“I know where she was staying,” Ehren said. “And I know the security precautions protecting her. I designed them.”

Amara arched an eyebrow. If that was the case, then it seemed likely that Ehren was serving as Aquitaine’s de facto minister of intelligence. That he was, in effect, the spymaster of what remained of the entire Realm.

He watched her reaction and grimaced. “Gaius sent me to Aquitaine with his last letters. In them, he commanded me to serve him to the best of my conscience, or to inform him that I could not do so and depart, and to do him no harm. And he recommended me to Aquitaine as the most trustworthy Cursor he could pass on, at the moment.”

Amara felt a small pang in her chest at that.

But then, Gaius hadn’t been able to trust her. She’d walked out on her oath. With good reason, perhaps, but the fact remained that she had turned away from his service.

“The same went for Sextus’s physician, by the way,” Ehren said. “Not as though Aquitaine needs one, but you never know. He’s around here somewhere...” The young man shook his head. “I’m sorry, I’m wandering. Too many things going on.” He scrunched up his eyes, and said, “Right. The First Lady. The attack had to be aerial. Any other approach would have garnered too much of a reaction from the furies protecting the inn.”

“How could they have done it at all?” Veradis asked.

“We don’t have unlimited furypower at our disposal,” Ehren said, his voice carrying a slight edge. “The enemy has furycraft, too. We thus have a finite number of secure furies. Many of them had been diverted to protect the majority of the political and military resources of the Realm, which were at the Senate meeting.”

“What are the odds they could have brought the First Lady down anywhere inside the city or encampment without being seen?” Amara asked.

“Bad,” Ehren replied frankly. “She’s been everywhere since the capital. Helped a lot of people. She’s better known on sight among the populace than Sextus ever was.” He sighed and faced Amara squarely. “Aquitaine wasn’t behind it. He couldn’t have done it without me finding out.”

Amara grimaced. “You’re sure?”

“Very.”

“Then it was the enemy,” Amara said.

“It seems likely,” Ehren said. “We know that the vord Queen still controls a cadre of skilled Knights Aeris and Citizens.”

“If the vord have her... if they flew out, they could be miles from here by now,” Veradis breathed.

“Aquitaine is occupied,” Amara said. “And the temptation for him to remain occupied is going to be great.”

Ehren tilted his head to one side, a gesture of allowance, while spreading the fingers of one hand. He looked torn.

“Help us,” Amara said.

“There is a lot more at stake here than one woman’s life,” Ehren replied quietly.