Page 17 of Poisoned Empire

“Oh, and if the questions get too detailed, just play dumb or distract them.”

“Distract like crying?”

“No, a good interrogator will just wait you out. Better off just fucking one. Oh, then act really clingy, like you’re going to get married, you have a list of at least twelve baby names in descending order of preference, and you want your room with him to be painted a very specific shade of yellow. Trust me, any sane man will literally be tripping over his own robes to get away.”

The blonde guffawed.

“How in the hells do you scheme these things?”

The poison mage grinned.

“I’ve met a fair number of courtesans. They always had the best advice.”

The three men listened as the chatter turned idle. Belisarius met the grim stares of his two closest advisors and friends. It was the best evidence they were likely to get in their investigation, and the most damning testimony—the daughters of the Amethyst and Sapphire magistri had been used as living sacrifices. At least two dominae were either dead or in dire condition, hidden away on the magistri’s estates, and two bastards found to act in their steads in the capital. Whoever the two women in the parlour were, their familial resemblances to the magistri and dominae were uncanny, and they’d passed through the blood wards. Belisarius signalled for his friends to exit the small room so they could speak. An adjacent panel opened into the next-door parlour, and Marduk sealed the panel behind them.

“Your opinions?” Belisarius asked.

Nicephorus paced as he speculated.

“Bastards, most certainly. If we wish to punish the magistri openly, they make for poor witnesses, given they’re unacknowledged and therefore guilty of impersonating nobles. For both to see something wrong with the dominae means it would occur to anyone who spent enough time in their company. It’s possible then that the magistri never intended for their activities to remain hidden for long, or were caught completely off guard by the bride show. Given the poisoning, I think we should act as if the threat is imminent, Your Royal Highness. We should move quickly and with discretion. They need to be stripped of their titles and powers before they can threaten your reign.”

“Marduk?”

“I agree. The three magistri pose a definitive threat, but have we caught them all? Diamond, Sapphire and Amethyst for certain, but what of the others? Are we sure that Topaz, Emerald and Opal are innocent? Three magistri pitted against you means war. And if war breaks out, are we certain the other magistri won’t seize the opportunity? Right now, we don’t even know who from your own family is involved. We will know for certain whose daughters have been affected after your ballroom stunt, though as we just saw, the magistri are not above inserting imposters. Until we know who is friend and who is foe, we should stay our blades.”

Belisarius began pacing in the simple parlour. He’d lured his enemies’ victims to the palace with only an assassination attempt to show for it. Now he needed to get his hands on the magistri without also inviting open rebellion.

“I believe we shall have to orchestrate a few betrothals—at least one for each family. Then the magistri and their heirs will be required to attend the wedding negotiations. Once here, they can be collared and imprisoned. When our silver-tongued has recovered, it will take only a few words from her to get the confessions we need.”

“Who else would you like to involve in this deception? All told, there are currently thirteen women from the three provinces, the two imposters included.”

“We need only the three of us for now. Only one woman from each family needs to be affianced for their noble fathers to be summoned to the capital. If we discover more in the ballroom, then we can invite more people in on our plans. Until then, I don’t want to risk trusting anyone else. A poisoner just managed to slip past all our defences, after all.”

“Then which noblewomen shall we pretend to court?” the praetor asked.

“Marduk and I shall take an imposter each. You will choose a fine Diamond. The metals mage would be a poor match for your gift, and the poison mage will likely be troublesome.”

“I can attest to that. She certainly isn’t shy about using her poisons, either. She even spotted each of my blades and made sport of telling me so.” Marduk harrumphed.

“Do you think she’s been sent as an assassin?” Nicephorus asked.

Marduk snorted, leaning against the wall. “If she is, then we should be so lucky. We’d have names and a paymaster. Something tells methatone can be bought, and there is nothing a magister can offer that we can’t quintuple.”

“I suppose if that’s not enough, at least we know she cares for the Sapphire imposter. A threat against her would prove to be fairly effective,” Nicephorus replied.

Belisarius heaved a great sigh. He knew which imposter he needed to court and he was already lamenting it.

“Marduk, you will be in charge of the blonde.”

“Your Royal Highness, if the poison mage is a threat, you simply cannot risk it!” Former ease forgotten, Marduk stood tall and slammed his fist against the wall.

“We both know that if she is a threat, I am the only one with the magic to stop her. You heard her boast. We cannot risk an entire province full of innocents,” Belisarius retorted.

“We cannot riskyou, Your Royal Highness!” Marduk glared.

“I don’t like it, but you are right, Your Royal Highness,” Nicephorus cut in. “If you would allow me, I shall inquire as to how long it might take to construct an air-tight tomb.” Nicephorus adjusted his pallium about his shoulders with a grim look.

“See that it’s completed quickly.” Belisarius nodded towards the door. Gods, he was going to live to regret this, he just knew it. “Now, shall we speak with our prospective brides?”

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