“I understand, sir.” Marcus had been getting the news in bits and pieces of gossip and hysterical broadsheet articles, but he’d pieced together the gist. “I believe congratulations are in order.”

“I suppose they are. I’m due at the Deputies-General in an hour, where they’re going to vote on . . . well, the forms are complicated. The legal scholars were up all night going through the precedents.”

“They’re putting you in charge,” Marcus said.

“More or less.” Janus lowered his head, hands in his lap. “The Directory is officially dissolved. The queen and I have had negotiations . . .”

He trailed off. Marcus frowned.

“Is something wrong, sir?”

“I didn’t come here to discourse on politics,” Janus said. “I wanted . . . I felt that I ought to apologize. I believe I have done poorly by you.”

“Sir?” Marcus shook his head. “If anything, I’m the one who should be apologizing. You left me here to protect the queen and the Thousand Names, and I lost them both.”

“I left you with an impossible task,” Janus said. “I had hoped that secrecy would be sufficient to protect the Names, but in retrospect it seems obvious that the Priests of the Black would have more than ordinary means of gathering information. With the forces at your disposal, I could hardly expect you to stand up to the Penitent Damned.”

Marcus shook his head, not sure what to say. In the privacy of his own skull, he’d entertained similar thoughts, but he found he couldn’t voice them, not to Janus.

“And yet,” the general went on, “you did stand up to them. I have heard the story of your attack on the fire demon, and seen the bombs the Patriot Guard planted. Thousands of my soldiers owe you their lives.”

“I had a lot of help,” Marcus said. “It was Raesinia—that is, the queen—who really took charge. And Sothe, Andy, and the others made it work. The Leatherbacks and the refugees.” He swallowed. “A lot of good people died there.”

“A great many people have died,” Janus said, “both good and bad, to get us this far. But we are not finished yet.”

“We’re still at war,” Marcus said.

“I expect the Hamveltai will sue for peace, and the rest of the League will follow. They were always the least committed to the fight, and with Antova and Desland in our hands their ability to attack us is crippled. The queen will, I expect, offer generous terms. But Borel and Murnsk are still unbloodied, and the emperor in particular has barely begun to exert his strength.” Janus paused. “But that is not the heart of it. The queen tells me you know her secret.”

Marcus nodded. “She carries a demon.”