Page 241 of Scorched Earth

Unbidden, Grypus’s voice filled his thoughts.Remember that the Senate owns you. I own you. You have no more say than a dog, and like a dog, you will be put down if you choose to bite.

Felix had been quiet, but he abruptly said, “You seem more yourself today than you have in a long time.”

Marcus wasn’t himself any more than he’d been yesterday or the day prior, but knowing that he was successfully performing otherwise eased the tension twisting his shoulders into knots.

You cannot lose control!the voice shrieked, and Marcus hid the flinch of pain with a half smile. “I’ve been sleeping better. I think that’s all I needed.”

“That’s good. Servius and I have been… worried about you. Everyone has been.”

Marcus’s irritation flared. “Why? Everything has gone to plan. Everything is in perfect order. I’ve won every fight with minimal loss and yet everyone—”

“No one is questioning your ability to win, Marcus. But don’t deny that you’ve been different since Emrant. SincebeforeTeriana bolted. If I had to peg the moment, it was just after Grypus arrived. When his Ninth engineers pulled down Emrant’s god towers and you realized that you would not be able to control our presence in the West as you had up until that moment.”

No part of him wanted to talk about this, but Marcus forced his temper to remain in check.

“When I walked in on you having breakfast in Imresh with Teriana, it struck me that I’d never seen you so happy in all the years that I had known you. Like you finally had everything that you wanted. And then I told you Grypus was coming, and you decided that you would do whatever it took to hold on to that happiness. That you would go as low as you needed to go to keep it, and when it all fell apart anyway, you stayed in those depths. Went deeper still.”

Marcus’s head was throbbing so hard that colors blurred across his vision. “What is your point?”

“This isn’t you.”

Yes, it is.

“I know it’s easier to stay down there where the only thing you ever have to feel is anger, but I also know that you’ve never taken the easier path a day in your life. We need you back if we are going to survive this.” Felix caught hold of his hands, and Marcus felt the walls in his mind tremble. “You’ve never abandoned us, and we won’t abandon you.”

Marcus stared at Felix’s hands, locked on his, then slowly withdrew from his grip. He gave Felix a tight smile. “The sentiment is appreciated, but your concerns are misplaced. I was angry when she left, it’s true, but I’m over it. When she came to deliver her message, it struck me that I no longer cared as much as I had. I know there is concern over Cassius’s ambition and the risks securing his desires entails, but I’ve had a lot of practice achieving political ends while not getting us killed. Trust me.”

Felix sighed. “I do trust you.” But then he shook his head. “Which is why I think you’re lying to yourself. Not even death will make you stop caring about her.”

Marcus’s fingers curled into fists. “From her own lips, she is my enemy now.”

For a long moment, Felix didn’t answer, his eyes searching Marcus’s. “If you’ve convinced yourself of that, then may the gods of this land have mercy on Teriana and all that she holds dear.”

A soft cough caught Marcus’s attention, and his eyes went to the entrance, where Gibzen now stood. “A message from Mudamora, sir.Astaradelivered it, which means she got a good look at what we do to traitors. Coward dropped it attached to a rock and didn’t get close enough for us to shoot.”

Marcus’s jaw tightened at mention of Atrio’s betrayal. Heshould’ve known from the way the spy had reacted over the shifter’s imprisonment that he might take action, but it had still come as a surprise when Atrio had arranged her escape. It had been a long time since Marcus had had to execute one of the Thirty-Seventh, and while he’d felt nothing when he’d watched the spy hanged from the gallows, it had done nothing for the Thirty-Seventh’s morale. “Give it here, then.”

“The Katamarcans also brought news that the Mudamorians are infighting and intend to pull the crown from the Falorn Queen’s head so as to place it on someone more pliable.”

Felix gave a disgusted shake of his head, but Marcus’s attention was all for the letter that Gibzen handed him. He cracked the wax, and glanced at the signatory. “It’s signed by a Helene Torrington.”

“She’s the High Lady of House Torrington,” Felix said. “I’ll see what else the spies know about her.”

But Marcus was swiftly reading the looping script and sycophantic prose, stalling on a pair of lines, which he read over and over, shock filling his core.Lydia Valerius, the runaway bride your ruler seeks, is an alias, for her true name is Kitaryia Falorn.

“How is that possible?” he muttered, then forced himself to keep reading.

Kitaryia briefly wore the crown but has proven herself a liability, so we will happily exchange her for your aid against our enemies.

“What does it say?” Felix demanded.

He’d caught her.

He could end this.

“It says they’ll give up Lydia Valerius.”

The matter of the gold mines of Rotahn is a different matter that requires consideration. We require greater commitments from you that Mudamora will be treated with honor and dignity as a vassal state of the Empire before making such a concession. I would like to invite you to negotiate in person, so that we might come to know each other as dear friends, and sign an agreement that is mutually beneficial, at which time we will hand over custody of Kitaryia/Lydia so that you might return her to her betrothed.