In this way, Karl explained in a voice full of regret and anger, he had learned the true reason he had been hired to protect her: for the sake of the riches she would unlock once she was of age.

He had cupped her face in his hands then, assuring her he could never allow her to suffer the awful fate that had befallen her predecessors. She would not, as she had been taught to believe, ascend bodily to Heaven after entering the Ship of the Covenant. Instead, she would become someone else entirely, and then die a miserable, painful death.

She had clung to him, hot tears burning a path down her cheeks, as he promised to take them both somewhere far away from Redstone, where no one could ever find them.

But to do so, he had warned, might require drastic measures possibly very drastic indeed.

Karl gave out a sigh of relief as Gabrielle reconfirmed her willingness to aid him in his plan. She would help him murder the whole of the Demarchys inner circle, rather than allow them to take her life, and then the two of them would finally make their escape.

Im glad to hear you say that, he said, with a strange half-smile that left her feeling unsettled, without really knowing why.

But what happens afterwards? Gabrielle demanded. You havent told me how were even going to get ourselves off-world. What if Thijs sends your own soldiers out looking for us . . . ?

He pressed a finger to her lips. Ive made arrangements, Gabrielle. Believe me, theres no possible way anyones going to stop us. He grinned, and she again felt that same curious unease as she returned his gaze, as if someone else were hiding behind his eyes. I promise you this, though, he added, theyll never know what hit them. Literally.

Karl slipped out of her bedchamber not long after. She let herself fall back against the pillows and closed her eyes, thinking of Karls seed now deep within her body.

She wondered why she had yet again failed to tell him about the new life growing inside her. Its one less thing for him to worry about, before we escape, she assured herself. But another part of her knew that she was just afraid to tell him she was pregnant strangely fearful of how he might react.

Mater Cassanas stepped back into the room, her mouth pinched tight and her eyes refusing to meet her mistresss. She moved around the bedchamber, picking things up and then putting them down again, making a show of tidying up but without really achieving anything.

I dont know what youre planning, Cassanas said finally, her voice tight with emotion, but Ill tell you this: youre making a mistake in trusting Petrova. Hes an evil man, with evil intentions . . . you have no idea