The Skull Throne
Page 131

“My mum punched me in the nose once,” Leesha said. “I didn’t feel the need to murder her and anyone standing between.”
“Not excusing Jasin,” Rojer said. “That son of the Core got what was coming to him. But I knew what he was, and woke the demon anyway. Now Jaycob and Coliv are dead.”
Leesha took a pocket watch from her apron, looking at the time. “They only allowed me an hour, Rojer, and we’ve but a few minutes left. You’ll have plenty of time alone to philosophize, but for now I need to know everything you can remember about last night.”
Rojer nodded. “Jasin came to kill me. He must have bribed some of the palace guards to help. He said there was a lord who would pay for Amanvah and Sikvah.”
“Did he say who?” Leesha asked.
Rojer shook his head. “I wasn’t in a position to ask details.”
“Go on,” Leesha said.
“They must have known we’d avoid the great hall on the way back to our chambers,” Rojer said. “They were waiting in the lower hall. They shot Coliv, but he fought to the last, killing almost all of them. He left Jasin to me.”
He deliberately kept things vague, leaving out Sikvah’s involvement entirely. He still did not know what to think of that. His sweet, submissive Sikvah had become something terrifying right before his eyes. But whatever she was, she was his wife, and he would not betray her.
“So it was self-defense,” Leesha said.
“Of course it was ripping self-defense,” Rojer snapped.
“That’s not what Minister Janson is saying,” Leesha said. “He says he saw you pull a knife on Jasin a few days ago.”
Rojer looked down. “Well, ay … but only after he attacked me.”
“He attacked you and you didn’t say anything?” Leesha demanded.
“Do you go running for help every time someone shoves you?” Rojer asked. “Or do you just shove back harder?”
“I try not to shove anyone at all,” Leesha said.
“Tell that to Inevera,” Rojer said, and watched in satisfaction as Leesha choked on her next words.
“Well it doesn’t matter now,” Leesha said when she recovered herself. “Janson is claiming it was you that went after Jasin.”
“With my wives and Kendall in tow?” Rojer asked incredulously.
Leesha shrugged. “It could have simply been an argument that went too far. And when the guards tried to stop it …”
“We murdered them all?” Rojer asked. “Does that sound even remotely plausible?”
“Plausible or no, Jasin and is dead and you were found over him with a bloody knife,” Leesha said.
“Find Cholls,” Rojer said. “Master of the Jongleurs’ Guild. I told him months ago that Jasin killed Jaycob and put me in the hospit.”
Leesha nodded. “I will, but can he be trusted? The first minister seems to had everyone cowed.”
“Put Gared in the room when he’s questioned,” Rojer said. “He was there when it happened.”
“Gared knew?!” Leesha blurted. “Months before you said anything to me?”
Rojer gave her a level look. “Gared happened to be in the room when the guildmaster questioned me on my disappearance last year. He didn’t know what he was hearing at the time, but it’s a safe bet Cholls doesn’t know that. My guess is that if he knows Gared’s there to contradict him, he won’t have the stones to lie.”
“Even if he tells all, it will only strengthen your motive,” Leesha said.
“I already have motive,” Rojer said. “This will give Jasin one as well.” He put his arms around his knees, pulling them up to the chest. “How are the women?”
“Amanvah and Kendall are under house arrest until the trial,” Leesha said. “I’ve assigned Cutters to stand with the palace guards. They’re not happy, but they’re safe.”
Rojer swallowed, noting the omission. “And Sikvah?”
“Sikvah,” Leesha said quietly, “is missing.”
Leesha’s legs ached by the time she reached the bottom of the seemingly endless stairwell. Her sleep was growing increasingly restless as the pregnancy progressed, leg cramps in the night leaving her with lingering pain.
But she was no stranger to the cathedral towers, and as she left the South Tower, she circled the halls until she reached the East, where she began to climb once more.
Rojer was in greater trouble than he realized. Araine herself had been forced to intervene with Shepherd Pether before the furious Janson relented and let the Tenders carry the unconscious Rojer to the protection of the cathedral.
But while he was safe until his trial, there were too many dead for him to walk away from this. And Sikvah? Where was Sikvah? The guards claimed never to have found her after the attack. Had she been spirited away by whatever lord Jasin had been working with? Even the Deliverer’s niece was hostage enough to start a war they weren’t ready to fight.
The thoughts took her mind from the endless climb to the top of the tower, where she found a cell similar to Rojer’s. The guard nodded to her and moved to open the door. They were used to her by now.
“Jona,” Leesha said, as the man looked up from his books. The Tenders had him copying Canons as penance while they debated his fate.
“Leesha!” Jona said, rising quickly and going to her side. “Creator shine on you. Are you well? You look tired.” He went to the chamber’s single chair, removing some books and holding it for her to sit. “Can I get you some water?”
Leesha shook her head, smiling. “One would almost forget you’re the prisoner here.”
Jona gave a dismissive wave. “My acolyte cell in Cutter’s Hollow was smaller. I have books, and the Canon. I have visits from Vika, and you. What more could I ask for?”
“Freedom,” Leesha said.
Jona shrugged. “When the Creator wills it, I will be.”
“It’s not the Creator’s will you need to worry about,” Leesha said. “It’s Rhinebeck’s.”
Again the Tender shrugged. “I was worried at first. They spent weeks interrogating me, and I wasn’t allowed proper sleep or books or anything to while away the hours between.
“But now,” he stroked the leather-bound cover of one of his books lovingly, “I am at peace. The Tenders are convinced I don’t know any secrets to give them advantage over the Deliverer, and my heresy is on the lips of half the duchy. Sooner or later, they’ll tire of holding me.”
“Especially with Arlen gone,” Leesha said.
“He isn’t gone,” Jona said.
“You can’t know that,” Leesha said. “You weren’t there.”
“I have faith,” Jona said. “What surprises me is that after all you’ve been through, you do not.”
“If the Creator has a plan, it hasn’t been kind to me,” Leesha noted.
“We all have our trials,” Jona said. “But looking back, what would you change? Would you have married Gared and lived a normal life? Stayed in Angiers while flux took the Hollow? Spat in the face of the demon of the desert when he greeted you with friendship?”