“And now Ormsment’s marines are coming, too. If you don’t move quickly, the war could begin right here.”

17. The Mask Beneath the Mesa

17

THE MASK BENEATH THE MESA

BARU stumbled in through the farmhouse door, gasping and huffing, to ruin everyone’s day. The herbalist Yythel saw Baru first. She made a face for snakes and maggots. “It’s her again.”

“We’re compromised.” Baru gasped. “Mister Execarne. An Oriati Prince named Tau-indi Bosoka came here to tell you that you’re compromised. They said they couldn’t protect you anymore, that Ormsment and the Jackals were coming—”

“Hm.” Execarne rubbed his beard in thought. “Probably another game. They do like to rattle me. What did Tau bring as a gift? A watch, a book? Maybe another puzzle?”

“A gift? They had pearls, ointments, perfumes, bolts of fabric, this compass they gave me—”

“Shit!” Execarne dropped his coffeepot to shatter, ripped his crossbow off its hook, and began to kick the benches over, scattering Ude, Run, and Yythel in shouting protest. “Get up! Get up, we’re compromised! We have to go now! You lot, line up on that wall!”

Yawa’s eyes accused. Was this you?

Baru put up her hands helplessly: not I, not I!

General chaos. Execarne began rooting around in a bottle of drugged candies. “That many gifts,” he grumbled, “that many, it’s got to be real, got to be, but I shut up the leak, I know I did.”

“You had a leak,” Yawa said.

“Yes, but I handled it thoroughly. Jackals and Ormsment … what the fuck is Ormsment doing down here?”

“Province Admiral Ormsment’s gone rogue,” Yawa said. “She’s hunting us. Her ship arrived yesterday.”

Execarne thought about this, grimaced, and swallowed another pellet. “All right,” he said. “Do you have a ship?”

“The clipper Helbride. Offshore to the south.”

“You’d better signal her to come in, then.”

“Already done,” Iscend said. The Clarified woman moved with swift grace and authority, and she smiled. This was what she had been trained for, and she was glad to inhabit her purpose. Even the prisoners had stopped shouting to listen to her. “Execarne, where’s your line of escape?”

“Down.” Execarne slipped a bolt into his crossbow. “Into the Ministry station.”

“I thought this was the Ministry station,” Baru protested.

Execarne’s pupils grew enormously. He growled low in his stomach as some drug silvered his blood. “Of course not,” he said. “This is just a mask. A happy theater for the prisoners. The station’s underneath us. In the drainage caves.”

“Excellent.” Iscend lifted Yawa to her feet. “The entrance must be the well?”

“Just a moment.” Execarne cocked the crossbow with a grunt. “I’ve got to shoot these people. Can’t leave them to be captured. Miss Cormorant, would you hold that door shut?”

“Shoot us!?” Ake shouted. “You can’t do that—you told us we’d get a trial!”