Ganymede frowned. “Andō asks permission every time they discuss my assassins with any breathing soul.”

Perry gave a tired smile. “Then I envy Andō, having time to visit you so often.”

The Duke President glared, and glared more when he caught a smirk on Andō’s face. “Levity has no place in this. Every person who knows is that much more danger.”

“Andō has told their allies, I told mine.”

“Seven Board Directors is not fifty-plus unstable coalition allies.”

“It was the right call,” Perry insisted. “It’s smoothed everything. I finally have Parliament in hand, really in hand. Now that they know I can call on a power like that, they snap to like a Familiaris in front of MASON!”

“You will not reveal O.S. to anyone else without my express permission. Ever.”

Perry sighed his consent. “I’ll check with you whenever I can, but sometimes I need the extra leverage at a moment’s notice.”

“Ever,” Ganymede repeated.

“I’ll do my best. I’ll always tell you afterward.”

“You will find your own means to keep your house in order, or I shall send a housekeeper.”

Perry’s eyes glittered coldly between their nests of care-lines. “I’ll thank you to leave Europe to the European.”

At that the Duc de la Trémoïlle rose to his feet like wrathful dawn. “Your presence in my house is a privilege, Perry. You advise me on the use of my assassins as a privilege. You access my ba’sibs at Madame’s as a privilege. You keep your precious coalition and your seat because I refrain from calling a few friends to say I am tired of you. I do not need to threaten to expose how you used Ziven Racer to oust Spain from office; I can unseat you by hinting that I wish it so. You will not insult me ever again. And you will not speak of my O.S. to any breathing being.”

The Prime Minister drew slow breaths, staring up at backlit Ganymede, whose blazing mane turned his pale face to silhouette, like the moon at the eclipsing of the sun. What is that that Perry swallows down now? Words? Or pride? “Yes, Your Grace.” He bowed his head. “I’m sorry. I’ll never do anything like it again.”

The eclipse passed. “You will supply me with a list of everyone who knows, and you will not question how I choose to deal with them.”

“Of course, Your Grace.” Not quite all pride was swallowed. “Doesn’t Andō get a chiding too?”

Blue diamond eyes flashed murder. “What for?”

“Me telling my allies caused nothing, just stability. Shanghai and Beijing brought traitors into the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash’ itself! It was Andō’s job to vet the Mitsubishi Special Guard, make sure they were the loyal among the loyal. And there’s the Canner Device.”

Andō paused in pacing the room, his stony frown darkening to something worse, a stony smile. “What about the Canner Device?”

Perry looked nervous. “You… you made it, didn’t you? Japan keeps coming up in all of the reports. It’s a big, sophisticated tool, hijacking the entire tracker system, millions of tracker signals at once. You’ve had it for more than a decade and never shared it with us? This alliance is supposed to be complete, coequal, sharing all we have to guard our stability against MASON’s. The only reason to hide something like that from allies is if you plan to use it against us.”