“One of the assassins?” Varthlokkur peeled back a lid and stared into an eye.

“Presumably.” Of the room in general, Ragnarson asked, “There couldn’t be any mistake, could there?”

“The General identified him while he was conscious,” Wachtel replied.

Varthlokkur looked at Bragi, said nothing. Ragnarson’s skin felt crawly. “The Unborn?” he suggested softly.

The wizard nodded. “That’s the easiest way. Down in one of the closed courts where we won’t disturb anybody.”

“Guards. One of you find your sergeant. Tell him I need four men and a stretcher.”

Four Guardsmen came. One was Slugbait. He gave Ragnarson a big grin and rattled a pocket filled with coins before assuming a more businesslike manner. He was a soldier here, not a Captures captain. He and his companions rolled the corpse onto the stretcher and awaited instructions.

“The back exercise court,” Ragnarson told them. “Just take him down and leave him.”

Their eyes went to Varthlokkur, slid away. The color left their faces. They had guessed what would happen.

“Did anyone interrogate Gales?” Bragi asked.

“Trebilcock,” Wachtel replied. “I didn’t pay attention. Varthlokkur. Does his breathing seem easier?”

The wizard bent over the General. “I think so. He’s definitely past the worst. He’ll make it.”

Ragnarson and the wizard followed the stretcher-bearers. Bragi said, “I saw Mist tonight. I’d stumbled across a couple things I was curious about. She answered my questions, but she was evasive.”

“And?”

“She’s involved in some scheme to get her throne back. She claims a group of Tervola approached her, but nothing would come of it. She’s in deeper than she’ll admit.”

“And?”

“You’re not contributing much.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“Your best guess about her. Is she really involved? Can she do anything if she is? What would the consequences be, from my viewpoint? Both if she pulled it off and if she lost out.”

“Is she involved? Of course. Once you attain a throne, you don’t give it up without a fight. She felt constrained while Valther was alive. Now she doesn’t. Consider her viewpoint. There’s nothing here for her since Palmisano. There once was there. Her need for a feeling of self-worth will make her grasp for what’s hers by right.”

“She’s vulnerable, though. Through her children.”

“Aren’t we all?” Varthlokkur sounded sour. “They’re hostages to fortune.”

“Can she make a comeback?”

“I wouldn’t know. I don’t know what’s going on in Shinsan. I don’t want to. I want to ignore them, and have them ignore me.”

“But they won’t.”

“Of course not. Which brings us to consequences. My feeling is, it won’t really matter if she wins or loses. Shinsan is Shinsan, and always was and will be. When the moment comes, it won’t matter who rules there. You and Kavelin have earned special attention. Be it tomorrow, or a hundred years from tomorrow, a blow will fall. I think it’ll be a while coming. They have to recover from a devastating couple of decades. They have to survive external threats. They have to preserve their new frontiers. They’ll be hopping like the one-legged whore the day the fleet came in.”