Xe considered. “The divers who were closest to the Duke Unuxekome told me he had a new ally. An Oriati merchant named Abdumasi Abd. Abd was rich, and bold, and he hated Falcrest—he was building up the Eyota privateers into a full fleet. Unuxekome hoped he’d come to the rebellion’s aid.”

“Oh.” Tau-indi sagged in disappointment, but only for a moment. They summoned cheer and offered their hands to Xe. “Thank you so much. Thank you for remembering my friend.”

Baru was again thinking very quickly. Was this the secret Iraji and Apparitor had been keeping from her? Tau-indi’s interest in Abdumasi Abd?

But Baru had to focus on her own mission. Could this Prince help her destroy Falcrest?

“Your Federal Highness.” Baru offered her arm to help them up the cliff. “I wanted to meet you to discuss an arrangement.”

“Oh?” Tau smoothed their khanga against their hips. There was a surprising caution in their voice. “Did you?”

“I have extensive access to the ministries and faculties of the Imperial Republic. I can track down anything you might imagine.” Baru took a deep, deep breath. “I understand you are a Prince of the Mbo. I know there exist certain tensions, growing tensions, in the relationship between Falcrest and your great nation—”

“Oh, yes,” Tau-indi said, soberly, “if we can’t stop this war from breaking out, I believe it’ll be the end of the world.”

Baru blinked. It was very peculiar to hear Farrier’s words in this Prince’s mouth.

“I’m not mad,” Tau said, still quite somber. “The war’s why I have to find Abdumasi. Years ago, you see, I mistreated him. That opened a tiny wound in the trim between us. That wound has grown now, and threatens to devour the world.”

Baru had no idea what to say to this alien notion. Tau smiled at Xe. “Miss diver, do you know the properties of a wound in trim?”

“A curse, I think,” Xe said. “An evil thought.”

“Oh no, no. A curse means an ill wish—the opposite of a blessing. But a wound in trim is the absence of all that is human. It exposes the attainted to the world in its natural state, unordered by the human heart. Ha! Look at your face. You do think I’m mad.” They sighed, without self-pity, with a certain wryness. “It’s very hard to convince people the world will end. They insist it’s never happened before. But it has, it has ended many times: the Cheetah Palaces fell, and so did the Jellyfish Eaters when Mount Tsunuq erupted. Their worlds ended.”

“I don’t want a war, either,” Baru said, choosing her words very carefully. She very badly wanted the approval of this spymaster-Prince, who was so like the lamen of her childhood. “My home, my homes, would be destroyed. But if war is necessary, I have to be sure it ends the right way.”