“I . . .” Winter shook her head. All she could think was that if matters had never come to a head, she might have had more time to get through to Jane.

“You don’t have to answer that.”

“May I ask you a question, sir?”

Janus raised an eyebrow. “Certainly.”

“You seem like you expected . . . something like this.”

“It seemed likely. I couldn’t have told you who it would be, but after the revolution someone would end up taking charge, and the odds were extremely high that they’d make a hash of it.” He frowned. “Maurisk has exceeded my expectations there, I must admit. But yes, it wasn’t hard to guess that it would eventually come to this.”

“Then why leave Vordan at all?” Winter shook her head. “If you knew we were going to be coming back to the city with an army . . .”

“Why not take over after Midvale, you mean? Make myself Raesinia’s regent, as Orlanko wanted to?”

Winter colored slightly. “Something like that.”

Janus looked contemplative. “If you were going to go about taking over a kingdom, how would you do it?”

“Having an army in the capital seems like a pretty good first step.”

Janus shook his head. “Not in the long run. The Borelgai defeated our armies in the War of the Princes, but they weren’t stupid enough to try and install a new king. If I’d used the Colonials to take over after the revolution, I would have been as bad as Maurisk. I would have had to be, in order to stay in power, and in due time some hero would have come along to defeat me.”

“But you can go back now?”

“Oh yes.” He spread his hands, gray eyes sparkling. “Now I’m the hero, come to overthrow the vicious tyrant. That puts things on a very different footing.”

Winter stared for a moment, not sure what to say. Janus lowered his arms.

“Liberators are always more popular than conquerors. And a return to law and order is more welcome once people have gotten a taste for what life is like without it.” He cocked his head. “What’s the matter, Colonel? You look shocked.”

“You . . . really planned all this? That far in advance?”

“I believe I told you once that it’s not about planning. It’s about putting the pieces in the right places, and reacting to whatever opportunities come up.”

“But why?” Winter blurted. “Just for the power? To make yourself king?”

“I don’t want to be king. I think Raesinia will be a good queen, if she gets the chance. And I don’t want the power, in the end. But . . .”