Page 147 of Esperance

“Save your lies,” Tam snapped. “I watched you become enamored with him, and it was absolutely disgusting. For a brief moment, I thought you’d remembered who he is—what he’s capable of—during Trevill’s insipid debate about the war in Harvari. And when he started flirting with Marriset . . . Saints, you saw them in the garden!” She shook her head. “After Zawri, when you told Jayveh and me that you had forgiven him . . . How could you be such an idiot? How could you forget our cause for someone likehim? I knew I couldn’t trust you after that. And your demand to meet in person felt like a trap—one that I could turn on you.” She gestured to Samuel. “I sent him to meet you so you would think he was your contact. It wouldn’t have mattered to me if you’d killed him, or had Carver there to kill him. And he wouldn’t have told you who I was, because he knew the consequences of that.”

Samuel was shaking. “Please. Let me go to Sadia. You promised she didn’t have to be in the room when it happens.”

Tam ignored him, her focus purely on Amryn. Her eyes were filled with a terrifying light. “I was watching you, Amryn. After your meeting with Samuel—where he said everything I prepared him to say—I saw the shifts in your behavior. I also know you and Carver went to Argent’s suite after dinner that night. You told them everything. You betrayed us.”

Amryn’s heart pounded. “I didn’t.”

“Stop lying!” Tam slammed a hand on the table, rattling the lamp and making Amryn and Samuel both jump.

There was a beat of silence, then Tam sucked in a breath and straightened her spine, grasping at her anger in an effort to rein it in. “I know you told them everything, but don’t worry. It was the plan I wanted them to hear.”

Amryn’s lungs were too tight. Fear gripped her completely.No, no, no . . .

Tam smiled. “I suppose I should thank you for distracting them so well. They’ve done exactly what I wanted them to do—divide and isolate. I knew Argent wouldn’t want Jayveh in the ballroom once you warned him of the danger; it was an easy matter to have one of my spies trail her tonight to the library. I assume Argent will be joining her soon?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “But that’s not all you’re doing, is it? Carver wouldn’t let Argent take undue risks, and the masks give the perfect opportunity for the use of a double. I assume Carver is still in place as himself, but some guard has switched places with Argent.” Tam shook her head. “Too bad Carver won’t see his death coming.”

Amryn’s ears rang. She needed to get out of here. She needed to warn Carver. Argent. Jayveh.

“What about Sadia?” Samuel asked. “You promised she would be safe.”

Tam rolled her eyes. “Saints, you never shut up about her.” She glanced at Amryn. “Samuel’s resolve also weakened as he fell in love, but at least that gave me a weakness to leverage. One threat against her, and he’s willing to do anything.” She snorted. “Both of you are pathetic. Your dedication to the cause wasn’t strong enough. Not like mine. I guess that’s why I was placed in charge of this mission. I have allowed no distractions to sway me from doing what needs to be done.”

Amryn slipped a finger under the ribbon of the purse that dangled from her wrist, slowly loosening its grip. She hoped it looked like nervous fidgeting.

She just needed to distract Tam. And it seemed like keeping her talking would be the easiest way. “Did you kill Cora?” she asked.

“No,” Tam said, frowning slightly. “I don’t know who did that.”

“You coordinated the attack on Zawri, though,” Amryn said. “The one that killed Darrin.”

“Yes.”

“Did you kill Rivard?”

Her face softened. “Yes. I killed him.”

Nausea twisted inside her. “Why?”

“He wasn’t a good man, and he supported the empire—those were reasons enough. I knew I could model his murder after Cora’s, and of course no one would look twice at sad, quiet Tam—the woman who found her husband’s dead body. As for why I killed him when I did . . .” She shrugged. “He’d been sniffing around you. And even though at that point I knew your feelings for Carver were real, I didn’t want Rivard to unveil you as a traitor. Not when it could destroy our entire goal here, and certainly not when you could still be useful to me. Besides, the high cleric obviously hates Carver, and I was fairly sure he’d accuse Carver of Rivard’s murder. I thought there might be a chance that alone would remind you of what Carver is capable of. What evil he has done in the name of the empire. He—”

Tam cut off her own words, surprise flashing as Amryn ripped the loosened purse off her wrist and snatched up the lantern. She stepped back quickly, and the flame in the lantern sputtered within its glass walls.

“Let me go,” Amryn said, “or I smash both of these into the wall and your empirical seal copies melt.”

Tam’s shock settled and she lifted an eyebrow. “Do you really think I trusted you to get those for me? I had Samuel do it yesterday.” Her lips curved. “So go ahead, Amryn. Start a fire. I’d love to see Esperance burn.”

Amryn stared at Tam, hardly recognizing her friend. The soft-spoken, quiet, depressed woman who was always on the edge of the room, longing for home and her mother. She knew none of that had been a lie, but Tam had used it as a mask. She’d always known to be careful around Amryn, because her emotions could betray her. And when a strange emotion had surfaced, Amryn had always thought up a reason for it. She’d never questioned Tam.

She’d been so stupid. So blind. And now, everything was falling apart.

Shecouldn’t afford to fall apart.

She hurled the lantern at Tam, bracing for whatever pain the impact would bring her. Tam shrieked and darted away, and the lantern shattered on the rug. Oil splattered, and one small flickering flame ignited into a roar.

The guards rushed around the fire, but Amryn was already at the window. They were on the first floor. If she could just get outside—

A hand snared her wrist as soon as she freed the latch.

She screamed and prayed that someone would hear, even as she struggled to escape the man’s steely grasp. Another rebel threw his arms around her from behind, pinning her arms to her side. She kicked once, but when the guard tried to snatch her ankle, she stopped.

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