“I went in to see if what Cuffs said was true. He told me he wouldn’t submit to the queen’s justice because there is no justice. And he was right.”

“Not everyone’s like Gillen,” Amon said, feeling the need to defend the Guard. “And you can’t believe what Cuffs says. He’s accused of murdering eight people.”

“But it was true. What he said. And I don’t believe he did those killings. He thought the Raggers did it. And he hasn’t been with the Raggers for a year.”

Maybe it was all an act for your benefit, Amon thought, but didn’t dare say it aloud. “If not him, then who?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she said irritably. “You’re the one in the Guard.”

“Don’t forget,” he said, “he sent you in to rescue his friends. How would it be if you’d escaped from a streetlord only to be killed by your own Guard?”

“I didn’t escape. He let me go. And he didn’t send me. I went on my own.”

“But you can’t take chances like this,” Amon exploded. “Things are unstable enough as it is. We can’t risk a change of succession.”

“The succession, the bloody succession. Well, if you ask me, the lineage of queens is like a chain around my neck,” Raisa muttered. “I’m no good to anybody if these kinds of things are being done in my name. And I expect you to help me stop it.”

With that she strode on in silence, hands fisted at her sides.

C H A P T E R  S I X T E E N

DEMONS
IN THE STREET

Han didn’t know whether to hope his mother was home or not. It might be a long time before he saw her again, but he just didn’t think he could deal with more drama.

He wrinkled his nose as he mounted the stairs, catching a whiff of cabbage cooking, a scent that always meant hard times.

When he pushed open the door, Mam and Mari looked up from the book they were reading.

A book?

“Han!” Mari squealed, scrambling to her feet. She charged across the room and fastened herself to his leg like the lamprey eels from faraway oceans he’d read about in one of Jemson’s books. “I’ve got a book all my own! Speaker Jemson handed them out. He said the Princess Raisa bought them for us. He says I can keep it.”

“That’s great, Mari,” Han said, distracted, looking over Mari’s blond head at Mam, hoping for a clue. His mother’s expression mingled relief and apprehension.