Hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, Peder of Viridian looked up in time to see a servant woman reach him. She kept her head down.
"His majesty is ready to see you now," she said.
He straightened his back, nodded at her, and entered his uncle's bedchamber.
Emperor Ignus was once a man to be feared. In the past nine months, however, his health had declined steadily. His hair had grown thinner and thinner until he was nearly bald. The emperor's eyes were so sunken in Peder was slightly surprised they could be seen at all. The man wore thin nightclothes and slumped dejectedly against his elaborate headboard.
"My emperor," Peder said as way of a greeting. The man did not move. His chest was still rising and falling, so Peder knew he was not dead. Too weak to reply, perhaps.
"He is almost gone," a female voice stated.
The voice was what Peder imagined a cat's would sound like, or a snake's. Nevae rose from the chair near her father's bedside and slinked over to him. The black veil she had worn since her cousin and fiancé Emlen's murder partially concealed her face. She was no widow, but people were less likely to suspect her if she acted like one.
"Truly?" Peder asked, looking at the emperor instead of his cousin. She peered down at her father.
"If he were well, he would surely be cursing at you," she replied.
"Perhaps."
Her lips pursing into a rather sneaky smile, she said, "I know so." She wrapped herself around the bedpost. "I also know our uncle is to be emperor."
"Valin will make a fine leader," Peder told her. The people were not so convinced, and they made no effort to hide their disdain for the leading candidate. Once a Fairy kisser, always a Fairy kisser.
Nevae actually laughed. It was not an entirely unpleasant sound. Still, it sent a shiver up Peder's spine. He first heard it after she promised her baby brother would no longer be a nuisance in the household.
The child died in his sleep that night.
An accident, people said, but royalty never died by accident. Not in Viridian.
Tilting her head slightly, Nevae said, "The people hate him. We shall be gods blessed if we do not have an uprising the very day of his coronation. It took us years to conquer the Jaydians. We'll lose them in a morning."
"Valin is a good man," Peder insisted. Another laugh, another shudder.
She was still smiling as she replied, "When has that ever been a help here?"
The answer was never. They both knew so. Most emperors were brutal murderers, but the people adored them. Associate with a Fairy, even supposedly, and it would haunt you to your grave. Gods forbid they ever learned of who and what Peder really was.
Then there truly would be a rebellion. The thought of a half-Fairy in royal household . . . he would be burned for certain.
His cousin continued, "Valin has a reputation. Whether or not he truly took a Fairy as lover, the people loathe him for more than just the rumor." She tilted her head back. "The rumor is just the sauce on the meat."
"What do you suggest?" Peder asked, knowing he would regret it. From a young age, he learned that when Nevae singled you out and described a problem, her solution usually involved someone dying. He would not participate in the murder of his uncle, but if he knew for certain she intended to assassinate him, he could give proper warning.
"Do not make that face," she said. "Valin will live . . . this time. I merely think the people would appreciate another candidate on the table."
"Faban already declined," Peder reminded her. "He is the last person who could inherit the throne. All other possible heirs are not of age."
Almost all possible heirs, he thought. Of course, there was him, but the backlash would be worse than Valin's. The people liked Peder well enough, as long as he remained satisfied with a lower position. Fairies had not been seen in decades. Yet people were still tried and burned. Rumors of Human-Fairy affairs tainted many reputations, not only in the royal house. No one really believed he was Fairy-spawn; there was always that doubt though. So he and the people kept each other at arm's length.
"Not all of them," Nevae replied.
Peder knew her well enough to guess who she meant.
"You are a woman," he said, "in case you have forgotten."
"It is impossible to forget with everyone sticking it in your face," she said disdainfully.
Crossing his arms, Peder said, "Then you know how our people will react to a female Emperor."
"I believe the term is Empress."
"Regardless of the correct terminology, no one is going to allow you to ascend to the throne. Faban will strike dead if he learns you even broached the subject."
"One less critic to please," she replied. She traced her finger along the bedpost, her eyes scanning the intricate designs.
"If the people do not listen to and acknowledge their monarch, the empire will descend into chaos."
Letting her head fall against the bedpost, she told him, "This is not the first time a woman has managed the empire. Twice in our history the emperor has been deemed unfit to lead and his wife became the sole leader."
"The emperor was still the figurehead," Peder replied. "The royal house did everything in their power to ensure no one knew the empress was in control. Besides, even if they did tolerate a woman becoming the sole empress, they would not respect her."
"I can make them."
"You cannot silence every naysayer."
"If enough of them drop dead, I won't have to, now will I?"
"Killing your opponents is not the way to gain the people's affection."
"And how do you think Emlen became so popular?" she inquired, looking at him intently. "You really ought to try it sometimes."
Peder said nothing, simply staring at his cousin, certain she must be insane. Of course, she had always been a little crazy, and cruel. This was more, though. This was open death threats and implied murders. Should he ignore it? Emlen always told him he should.
But Emlen was dead now.
"Speaking of Emlen," Nevae said carefully, "what have you learned of Cynder of Azure?"
More than he could tell her. Any information his cousin had she would sharpen into a weapon she could use against others.
"Cynder is a pirate," he told her. "I suspect she is collaborating with Captain Jaymes Hook."
"The Captain Jaymes Hook?" she asked. Nevae raised an eyebrow slightly and cocked her head. "How ever did you learn that?"
"His ship, the Jolly Roger left the docks the same night Cynder fled, and had only arrived that morning."
It was a lie. Peder hated telling them, but he did not have a choice. He could not tell the wickedest person he knew that he was a Fairy. A half-Fairy, but when she blackmailed him, she would leave the distinction out.
"Captain Jaymes Hook . . . is he not the man you fought in Jade several years ago? In Emerald as well."
I fought him in Celadon, Malidia, and Sage, too, he thought. If only I had been able to kill him when I had the chance.
"Was he not also the man who killed the healer of yours? What was her name? Tia? Tessa?"
"Trin," Peder snapped. He clenched his fists, then unclenched them. "What is your point?"
"My point is that you have a history. You can find Captain Jaymes, which means you can find Cynder."
"As a pirate, I expect she will head for Ebony. I intend to head there after Valin's coronation."
"My coronation," she corrected. "That brings me to the favor I need of you."
Of course, he thought. Aloud, he said, "What is it?"
"Well, two, actually."
She detached herself from the bedpost and leaned against the stiff bed.
She explained, "The people adore Faban, and my stepmother. I can persuade Empress Reyna to publically support me as Empress, but I need you to convince our pig of an uncle. Once he gives his support to me, everyone will believe I am just his figurehead while in reality I am ruling the empire."
"What is the other favor?" Peder asked.
"Let me accompany you to Ebony."
He raised his eyebrows. "You want to come to Ebony?"
"I believe I just said that," she replied. "Keep up, cousin."
"Nevae, what business have you in Ebony?"
"I have an acquaintance there," she said vaguely. "Emlen let me come."
"When was Emlen in Ebony?"
She smiled. "Do you remember his trip to South Sienna earlier this year?"
"Of course."
"He went to Ebony on his way. We needed something."
She was lying. Ebony lay far north of South Sienna. They would have had to go out of their way by several days to reach the hellhole.
Peder chose to ignore her lie, as he did most of the time. He doubted she could go an entire conversation without lying.
"What could you provide for the crew? Having a woman aboard will unnerve them."
"You always bring along that maid of yours."
"My attendant accompanies me everywhere. The crew tolerates her because she is a healer. Do you have healing powers?"
She cast her eyes away from him, then sighed, "I have other assets. For example, a contact in Ebony who will most certainly know where your Cynder friend is."
With a sigh, he relented, "Very well. You may come, but if you cause any trouble, you spend the rest of the trip in a cell."
"I understand the terms, Peder," she said. "When do we leave?"
"We cannot leave with the emperor in his present state," he told her.
"Will immediately after his funeral work for you?"
"One problem: the emperor is still alive."
"Is he?" she asked. Smiling, she returned to her father's side. She held a hand over his mouth, checking for breath.
"He is hardly breathing," she whispered, her tone softer than Peder had ever heard it. "Go fetch the palace healer."
Peder did not dare disobey. He rushed from the room and down the hall. It took him several minutes to find the healer and several more for the two of them to get back. When he burst back into the room, Peder saw the emperor lying motionless on the bed. His eyes were wider than they had been before. They were unblinking.
"Dead," the healer stated. He sent a quick prayer to the gods, then moved to his emperor's side. Peder's eyes moved to Nevae. She stood where she had when he left. Her gaze flickered from her father, to Peder, then back again.
Examining the late Emperor Ignus, the healer said, "I thought for certain he was recovering. I cannot understand how death took him so quickly."
Nevae moved towards the door. Passing Peder, she paused and hissed into his ear.
"It may have had something to do with my hand over his mouth."
Peder's head whipped towards her. At least she had the grace not to smirk as she said, "We leave the day after tomorrow."
Wordlessly, Peder stared as she walked from the room. He glanced back at his now deceased uncle.
You raised her, he thought. Then he too left the chamber.