Poor Iraji would probably have to die for killing her. Discarded as a patsy. Oh, he went rogue. In her death she would thus force Apparitor to reenact her murder of Tain Hu on his own concubine.

Her attacker slammed her face-first into the decking. Rolled her over to clamp both hands on her throat.

It wasn’t Iraji. It was a woman, her pupils huge with mason leaf, to see in the dark and to brace the nerves. She was Apparitor’s dear cook, Munette.

“You’re bad luck,” she grunted, “my lord’s been unhappy ever since you came aboard. Can’t leave my lord unhappy. Got to be done.”

She drew a short fish knife and tilted Baru’s head back.

Iraji came silently out of the dark and with absolute grace he gripped her head and snapped her neck.

Of course her neck didn’t really snap, you couldn’t break a person’s spine that way with just the might of your arms. But she cried out in pain, and Iraji kicked her away from Baru, raised up a foot-long iron bar, broke her arm with one stroke.

The knife fell from Munette’s hand.

Then Apparitor was there, his lantern raised, the crew roused and shouting behind him. He looked down at Munette cradling her arm on the boards, and he went the color of ash.

“Not you,” he said. “Not you. Oh, Munette, couldn’t you have let it be?”

“I’m sorry, my lord.” She cradled her broken arm, trying to hide her agony by pushing her face into the deck. “Only I didn’t like how worried you seemed with her aboard, that’s all. Oh. Oh, that’s my cutting hand you broke.”

Apparitor covered his face. “Iraji,” he said, shakily, “please put her in the stocks. I’ll—I’ll decide whether to hang her in the morning.”

Munette nodded, humming to herself, just as if Apparitor had asked her to prepare a special dish. “All right. All right.”

Baru couldn’t blame Munette. “Apparitor. Wait. She doesn’t have to die.…”

“Oh?” he said, dangerously. “Doesn’t she?”

What could she say? I deserved to have my throat cut? Let her live, I should be the one who dies? She could not, for she had decided to carry two nations on her back.

“What should I do?” Apparitor snarled. “What should I do? Show her mercy? I am bound to you, Agonist! If you die, they hurt Lindon!”

She betrayed Hu in that moment. She betrayed her field-general by caring, just a flicker, for the man before her.

But the betrayal remained secret from him.

“When we reach the Llosydanes,” he hissed, “I’m going to bring you before the prisoners we took from your inner circle. I’m going to show you to Tain Hu’s house. And I’m going to watch you explain what you did to her.”

*   *   *