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Gerard didn’t even try to hold back his snort of contempt. “That is easily disprovable rubbish. Call in any Gilded Wizard, and they will confirm to the council that I am under no magical influence whatsoever, regardless of this performer’s claims.”

“The gods have spoken!” growled Rapenthe.

“This is a waste of our time.” Gerard spoke even louder, allowing impatience to lash through his voice like a whip. “If the gods wished to convey a true message to the Emperor, we all know They would choose Their own holy high priestess, sitting just beside him, to deliver it.”

Heads swiveled around the room, looking to the Imperial high priestess for a response to that challenge. She offered no answer to any of them but an unaltered smile, her downturned gaze calmly fixed on the hands that she had crossed in her lap.

“The gods move in mysterious ways,” Otto muttered, with a quick, surreptitious glance of his own at his younger sister. “Clearly, we all have much to discuss and consider. For now, though…” His gaze flicked warily between the two standing figures of Gerard and Rapenthe. “I’ll call tonight’s meeting to a close. We’ll all convene again tomorrow, no doubt.”

“Your Majesty.” Gerard bowed in assent, but he couldn’t ignore the itch of warning in the back of his head as he witnessed a long, wordless look pass between Otto and the Purifier … and then a silent exchange of nods.

What would Lorelei, who so hated the Emperor, expect to happen next if she were here?

It was Gerard’s fervent hope that Otto did not actually share Rapenthe’s malevolent beliefs, much less trust the man’s ludicrously self-serving claims of an overarching holy mission unknown to any actual priests of the gods. If Otto saw Rapenthe as no more than a useful tool, then with time and patience, he could eventually be convinced to drop the whole hateful political strategy, as Gerard had originally planned.

But if Otto nourished private intentions of continuing tonight’s meeting with Rapenthe without any powerful dissenting voices there to observe and object … then, it suddenly occurred to Gerard, there might not actually be as much time left as he’d imagined.

Those royal guards outside had been uncharacteristically evasive in their answers to his questions. His own soldiers were still at least a full day’s march away from the capital.

He had handed over his sword.

Perhaps it made him a traitor after all to imagine that his ruler would ever partake in any of the dark, unethical scenarios whirling now in the back of Gerard’s mind—but only a fool would carelessly disregard any suggestions from the cool-headed Queen of Nornne. So, as he straightened from his bow, he raised his voice to halt all the other councilors who were rising from their seats. “If I may have a moment…”

Otto’s brows lowered, but he waved his assent, and the room went obediently still.

If Lorelei was right—and he’d learned at last to respect her instincts—this might be Gerard’s final chance to make a stand. So he chose his words with care, even as he began to mentally plot the safest and swiftest path back to his villa after this meeting. “My loyalty to our empire is steadfast.” Regardless of what his parents had done, he had fought to prove himself for years, and he saw grudging acknowledgement of that truth in every face turned towards him now. “My record speaks for itself, as do the honors Your Majesty has granted me. When you first appointed me to this role, I swore to Jovar Himself, before all the world, that I would follow my vow as your high general to serve and stand in all your citizens’ defense.”

Otto’s face tightened into a suspicious frown. “And what exactly is all that supposed to preface, General de Moireul?”

“It means,” Gerard said gravely, “that I will not allow a simple misunderstanding around my own personal movements to be used as an excuse for any acts of violence or whipping up of hatred against innocents now. Nor will I ever, under any circumstances, agree to lead troops against our own citizens, humans or nonhumans alike. Furthermore…”

He turned his gaze to look with chill disdain upon Rapenthe’s ominous glower. “I will never allow any of my soldiers to engage in hateful acts of so-called ‘Purification,’ even outside our own borders. I certainly hope that everyone here can agree”—he turned his head in a slow, watchful sweep of the room and saw gazes drop guiltily away from him on all sides—“that such hypothetical events would be despicable and unjustifiable under any circumstances. However…”

Finally turning back to Otto, he met his emperor’s rage-filled gaze and invested his own expression with all the grim, unyielding determination that he felt … the same determination that, as they all knew, had won seemingly impossible battles again and again over the years. “If Your Majesty truly believes that this statement of intent disqualifies me from my position in your service, then I will regretfully but obediently tender my resignation tonight. Then, to avoid any possible confusion, I will make it clear to every newspaper in the Empire exactly why I did so.”

His final words fell like stones into a deep, dark well from which there would be no returning. No diplomatic rephrasings from now on could ever return him to the Emperor’s favor … and Otto had always had a dangerous thirst for revenge.

Thank Jovar Lorelei had insisted upon that mirror-box device for magical communication being planted in Gerard’s Fioran villa. With luck, he wouldn’t need to call for an urgent portal to safety … but from the moment he reached his own home tonight, he would make certain to have it in hands’ reach at all times, just in case.

… If he made it that far. For a single heartbeat, Gerard wondered whether Otto might actually lose control and physically lunge at him in front of everyone.

But then, even more unnervingly, the fury abruptly vanished from the Emperor’s face, replaced by a broad, indulgent smile.

“Ah, General. You have had a difficult week of it, haven’t you? There’s no need to rant at any of us about absurdities like resignation after all your famous honors and achievements. Everyone here knows how hard you’ve worked for so long, and how weary you must be by now! In fact…”

Rising to his feet, Otto reached up to clap Gerard companionably on one shoulder, his eyes glinting with a nearly manic cheer. “Instead of dragging yourself all the way back to your own humble villa tonight, why don’t you bunk down in some real luxury, for once? Let’s put you up in one of the suites reserved for royal guests! You’ve certainly earned that treatment by now, haven’t you?”

“Ah…” Jovar’s hells! Gerard’s mind raced as he fought to keep his tone uninflected. “I thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty, but there is no need for such an honor. I find the short walk to my home quite invigorating, so…”

Otto’s fingers curved around Gerard’s arm and squeezed tightly to cut him off. “Oh, no, I insist.” Bared teeth showed in the Emperor’s ferocious smile. “I won’t hear any more protestations. After all, a man with your famous record of achievements deserves all the honors and protection the Empire can devise. In fact, I believe I’ll even station a few of my own men outside your room tonight to guard your sleep and make certain that no more ‘misunderstandings’ can occur!”

Forgive me, Lorelei. I should have believed you sooner.

Gerard looked into the face of the man he had loyally served for years and saw the promise of his own demise.

How had he ever convinced himself that he could talk this petty, vengeful man into pardoning the former high priest? There certainly wouldn’t be any such mercy for himself.

For the first time in years, his grandmother’s words rang once more in his ears—the words she’d spoken to him in judgement as they’d witnessed his own parents’ execution: “This is the price of weakness and treason.”