casandra,andanyone else who happens to be nearby? Involve the Church? We have to be smart about this. We have time. Ged won’t want them to draw attention to themselves either, so they won’t leave until after curfew. One or two people on foot travel faster through the desert than an encumbered kirikil. But—” Jacen hesitated.
“Oh, for gods’ sake, what else aren’t you telling me?”
“Ged is threatening me,” Jacen admitted. “And I have a student now. If I go missing, someone will notice. Ifyougo missing?—”
“Half the Citadel will have something to say about it.” Seth scrubbed a hand over his beard. Perhaps he didn’t trust himself to say more.
