Page 118 of Given to the Black King

“You could have told me.”

“I was ordered⁠—”

“You could have told me.”

Callas has no answer.

She pulls a blank sheet toward him.

“You will write what you just said. Every name. Every instruction. The financing. The delay. Both marriage contracts.”

“That will destroy the committee.”

“Yes.”

“It may bring down the government.”

“Then perhaps the next one will learn to ask before using a woman as border security.”

Callas looks at the blank page.

“My career ends.”

“The coast faction already ended it,” Iona says. “They only neglected to tell you.”

His eyes move over the docket, the covering slip, and the three notes. He sees the shape of his survival at last: not innocence, only usefulness made public before Speaker Reth can bury him.

“If I give you every instruction,” he says, “you preserve Serath from invasion while the inquiry proceeds.”

“If the river and orchard blocs keep the peace,” Iona says.

“And my testimony travels before theirs.”

“Yes.”

He looks at her for a long moment. “I will not ask you to pay one more price for what I was too afraid to refuse.”

His hand reaches for the pen before Iona answers.

Perr puts the pen in front of him.

Callas writes.

While he does, Iona returns to the notes.

“Who can carry copies to the companies?” she asks.

“Riders under white cloth,” Ghenn says. “If Osk lets them through.”

“He will. He thinks he has already paid the captains.”

“What do we offer?”

“Safe withdrawal before battle. They keep their weapons. We certify the coast notes as disputed instruments and preserve their claims against the houses that issued them.”

“You can certify that?”

“I am Serath’s accredited envoy until the delegation crosses the border or Callas removes me in writing.”