The Chronicle of the Worthy Son

Evidence

"So Constance was infiltrating the Larbant military to get her sister back?" Chessie raised an eyebrow.

"It's a potential motive," Able equivocated.

"But she got her sister back," Chessie pressed. "And she didn't stop—"

"Would you let me read this?"

Chessie raised her hands and fell silent.

Able returned to the pages. All right, so Red had a number of moles on her back and arms and a nasty scar on her shoulder—not particularly helpful when he had never seen her without her battle suit. Her training evaluations were as impressive as her initial aptitude scores. He flipped through to her mission reports...in apparently her own rushed, dispassionate handwriting.

For all her apparent impatience with the bureaucratic side of her duties, Red did not skimp on the details of her murderous accomplishments. It was difficult to focus on hunting relevant information through descriptions of mortal wounds, staged accidents, hidden evidence, and gory trophies. His palms started sweating and his mouth went dry—it was almost as though she was breathing down his neck once again. Maybe there was nothing useful here.

He flipped ahead to the last page in the dossier then hit the desk in triumph. "Got you."

Chessie was less startled than Pillar was. "What is it?" Probably she could tell how wound up Able had gotten.

"Sorry," he said, then raised a hand while he closed his eyes and breathed out. He opened them again to meet Pillar's, wide under raised hoary eyebrows. "This is official, yes? There's no chance this has been altered?"

"Not likely. If we don't want a record, there isn't one. What is exciting you?"

Able slid the binder around on the desk and pointed to the date on the last page. "She's reported here as missing in action three months before Plaudit was kidnapped." Able watched the general's face as he added, "But she told him that she was under orders to assassinate him and refusing."

Pillar raised his eyes from the page under a furious frown. "Why would you dare—" His breath or nerve failed him as his gaze slid away with his thoughts. He leaned back with a sigh and shook his head. "No, you already saw I didn't find that accusation beyond reason. I should make certain Dyer was lying about that."

Able frowned and leaned back in his chair. "What are you saying?"

Pillar folded his hands and stared at the desk a moment before laying his palms flat on it. "I imagine he told you why he believed her."

The only safe response was nodding.

Pillar nodded in agreement. "What I will say is any attempt to bring Plaudit home must be handled with great care. Extensive effort went into hiding the prince's unnatural inclinations while he was ali—ah, while he was a child, and any revelation of it to the public could fold the mission before it's underway."

He called it a mission. He might send them from this fortress like they had never been here, as long as he thought they were helping him find Lark. So Able murmured thoughtfully a moment before turning to Chessie. Would she catch his meaning if he asked, "Chessie...what sort of reassurances do you think would convince Lark that he's safe?"

She frowned at him sidelong. "Well, we have the evidence to convince him these Dyer sisters are liars, but we only know more of what they aren't doing, and not what they are." As usual, she hit the truth of it. Fair to be surprised that wasn't what Able was after right now.

"Oh, the investigation files?" Able turned back to Pillar. "Is there ample evidence you were trying to find him alive in those?"

"I thought that's what I was doing." Pillar handed over a thick sheaf of documents. "Though he may not trust me either."