The Emperor's Edge (a high fantasy mystery in an era of steam) by Lindsay Buroker

  * * * * *

  Sespian wasn’t sleeping when the knock came. Hollowcrest’s threats kept repeating in his mind. Was there truly some assassination plot afoot, or had Hollowcrest simply been spinning hyperbole to make himself seem necessary? And what of that confrontation? Had Sespian bested Hollowcrest too easily? Even now, Sespian could scarcely believe he had won.

  He slid out of bed and headed for the door, but paused in the antechamber. “Who is it?”

  “Lieutenant Dunn.”

  Uh oh. Hollowcrest was back. Or something else was up.

  “Yes?” Sespian asked when he opened the door.

  “Sire, I’ve been in contact with that renegade enforcer, Amaranthe Lokdon. I assumed you’d want to hear about it right away.”

  “Oh?” Sespian leaned forward. Since he had been drugged the few times he’d met her, he could hardly trust his judgment, but he so badly wanted to hear that Hollowcrest’s words were lies.

  “Yes, Sire. May I come in?”

  “Of course.”

  A servant glided in on Dunn’s heels to turn up the lamps and add coal to the stove. Sespian shifted his weight from one foot to the other, watching the process with ill-concealed impatience.

  “What is it?” Sespian blurted as soon as the servant left.

  Dunn wrung his hands and paced. “Before I tell you what she said, let me say that I think it’s a very bad idea, and you shouldn’t go off to meet her.”

  “She wants to meet? Me?” Idiot, you sound like a love struck youth, not an emperor over millions. Sespian cleared his throat and struggled for nonchalance. “I mean, what did she say?”

  “What Hollowcrest said was true. Sicarius intends to assassinate you during your birthday celebration. Lokdon claims to have pretended to join forces with him to unearth his plans and feed the information back to Hollowcrest, but something went badly between them, and now she wants to share all her information with you.”

  Sespian paced. Spying on Sicarius? Could that be secret assignment Hollowcrest had given Amaranthe? The reason she had been in the Barracks to start with?

  Disapproval pinched the lieutenant’s face.

  “You don’t think I should go,” Sespian said.

  “It could be a trap. If she just wanted to relay information, she could come here to do it.”

  Sespian shook his head, recalling the last time he had seen Amaranthe—flying out a window to escape the guards. “For all she knows, we’d throw her in the dungeon. I can see why she’d prefer a neutral location.”

  “She could be working with Sicarius to lure you to your death,” Dunn said.

  “Did she stipulate I had to meet her alone?”

  “No.”

  “Then you could come. And a couple carriage-loads of men. When does she want to meet?”

  “Now. She fears Sicarius will find out about her double cross, so she insists on meeting tonight. She’s waiting for you at Yestfer Smelter.”

  Sespian glanced at the black sky outside the window. This could be a mistake, a big mistake. But if he didn’t go, and Amaranthe’s body turned up in the lake later...

  “Very well. Fire up the steam carriages and arrange the men.”