Nevertheless Ghreni nodded. “Thank you. Now, here’s the thing. You and I need to get our stories straight. The story is, you assassinated the duke for ordering me to kidnap your son. You two had an argument, you pulled your pistol, he pulled a bolt thrower, you don’t remember anything after that because the stun bolt messed with your memory.”

“You want me to confess to murder.”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

“Not a great plan you have, Lord Ghreni.”

Ghreni ignored the count’s refusal to upgrade his title. “Here’s what I’ll give you in return. You’ll be sentenced for the murder but I’ll allow you to serve your sentence under house arrest at Claremont. You’ll abdicate your title and I’ll make sure it goes to your daughter rather than it being taken from you in disgrace. You’ll give up your job as imperial auditor and I’ll install someone of my own choosing in that role. But I’ll make sure you keep your pension and I’ll add a stipend to it to keep up your residence. You keep your mouth shut about everything to everyone, including your daughter. Oh, also, you tell her not to try to murder me in the night.”

The count snorted at this. Ghreni pressed on.

“If you agree to everything, in five years, I’ll pardon you. I’ll say that the late duke had threatened you and your family to such an extent you felt you had no choice. You were under extreme duress. And since I was there for all of it, I’m in a position to confirm that. So that’s it. Confess, five years at home, and then a pardon.”

The count laughed, weakly.

“Why are you laughing?” Ghreni demanded.

“Lord Ghreni, you have no idea what’s coming in the next five years,” the count said.

“On the contrary, Claremont, I do. Changes are coming. End is going to become the heart of the Interdependency. All paths will lead to here.”

“No. No paths will lead to here. In five years we’ll be alone. It’s a physical certainty.”

Ghreni began to feel uncomfortable and realized it was the count’s last sentence that did it. “What do you mean?”

“Why do you think I sent my son away, Lord Ghreni. At this specific time?”

“To escape the fighting here, and to complain to the emperox about me kidnapping him.” The latter was why Ghreni wanted Marce out of the way if he couldn’t be retrieved. Ghreni wasn’t sure how much pull the Count of Claremont had at the imperial court, but he knew Nadashe and Amit wouldn’t appreciate a report from End about his actions making their lives harder.

The count shook his head. “I had him leave now because if he didn’t, it would be impossible for him to ever leave.”