There had been twenty explosions in all—every one of the remaining merchants on my list had gone up in flames. But unlike before, where there'd been one at a time, they'd gone off in near-perfect precision. Fifty lives had been lost, including Zuriel's wife and children. Then, yesterday, Zuriel himself had been found hanging in his office. It might've been poetic justice, but it sure didn't feel like it.
Ilara had been furious—both because she now found herself without anyone to make her clothes and jewels, but also because the attack had been a complete surprise. I was waiting for her to point the finger at me, yet surprisingly, she kept her temper around me and allowed me to conduct an investigation.
Of course, I knew who'd brought it to the city. Katarine gave me a name for the stuff—ond. Supposedly it was a Niemenian state secret, and it unnerved her to see it used so widely. But I wasn't surprised that our rebel leader had been able to procure it. He was a man who knew how to get things.
After the furor had died down somewhat, and the citizens shifted from shock to clean-up, I finally returned to Ruby's shop—this time as myself. I wanted it to be the first branch of trust in what I hoped would be a long, fruitful relationship.
Ruby wasn't at the counter, but the man I'd seen cleaning with her the other day was.
I walked up and rested my hand on the glass. "Afternoon."
The man nodded. "What can I do for you, Captain?"
"Tell your boss I'm ready to see him," I said, leveling my gaze at him. "I know who brought the ond into the city, and unless he agrees to meet with me tonight, I—"
Whatever else I had to say died on my lips as the world went black.
I awoke in a quiet room with my hands bound and an aching head. It took a few minutes for my wits to come back to me, but finally I remembered where I'd been, and who I'd been talking to. My next questions were why my Severian guards hadn't come to my aid or noticed that I'd been captured. Never thought I'd miss those assholes.
The lock turned over on the door, and I smiled as the door opened.
"I thought it might be you," I said.
Johann Beswick, the slumlord crime boss who'd been Brynna's target as The Veil, smiled at me from across the room. He looked much less healthy than the last time we'd crossed paths—he'd lost a lot of weight in his cheeks, and his hair was thinning. But based on what I'd seen these last few weeks, he still retained that cold-blooded grip that had caused so much pain to so many.
"So, Captain," he said. "Or should I say, Man-Veil." He tossed something at my feet—the mask that had been hidden under my tunic.
I narrowed my eyes. "Who else did you tell?"
"Don't worry, I trust my people," he said with a wave of his hand. "The better question is, of course, what are you doing under the mask, instead of sitting at the right hand of that desert-dwelling bitch? I thought you'd turned tail on our fair nation."
"And I thought you'd run away to Niemen," I countered. "Instead you're here, fomenting rebellion and playing hero. Doesn't seem like the kind of thing you'd get your hands dirty with."
"I'm offended you're so shocked." He walked from behind the desk to cut through the bindings at my wrists. "This is my city, and that bitch queen has no right to sit on that throne."
"Well, yes, but…" I rubbed my red wrists. "You're a criminal."
"So? Criminals can be patriotic." He sat down on the edge of the desk. "But again, you haven't answered my question. What are you doing out here?"
I looked behind me at the two guards standing at attention. "Tell them to get lost."
Beswick considered for a moment then waved his hands. The two guards nodded and left, closing the door behind them.
"I'm here because Brynna asked me to help her find allies in the city," I said.
Beswick's eyes widened and he actually looked shocked. So he doesn't know. Good, that meant Kieran could still be trusted.
"This does not leave this room," I said. "But she's in Niemen, hopefully convincing Queen Ariadna to help us. To…I suppose, help you." I could only imagine the look on her face when she found out. "When Brynn gets back, we're removing Ilara from power. And we'd like your help."
"If she gets back," Beswick replied with a shrug. "What's to say she doesn't just disappear into Niemen? Or what's to say Ariadna will even agree to help us at all?"
"Because I have faith in her," I said. "You should know. She nearly took down your entire operation."
"She didn't even get close," Beswick said. "Which is why I don't have any faith in her. Sure, she found evidence, but she didn't take into account the safeguards I'd put into place and had to resort to…well, what she did."
"She made a mistake," I said. "She won't make it again."
"I daresay she won't get the chance to make it again," he said, coming to stand in front of me. "I'm going to make you a deal, Captain. You can walk out of here and not speak another word to anyone about my operation. Or, if you choose to cross me, I'll have my people sneak through the servants' quarters and kill your little Niemenian friend and her maid girlfriend."
It was the same as it had been—all this trouble, all this effort, and I was still hitting a brick wall. "You don't have to turn me away. We can work together. Brynna will come back. I made a promise to her that I would find the rebels and convince them to join her. And you aren't going to make me break a promise." I rose to my feet. "You're a businessman. Let's do business."
"I used to be a businessman," he replied with a casual wave of his hands. "Now I'm a rebel leader. I don't make deals with royals."
"Good thing she's not a royal," I said. "She's The Veil. And if anyone can figure it out, she can."
Loud noises echoed in the room behind us, and Beswick jumped to his feet. Without another word, he dashed through a secret door behind him—one I hadn't even noticed was there.
"W-wait a second!" I said, jumping to my feet. But before I could get very far, the door behind me opened and Coyle walked into the room, flanked by two of his favorite Severian lieutenants. He shook his head as he glanced at the mask on the floor.
"Oh, Felix," he said softly. "I'd held out hope it wasn't you."
"Thank you for rescuing me," I said, but I knew lying would be in vain. The time had run out and I was just delaying the inevitable. "When those guards took me, I—"
"Don't play dumb with me," he said, continuing to stare at the mask on the floor. "You've been parading as The Veil for months now. Several witnesses down at the docks name you as the man carrying ond into the city. Unless…of course there was someone else." His eyes practically begged me to give a name.
And I did consider it. But if I allowed myself to be arrested instead of selling Beswick out, perhaps that would prove to the slumlord that I, too, could be trusted. And when Brynna returned…perhaps she'd find him in a better humor. It could be one last sacrifice I would make for her.
"No, it was me," I said, sitting back.
"I know that's a lie," Coyle said, walking toward me. "Who was it? Where did they go?"
I grinned. "You're going to have to ask nicer than that."
"Was this you, too?" He pulled something out of his back pocket and flung it on top of the mask. My heart sank when I saw what it was—Katarine's forged passage papers for Kieran. "I don't think either of us wants to cause an international incident," he said, his meaning clear as day.
"Of course," I said, without missing a beat. After all, I was the one Coyle wanted out of the way, not Katarine. I would gladly take the fall to keep Ilara away from her.
Coyle smirked as he walked in closer. "Sloppy, sloppy work, Felix. I thought you were smarter than this."
I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm surprised it took you this long to figure it out."
He glanced behind him at the waiting lieutenants, who'd been a rapt audience at our repartee. "Search this place for anyone else who might be hiding."
"But, sir—"
"Now," Coyle snapped.
They saluted and disappeared, and he shook his head.
"Doesn't feel great to have your subordinates disobey you, does it?" I said. "I hear you're a man who's about to lose his job."
"And you're a man about to lose his head," Coyle said. "Don't you understand that I was trying to protect you from Ilara?"
My brows rose to my forehead. "In what way?"
"The moment a masked vigilante appeared on the streets, she wanted me to have you, Jo, and Riya strung up for treason. But I persuaded her that you were loyal, and that I would personally oversee the investigation." He shook his head. "I tried to warn you, Felix."
"You also put babysitters on me—"
"To prove that you couldn't be The Veil, because you had eyes on you at all times." He smiled thinly. "But now I have no choice but to arrest you. I can't get you out of this."
"Then perhaps you shouldn't have betrayed Brynna," I said, rising and holding out my wrists for irons. "Because unlike you, I know where my loyalties lie. And they aren't with that desert-dwelling bitch. You betrayed our country, Coyle."
"I did what I had to do to survive. I just wish I could've saved you, too," he replied as his lieutenants reappeared. "Cuff him and take him to the dungeons. We will have him brought up on treason charges. Her Highness will be most pleased that we've finally caught the dangerous rebel leader."
I let them bind me, rough me up, and leave me bleeding as they threw me in the back of the prison carriage. But I looked out into the curious faces of nearby onlookers, and I didn't see fear. I saw determination. The citizens of Forcadel weren't giving up, and neither would I.
I had faith that Brynna would come for me.