1 State of Grace (21 page)

Chapter 24: Are You a Patriot?

(Twenty-one Hours, Thirteen Minutes before Revelation Day)

May Honeyflower thought her world was turning upside down. When she first met the Urlish ambassador, he’d acted like a babbling idiot. Like most humans, he was completely ensorcelled by her beauty, but he’d acted even more ridiculously than most of them. She had little hopes for him as a diplomat.

Then he’d been almost completely silent during the argument that ensued over dinner. She’d watched him, and he spent a great deal of time rubbing his temples and acting irritated. She’d never seen such behavior from a politician, and, the rude General Blackstone aside, she’d never seen a human official not approach the government without a certain level of deference.

Dasher, though, acted as though he’d rather be anywhere else. He ate his food, contributed nothing to the conversation, and looked miserable.

Then, without warning, he’d exploded with the most impolitic outburst she’d ever heard, dismissed General Blackstone from the negotiations, threatened to have the same done to Minister Lumendrake, and upbraided the entire cabinet for their behavior. And, amazingly, it worked. He so stunned everyone that the president called for new negotiations tomorrow, and everyone was absolutely confused.

Well, not everyone. Lumendrake scowled and protested his treatment, and Silverleaf left immediately.

May had not recovered from her shock, when Dasher did something else that stunned her. He left without saying anything. That was more than she could stand. All of this was just too unusual. She had to know more. So she pursued him.

Dashing out before Goldenfawn could ask her opinion on matters, she found nothing but the guards in the hall.

“Which way did Ambassador Dasher go?” she said.

“He went left,” one of them replied. “It looked like he was following Ambassador Silverleaf.”

May didn’t stay long enough to thank the guard. Some instinct was driving her. She had to know what this was all about.

She went down the hall and turned left at the first junction. She came out into a grand hall with numerous columns. Ahead in the distance, Silverleaf was stalking away, his footfalls echoing up into the high ceiling. Dasher was nowhere to be seen.

May stopped cold. If he’d come left, he couldn’t have escaped her notice. There was nowhere for him to go. Had the guard been wrong? How could he have been?

Just then, she saw something that startled her. Dasher appeared as if from thin air. It was as though he had simply materialized. He ran forward and to his left, clearly in pursuit of Silverleaf. Then he ducked towards a column and into its shadow ... and vanished again! He wasn’t just obscured in darkness. He just disappeared.

May started moving in his direction. Some instinct told her to be cautious. She stayed out of what she hoped was his view but hurried so as not to lose him.

She’d covered half the distance when he suddenly reappeared. Following her instincts, she ducked out of sight behind a column. Dasher moved swiftly down the hall. Silverleaf turned to his left down a different corridor. Dasher increased his speed, practically bolting for the corner. Then he found another shadow, moved into it, and vanished.

May couldn’t believe what she was seeing. This was some sort of magic! But she’d never heard of humans possessing innate magical powers. That left only one possible explanation: Wolf Dasher was a Shadow. And if he was a Shadow, then he doubtlessly was a member of Her Majesty’s Shadow Service. And if that was the case, he was no ambassador.

That explained a lot of his behavior. No trained diplomat would have acted as bored or spoken as frankly as he had.

What it didn’t explain was what he was doing here. It seemed obvious he had some business with Silverleaf, but what?

May felt herself growing angry. How dare the Urlanders not send a real ambassador? She determined to put a stop to whatever Dasher was up to, exposing him if necessary. Setting her jaw, she came out from her hiding place and strode with purpose down the grand hall.

She made no attempt to soften her footfalls. Dasher no doubt first heard and then saw her coming, because he didn’t reappear. He was surely waiting for her to pass.

She reached the turn and went by to the left, pretending to not know he was there. Silverleaf was gone. He was most likely on his way to the chambers in which he stayed while attending to business in the palace. She waited another moment and then turned around.

“All right, Ambassador, show yourself,” she ordered.

She waited for him to comply. Nothing happened. He had to be there. She hadn’t seen him move.

“I mean it, Mr. Dasher,” she said. “I know you’re there. Don’t make me start poking around with my sword to find your exact location.”

Another moment passed. Then the Urlander materialized directly in front of her.

“Captain Honeyflower,” he said. “Fancy meeting you here.”

He smiled amiably at her – as though nothing were out of order. She tried to control her anger.

“An amazing coincidence,” she said without humor. “What are you doing here?”

“I got lost,” he said with an incredibly sincere look of innocence on his face. He was a talented liar. “I was trying to get back to my carriage, but I must have taken a wrong turn.”

May had to steel herself against her anger again. She hated being lied to, and she hated it more when someone insulted her intelligence. She supposed Dasher was in a position where he had to try to lie his way out of the situation, but he was clearly caught. Why couldn’t he just come clean?

“Listen to me, Wolf Dasher, Ambassador from Her Majesty’s Government to Alfar,” she said, trying and mostly succeeding not to sneer. “You were not looking for your carriage. You were surreptitiously following Ambassador Silverleaf back to his quarters, and you were using some form of magic or Shadow ability to remain unseen. You must not have seen me behind you, or you wouldn’t have moved when you did.

“Now either you give me some answers about what you’re doing here, or I’ll arrest you and get my answers via interrogation. Which is it going to be?”

He continued to smile at her. There was a moment when she actually believed he might continue to lie. Then he sighed.

“Well done, Captain,” he said. “And you already have your answers. I was using a Shadow ability to follow Ambassador Silverleaf.”

“Why?”

He flinched a little under her gaze. Good. Her beauty had disarmed him before; maybe it would again.

“I’m not really an ambassador,” he confessed. “I hold the title and the appointment for the moment, but it’s a cover for my mission.”

“Which is?”

“One of our Shadows was murdered outside Al-Adan,” he said.

“Yes, I know. So you’re here to find out who did it and why.”

“Yes,” he replied.

“Then why were you following the ambassador,” she asked.

“Because our agent sent a one-word message to her controller before she was killed: ‘Silverleaf.’”

Was he serious? He was posing as an ambassador to spy on Silverleaf on the basis of a one-word message from a dead Shadow? She supposed he must be, but this was outlandish.

“Captain,” he continued, “our agent was murdered by a Phrygian Shadow named Ravager. He is working for Silverleaf. I have every reason to believe Silverleaf ordered the killing.”

“Why,” she asked.

“Because Ravager tried to kill me on Silverleaf’s orders earlier today, and he teamed with the Sons of Frey to do it.”

“What!”

That was a ludicrous claim. Silverleaf in league with the Sons of Frey? She knew the ambassador well enough to know he would never ally himself with Jifani terrorists.

“Captain, are you a patriot,” Dasher asked.

“What?” she said again.

“I need to know if you are a servant of Alfar or of regulations,” he explained. “So, I’ll ask again: Are you a patriot?”

The question was disturbing. Her loyalty had never been questioned before. But this human didn’t know her, and, she supposed, that was why he needed to ask. He wanted to know where her loyalties lay.

“Yes,” she answered. “I’m a patriot.”

“Then I suggest you come with me,” he said. “This is a bad place to talk, and I have a lot to tell you.”

“Where then?”

“I’ve a safe house not far from the palace. I’ve already got my controller looking into some of the things I’ve found. She may have more information. In the meantime, I can brief you on the way over.”

She stared at him. Once again, his face was entirely sincere. That wasn’t helpful to her, though, since he’d lied to her with the same innocent look.

“Why should I trust you, Mr. Dasher,” she asked.

“Because I’m on your side,” he replied. “Whatever is going on here, and I’m convinced it’s something pretty large, it isn’t good for Alfar.

“Besides, you’ve got nothing to lose. If, after we’ve talked, you think I’m lying, you can just arrest me and let me rot in one of your dungeons. But if I’m telling the truth ...”

She tried not to listen to him. What he was saying was unthinkable. But he was right, and she knew it. If there was even the barest possibility Silverleaf was involved with the Sons of Frey, she needed to look into it.

“
All right,” she said. “Let’s go. But I’m warning you, Dasher, if you make me look like a fool, you will pay dearly for it.”

“Understood,” he said. “And call me, Wolf. Let’s get out of here.”

“Agreed,” she said.

They slipped back down the hall from which they’d come. May felt her whole world continuing to crumble away. Soon, she feared, everything she knew and understood might be gone.

Chapter 25: Briefing

(Twenty Hours, Thirty-six Minutes before Revelation Day)

Kenderbrick looked positively apoplectic. Her pale skin was so red Wolf feared she might faint.

“Let me see if I have this straight,” she said, her tone accusatory. “You said hardly anything all night, and, when you did speak, you insulted every single person in the government, threw an Urlish official out of the negotiations, and then left with no explanation or without attempting to smooth over any ruffled feathers.”

“Well,” Wolf said, “you’re making it sound a little harsh.”

“A little harsh!” Kenderbrick practically turned purple. “You behaved like a jackass! You may have set talks back months!”

“No, I don’t think so,” Wolf said. “The president reacted very favorably. She’s interested in starting things anew tomorrow morning.”

“For God’s sake, Shadow Six,” Kenderbrick shouted, “I told you the president was the least influential member of the government. She can say whatever she likes, but she still has to get support from the conservative faction, and you deliberately pissed them off.”

Wolf was tired and frustrated. He was about to bark back at Kenderbrick, when Honeyflower stepped in.

“Ms. Kenderbrick, if I may,” she said. “What Mr. Dasher said was impolitic, but it was also very true. In fact, I think it may be exactly what was needed. Everyone at the table was shocked by his outburst, but I observed numerous officials nodding in agreement to his statements. I could be wrong, but I think a number of officials will be much readier to talk – even emboldened to try new ideas – now that this has been said. If enough of them support Mr. Dasher’s thoughts, it could effectively nullify the conservatives. He did things in a very unorthodox way, but I think Mr. Dasher caused a breakthrough tonight.”

Kenderbrick sighed. Her shoulders slumped, and her skin became less flushed.

“Shadow Six,” she said, “you do understand that your cover on this mission is as a diplomat, right? You can’t just go crashing around like some sort of enraged bull and expect to get results. At the very least, you will blow your cover. At the worst, you’ll do serious damage to our position in Alfar. The risk you took may have paid off this time, but the next one may backfire. You’ve got to start being more careful.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

He was still irritated. He wasn’t a diplomat. This cover was next to impossible, and he had something else he was supposed to be doing here. Speaking of which ...

“Have you learned anything on what I gave you,” he asked.

“I have,” she said, hesitating. She flicked her eyes at Honeyflower.

“Please continue,” he said. “I brought her here, because I think we need to share information.”

Kenderbrick sighed again. Wolf had the impression she wasn’t used to Shadows who went outside the lines as much as he did. He shrugged. He got results. If she didn’t like how he did it, that was her problem.

“All right, here’s what I know,” she said. “Yevgeni Tupelov is a hard-line Phrygian general. He’s bloodthirsty, rash, and has openly fought the politburo on multiple foreign policy issues. He’s currently in charge of all forward divisions in Pushkingrad. He’s made no statements we know regarding Jifan or Alfar. However, his hatred of Urland and desire to move from a cold war to a real one is well documented. The consensus among our observers is the Phrygians stationed him on their border with Jifan because they don’t think he can cause any trouble there.”

“Excuse me,” Honeyflower said, “but what has this to do with your investigation of Ambassador Silverleaf?”

“While I was at Silverleaf’s villa two nights ago, I discovered a communiqué from General Tupelov,” Wolf explained. “It asked for a meeting. Silverleaf’s mistress told me the two met on several occasions.

“What about Ravager,” he asked, returning his attention to Kenderbrick.

“Everything is largely as you report it,” she said. “So far as we know, he has only one Shadow ability, but it is a devastating one. He is capable of creating, for lack of a better phrase, Shadow creatures of varying size. These monsters all have ravening mouths that tear the flesh from any living thing they contact. His profile suggests he is a sadist and most likely a psychopath. At the very least, he seems to enjoy killing.

“There is some discrepancy on his current assignment. He is officially assigned to Major Boris Davidov, the section head of the PDB in Pushkingrad, but he has not been seen there for some time, nor does he seem to have a controller. He is most often in the company of Silverleaf, but he has also been spotted in Jifan with General Tupelov.”

“Silverleaf claimed he was a defector,” Wolf said. “Is there any truth to that?”

“There doesn’t appear to be,” Kenderbrick said. “I suppose it might be possible, but the latest intelligence from the PDB suggests he is still listed as an active agent. To be sure, Phrygia isn’t going to openly admit any of its Shadows defected, but it would be unusual to keep his status as active.”

Wolf thought for a moment. Everything Kenderbrick told him appeared to damn Silverleaf further, but it still didn’t create a picture he could understand. It seemed Silverleaf was working with a mad Phrygian general, a psychotic Shadow, and a Jifani terrorist. However, there was still no evidence of what he was doing.

“What does it all mean?” Honeyflower said, as though she had read Wolf’s mind.

“I wish I knew,” Kenderbrick answered.

“Did you find out anything else about Silverleaf’s background,” Wolf asked. “Maybe there’s a clue there.”

“Yes and no,” Kenderbrick said. “What I learned was that every single one of Silverleaf’s wartime compatriots has been arrested and accused of treason.”

“What?” Honeyflower said. “How did I not know this?”

“And how did he become ambassador if everyone he worked with was accused of treason?” Wolf added.

“Because,” Kenderbrick said, “it was Silverleaf who had them arrested.”

Honeyflower looked astonished. Wolf was alarmed by the implications of Silverleaf’s actions and the fact that the chief of security in Alfar didn’t know about them.

“I still don’t understand how I could not have known this,” Honeyflower said.

“I’m not surprised, Captain Honeyflower,” Kenderbrick said. “Silverleaf’s been very careful. He’s had other people issue the orders or call in the tips. In fact, you personally arrested three of the suspects. But in every case, the accusations can be traced back to Silverleaf.”

No one said anything for a minute. Wolf chewed on the thought.

“There’s only one reason for Silverleaf to do that,” he said. “Clearly, these people know something about him he doesn’t want others to learn, particularly the other members of the coalition government. In fact, it’s highly likely if whatever these people knew got out, he wouldn’t have gotten his appointment to ambassador, or he could have it stripped from him now.”

“But what could it be,” Honeyflower wondered. “The ambassador has always acted in the best interests of Alfar.”

“I’m not sure that’s true, Captain,” Wolf said. “But regardless, we need to consult with these people. Kenderbrick, where can they be found?”

“Well, that’s another problem,” she said. “Most of them are dead. Executed.”

“Treason is the only crime in Alfar that carries the death penalty,” Honeyflower mused. “Elves consider killing barbaric, and capital punishment is an horrendous idea to us. Betraying our people, though, is seen as worse.”

“So Silverleaf accuses his former colleagues of the only crime that can get them executed, so they won’t be able to talk,” Wolf said.

“So it would appear,” Honeyflower said. Wolf turned his attention to Kenderbrick again.

“Kenderbrick, you said ‘most’ of them were dead,” he said. “How many are still alive?”

“Only one,” she answered. “Hosni Nightshade. He’s imprisoned in Hammerdown Prison in the heart of Al-Adan. He’s awaiting execution.”

“We need to talk to him before that happens,” Wolf said. “Arrange an appointment for me.”

“What? How?” she exclaimed.

“I don’t know,” he said, exasperated. “I’m an important foreign official. There must be some way to swing it.”

“I don’t know about that,” Honeyflower said. “But I am the captain of the Elite Guard. I can arrange for interviews with prisoners.”

“Do it,” Wolf said. “We need to talk to this guy before he takes his secrets to the grave.”

“I will,” Honeyflower said.

“In the meantime,” Kenderbrick said, “you need to get some rest, Shadow Six. You have negotiations tomorrow. I want you as fresh as possible, so you can be effective.”

“But I have other matters—”

“That can wait,” Kenderbrick interrupted. “Captain Honeyflower will arrange an interview for you. Until that happens, there is nothing else you can do. That means you need to keep to your cover.”

“I am afraid, Ms. Kenderbrick is correct, Wolf,” Honeyflower said. “I will arrange the meeting for you, and I will keep an eye on Ambassador Silverleaf when he is not in the meetings. Perhaps I can learn something useful. I’ll apprise you of whatever I learn as soon as I am able.”

Now it was Wolf’s turn to sigh. Both women were right. There was nothing more he could do.

“All right,” he said. “We’ll do it your way. It’s late anyway. I’ll see you tomorrow, Captain.”

“Good night, Wolf,” Honeyflower said. “We’ll speak again tomorrow.”

So saying, she left. Wolf looked at Kenderbrick. For the first time, she looked at him sympathetically.

“I know Sara was a friend of yours,” she said. “I know you want to bring her killer to justice. You’ll get the chance. I promise you.

“Get some sleep, Shadow Six. You’re going to need your wits about you at the negotiating table, and you’ll want to be rested when there’s a break in the case, so you can act.”

He nodded. Disconsolately, he went to bed.