Nothing had come to pass as he'd expectedThere...
Nothing had come to pass as he'd expectedThere was only one single element left of his original design for the eveningOne thing that might yet offer a kind of pleasure, that might redeem a little of what had gone so desperately awry
He turned, slowly, to look at Sandre's sonHe dragged his mouth upwards into a smile, unaware of how hideous he looked
"Bring him," he said thickly to his soldiers"Bind him and bring himThere are things we can do with this one before we allow him to dieThings appropriate to what he was
His vision was still not working properly, but he saw one of his mercenaries smileTomasso bar Sandre closed his eyesThere was blood on his face and clothingThere would be more before they were done
Alberico put up his hood and limped from the roomBehind him the soldiers lifted up the body of the dead captain and supported the man whose face had been broken by Nievole
They had to help the Tyrant mount his horse, which he found humiliating, but he began to feel better during the torchlit ride back to AstibarHe was utterly devoid of magic thoughEven through the dulled sensations of his altered, reassembled body he could feel the void where his power should beIt would be at least two weeks, chanel purse spray probably more, before it all came backWhat he had done in the flashing of that instant in the lodge had drained more from him than any act of magic ever had in his life
He was alive though, and he had just shattered the three most dangerous families left in the Eastern PalmEven more, he had the middle Sandreni son here now as evidence, public proof of the conspiracy for the days to comeThe pervert who was said to relish painAlberico allowed himself a tiny smile within the recesses of his hood
It was all going to be done by law, and openly, as had been his practice almost from the day he'd taken power hereNo unrest born of arbitrary exercise of might would be permitted to rear its dangerous headThey might hate him, of course they would hate him, but not one citizen of his four provinces would be able to doubt the justice or deny the legitimacy of his response to this Sandreni plot
Or miss the point of how comprehensive that response was about to be
With the prudent caution that was the truest wellspring of his character, Alberico of Barbadior began thinking through his actions of the next hours and daysThe high gods of the Empire knew this far peninsula was a place of constant danger and needed stern chanel classic flap bag replica governing, but the gods, who were not blind, could see that he knew how to give it what was needfulAnd it was growing more and more possible that the Emperor's advisers back home, who were no more sightless than the gods, would see the same things
And the Emperor was old
Alberico withdrew his thoughts from these familiar, too seductive channelsHe made himself focus on detail again; detail was everything in matters such as thisThe neat steps of his planning clicked into place like beads on a djarra string as he rodeDrily, precisely, he assembled the orders he would giveThe only commands that caused him an inward flicker of emotion were the ones concerning Tomasso bar SandreThese, at least, did not have to be made public and they would not beOnly the confession and its revealing details needed to be known outside his palace wallsWhatever took place in certain rooms underground could be extremely private indeedHe surprised himself a little with the anticipation he felt
At one point he remembered that he'd wanted the hunting lodge torched when they leftSmoothly he adjusted his thinking on thatLet the lesser Sandreni and their servants find the dead when they came at dawnLet them wonder and fearThe doubt would only tiffany silver jewelry last a little while
Then he would cause everything to be made extremely clear

Chapter 5

“OH, MORIAN," ALESSAN WHISPERED, WISTFUL REGRET INFUSING his voice"I could have sent him to your judgment even nowA child could have put an arrow in his eye from here
Not this child, Devin thought ruefully, gauging the distance and the light from where they were hidden among the trees north of the ribbon of road the Barbadians had just ridden alongHe looked with even more respect than before at Alessan and the crossbow he'd picked up from a cache they'd looped past on the way here
"She will claim him when she is ready," Baerd said prosaically"And you are the one who has spent his life saying that it will be to no good if either one of them dies too soon"Did I shoot?" he asked pointedly
Baerd's teeth flashed briefly in the moonlight"I would have stopped you in any case
Alessan swore succinctlyThen, a moment later, relaxed into quiet amusementThe two men had a manner with each other that spoke to long familiarityCatriana, Devin saw, had not smiledOn the other hand, he reminded himself, he was supposed to be the one who was angryThe present circumstances made it a little hard thoughHe felt anxious and proud and dior big bags excited, all at once
He was also the only one of the four of them who hadn't noticed Tomasso, bound at wrist and ankle to his horse
"We'd better check the lodge," Baerd said as the transient mood slipped away"Then I think we will have to travel very fastSandre's son will name you and the boy
"We had better have a talk about the boy first," Catriana said in a tone that made it suddenly very easy for Devin to reclaim his anger
"The boy?" he repeated, raising his eyebrows"I think you have evidence to the contrary He let his gaze rest coldly on hers, and was rewarded to see her flush and turn away
"Unworthy, Devin," Alessan said"I hope not to hear that note from you againCatriana violated all I know of her nature in doing what she did this morningIf you are intelligent enough to have come here you will be more than intelligent enough to now understand why she did itYou might suspend your own pride long enough to think about how she is feeling
It was mildly said, but Devin felt as if he had just been punched in the stomachSwallowing awkwardly, he looked from Alessan back to Catriana, but her gaze was fixed on the stars, away from and above them allFinally, shamed, he looked down at the darkened forest rolex watch knock off floor