Fifty Seven: Compromised

Nova broke into consciousness as if resurfacing from deep water, gasping and damp. The cold touch on her forehead that had woken her moved, and left her skin even colder than before. She stared blindly into darkness for a moment, willing her heartbeat to slow down and her vision to clear. Already the nightmare was fading, leaving a sick, trembling weakness behind.

"These nightmares are getting worse, aren't they?" The cold touch returned, and Nova dimly realised it was a wet cloth. She angled her head to see Grace's worried face looming over her, half-concealed in shadow.

She still didn't trust herself to speak. Grace pressed the cloth to her neck and then each temple, smoothing knotty hair back from her damp cheeks. She hoped she hadn't been crying and that it was just sweat, but enough of her dream lingered to make that hope seem a vain one.

Nova reached up and touched Grace's face, suddenly desperate for contact, any kind of contact that didn't hurt. She wanted physical touch that wasn't meant to humiliate or injure, from someone who didn't see her as a belonging. As always, Grace got the message instantly. She was getting faster at knowing what Nova wanted without her having to say anything, until it was almost second nature. The nights she spent 'guarding' Grace had only hastened that familiarity. They could have whole conversations with touch alone. Sometimes Nova was gripped with a terror like she stood on a precipice, about to fall and lose everything. Her head constantly ached from protecting Grace's thoughts as well as she knew how to, and studying how to do it better at times when she was at less risk. It was a full time job, but she didn't resent it. It alarmed her how easily she had become accustomed to Grace being around all the time.

Not that it had all been smooth sailing. In the weeks since the Caelumese delegation's arrival, Grace had grown more and more restless, only alleviated by the limited duties Jan allowed her and by visits from Nika. More than once she had taken her frustration out on Nova, and apologised later in the hours when the castle slept.

Now, she discarded her cloth and sank down beside Nova, her mouth trailing the curve of her neck and her body pressed perfectly into the contours of Nova's. One hand moved to her back, unerringly finding the place at the base of her wing-stumps that caused her the most pain when she was stressed. Gently massaging it, her other hand trailed to Nova's thigh. As her trembling calmed, Nova turned to meet her kiss.

"I wish we could have this all the time," Grace murmured, her breath hot on Nova's lips. She pressed another kiss to them to stifle the words. She didn't want to ruin this with the truth. When they broke apart, the girl sighed inaudibly. Only Nova, pressed so close, would have known she sighed at all. "I love you."

She had said this once before, on another night soon after Harkenn had assigned Nova this task. That time, she had ruined it by panicking. They hadn't spoken the next night, and pretended it hadn't happened at all the night after that. This time, she forced herself to remain still and calm.

"It's okay," Grace said. Nova's heart sank; she couldn't conceal her fear completely. "You don't need to say it back. I just want you to know."

It's so soon, Nova thought frantically. Too soon for that.

Though, she added snidely to herself, how would she know if it was too soon? Months could sometimes bring about the change of years, and the dark season always felt as though it stretched time immeasurably, while at the same time compressing it. Her only experience of love was Jeorge, which had been untrue and disappointing in the end. Her father had died long before she was considering such things herself, and her mother hadn't ever spoken of it. Her uncle used women without thought, and discarded them like items of clothing when they inevitably failed to give him an heir. Who was she to decide whether Grace was moving too fast?

But she couldn't make herself say it back; that was too close to admitting that she had come too far to back out. That no matter how this ended, or where it was going, there would be far more pain than she could bear. She pressed herself closer, trying to convey all her racing thoughts with touch alone.

Is this what you want? she wanted to say instead. They could never be public. She was a slave, damaged goods, not whole. She had killed, not one but ten. The Angels of the Annexe would dog her footsteps for the rest of her days, even if the wings that marked her as one of them were gone. Why, she wanted to ask, would anyone want me?

A noise in the corridor alerted her to approach. She sat up and smoothed her hair as best she could, and had just stumbled from the warm confusion of the bedsheets when their visitor knocked.

"Who is it?" Grace didn't move from where she lay.

"Jeorge," came the sharp reply. It chased away the last of Nova's foggy thoughts and made her scowl. She toyed with not opening the door, but then sighed and crossed the room to unlatch it.

"What?" she asked, not quite snapping. Jeorge was fully dressed and groomed despite the late hour, and his dark eyes looked troubled.

"I need to speak with you," he said.

"I expect I can't stop you." She stood aside to let him in with ill grace. Once he had settled himself on an unoccupied bunk, she shut the door again and dropped the latch. She didn't return to the bed where Grace was now stirring herself, instead standing with her arms crossed in front of Jeorge, waiting. He didn't normally deign to visit her down here. Despite herself she was intrigued, but he didn't need to know that.

"I suspect foul play in these negotiations," he began haltingly, as if not sure how to find the words.

"You would surprise me more if you said there wasn't any," Nova replied. Negotiations between the Reach and Caelum had always been conducted with the expectation that neither side would play entirely fair. The trick was in keeping the sabotage at a level that avoided outright conflict but still put the opponent on the back foot.

"There are unspoken rules," Jeorge said. His gaze held hers. He refused to be baited. "The usual games do not include bodily harm to either party during the discussions."

Nova wouldn't complain if Harkenn had members of the delegation quietly assassinated, but Jeorge wouldn't be down here bothering her for that. "Someone is making attempts on the Reach side? Is one of the Heads sick?"

"I wouldn't know," Jeorge said. "They haven't been in the discussions this week."

Nova frowned. "Harkenn won't negotiate with Caelum without them."

"Harkenn in his right mind won't negotiate without them," Jeorge said. His dark eyes hadn't left hers once, and the implication was beginning to sink in.

"He seemed fine to me when I last saw him." She tried to be flippant, but the news was concerning. The only thing she hated more than being dominated by Harkenn was the idea of being passed back into her uncle's hands as a slave. If Harkenn fell, Caelum would flatten and take over the Reach in a matter of days.

"That's half the problem." Jeorge spoke through gritted teeth. "I can't go to the Heads of House on a gut feeling, if he is acting perfectly normally in every other context. Elandriel's balls, I'm not even certain myself. I don't know him like you do. But I do know Cael, and that bastard is far too smug about something right now for my liking."

"You think Cael is manipulating him?" Nova tried to think it through. "He wouldn't be able to do that to someone like Harkenn unless..."

"Unless his faculties are compromised," Jeorge finished the thought. "And he's removed the only Angel with half a chance of noticing from his immediate vicinity."

"I'm trying to follow this, and you've lost me entirely." Grace's voice was tight with thinly veiled frustration. Jeorge looked over as if he'd forgotten she was there. Nova, who was never unaware of Grace's presence in a room, saw no point in leaving her out of it, even as she knew Jeorge was opening his mouth to snap back a 'none of your business'.

"Harkenn's heritage is apparent in his aura," Nova said. "It's readable, emotionally speaking, but to the few Angels who can read thoughts and manipulate them if they are strong enough, it's impenetrable. Or supposed to be, as long as the lord is well. Sickness affects an aura as well as the physical body, but Harkenn never gets sick. Not the way ordinary people do. Cael is an Angel with manipulative talents. Jeorge is telling us that he worries the lord has been compromised somehow, in a way that would give Cael some capacity to cause further damage." She turned back to the Angel. "Have you spoken to Nika of this?"

Jeorge's mouth twisted. "I have not spoken to the demon catcher about much lately."

"What are they negotiating for?" Grace asked, cutting off Nova's plans to berate Jeorge for stupidity.

"Land," Jeorge said bitterly. "The Caelumese want an outpost on the borders of the Reach, and Harkenn won't stand for it. The compromise is renewing old trade agreements, but Caelum is pushing for more freedom in those than it has ever had before. So soon after the war it would be dangerous to allow them as much freedom of trade as they are demanding. They could get anything they liked into the city unhindered, including their own merchants. I don't doubt those merchants would be offered heavy incentives to spy for them. If there was anyone else on the throne these demands would not cause such alarm. They're not unreasonable, for a reasonable ruler." He smiled tightly. "Lucifer is not one of those."

Grace thought for a moment. "You think he's been drugged? Or poisoned?"

"It's not impossible." Jeorge shrugged. "But I'm basing this on very limited knowledge of the man. He may have other reasons to not invite the Heads to this week's meetings. I don't know him as well as Nova does; I have no doubt she'd be able to tell immediately whether my suspicions have any merit. But," that smile again, "Nova isn't at his side. She's down here, protecting you from Cael instead."

Grace flushed. Nova felt a spark of irrational anger, but kept the bitter words she wanted to spit at him to herself. Instead she said, "Is the Unspoken here now?"

"It's the dead of night," Jeorge said. "I expect he's on patrol. I did hear that he planned to return early today, though."

"When he comes in, send him straight here. Before the lord knows he's arrived."

The Angel glowered. "I'm taking instructions from you now?"

She returned the look with a flat glare of her own. "If you didn't come for my advice, what are you here for?"

He had no answer for that, as she'd known he wouldn't. Once he was gone, Nova let out a long, shuddering breath. It would be the gods' cruellest joke of her life so far if she was about to end up saving her tormentor's life to avoid a worse one. Grace's arms wrapped around her and she flinched in surprise. She'd been so deep into the implications of that future that she hadn't even noticed the girl get out of bed.

"This is bad, isn't it?" Grace mumbled into Nova's hair. Nova just nodded. "That was kind of hot."

"...Hot?" Nova repeated blankly. It didn't even feel all that warm to her. "You want me to put the fire out?"

Grace laughed as if Nova had made some kind of joke. "No, Nova. It means...attractive. In otherworld speak. The way you bossed Jeorge around like that."

Nova was even more lost. It had been a long time since she had been considered attractive, growing skinny, stunted and scarred as the years at Harkenn's side wore her down. She had once been a fighter, with the physique to match it. She didn't think she could even lift the sword she used to own as she was now.

"We can think about all this when Nika gets here. Come back to bed, Nova. I'll show you what I mean."

Hours later, they sat together in the corner of the kitchens waiting for Nika's arrival. They were allowed in the kitchens only during daylight hours; in the evenings, the Angels' own valets would insist on helping with dinner preparations, and Harkenn wouldn't risk either of them being spotted and reported to their employers. Knowing Angels, someone higher up would contrive to come down and see them somehow.

The Unspoken arrived just as light began to show over the horizon through the back door, which someone had left open to allow easy passage of goods from the outside stores. There were only the cooks at work this early, making the day's bread and breakfasts. The kitchens had not been as busy as guests would normally warrant anyway, due to the food shortages. The Angels had at least recalled enough of their manners not to offer to take over. Nova still eyed them, trying to think of somewhere more private they could talk, and trying not to think of the last couple of hours she'd spent in Grace's bed. A hot flush rose in her neck and she shoved the thoughts away again.

"You wanted to speak with me?" Nika sounded exhausted. As far as Nova knew, he had not reduced his patrol hours while attending on Harkenn like Yddris did. She wondered when he had last slept.

"Yes," Nova said. She indicated the kitchen door. "Outside?"

"If you wish." Nika was clearly baffled by the request, but followed without question as Nova led him out. Once they were outside and ensconced carefully behind a support strut in the castle wall out of view of the door, Nova checked furtively for signs of Angels nearby.

"Has Jeorge spoken to you of his suspicions about Harkenn?" she asked. Nika's attention sharpened.

"He has barely spoken to me at all," he replied. "It's hard not to imagine he finds me distasteful in some way."

"He's just like that," Nova muttered. "He believes Harkenn is compromised."

"Him too?" Nika didn't sound as surprised as Nova might have liked. "I've had suspicions myself. Did he say that the lord hasn't invited the Heads of House to discussions this week? He turned Callan away at the door two days ago." That was even worse, but Nika continued, "Yddris is on his way back and I'm hoping he'll be able to shed some light on this. He knows the man better than anyone."

Grace, who had been silent up until this point, butted in. "Jordan's coming back?"

"He is, yes."

"I hope he knows how much trouble he's in." She scowled. "How did you find out?"

"Our guildmaster sent a runner straight back saying they would be on their way. I would guess the message has preceded them by a week or so." Nika cocked his head. "I would like to think that if our suspicions are correct, they have not factored in Yddris's involvement. He wasn't due back for another month at least, but Harkenn sent word immediately. He is excellent at this sort of thing; it's half the reason why Harkenn favours him so much, I expect."

Grace nodded, still distracted by the prospect of her brother coming back. The weeks had soothed her anger at him over the run-in with the Devils, but it was a regular point of conversation, as if the girl sensed that Nova was holding back something crucial – which she was, of course. She wondered if Grace would leave her if she ever found what it was that Nova had refused to tell her; it wasn't remotely harmless information. But she didn't want to think about that. She had already spent all night running through all the other reasons why Grace shouldn't want her.

"Do you have any ideas about what might lower Harkenn's guard like this?" she asked Nika. "Herbs, poisons?" A small, vicious corner of her mind was baying for blood; would she ever have a better chance to be rid of the High Lord of the Reach once and for all? Why would she help him? And though it galled her from the inside out to admit it, it was only to save herself from facing her past – nothing to do with the man himself. She didn't owe Shadow's Reach anything anymore. If Harkenn had to die to Caelumese hands some day, she would make certain she was well out of her uncle's reach before it happened. Her experience of cruelty in dungeons did not start when she arrived in the Reach. She had considered running, of course, but if Harkenn's reputation didn't have someone dragging her back, then his death would mean her uncle would be the one hunting her down. If she was to get her freedom, it would have to be planned better than simply sneaking out and hoping for the best.

"I would have to think about that," Nika said, bringing her back to the present. "It wouldn't just be a case of which poisons and drugs existed, but a case of which ones are potent enough to work on Harkenn. Not many exist, if his father's physician's records are anything to go by. I think it's quite apparent that he has some resistance to whatever it is, if he is not raving mad or frothing in a corner already. If, of course, we're even looking at a poisoning. It could be stress." He didn't sound convinced.

Nova shook her head. "I don't think Harkenn feels exhaustion that way. And I don't think it would affect his aura badly enough to give Cael the kind of access he would need."

Nika thought for a moment. "Do you think you can get me a scroll from the library? Discreetly?"

Nova fingers flickered over her chain. It didn't get more distinctive. Someone would keep an eye on her every moment she was in there; Harkenn had never trusted her in the library completely unsupervised. And Vestra knew what conclusions he'd jump to if he found his Angel slave researching poisons with a Caelumese delegation in attendance.

"I can," Grace said. "They're used to me in there."

"No," Nova replied. "Too risky."

"Not as risky as you," Grace retorted. "Both you and Nika stick out like sore thumbs."

"So do you. How many Nictavians have you seen with yellow hair?"

Grace's lips pinched. "Then I'll dye it. I've been thinking about doing it anyway, and Jan said she knows someone who would do it for me."

Nova felt an odd pang at the idea of Grace colouring her golden hair dark. It seemed an integral part of her, bright and glinting like her presence in a room.

"It makes me too much of a target, Nova," Grace said. Her expression softened. "Everyone knows who I am at a single glance. I get stared at in the street, and that's just on a good day. I'm still getting asked to bless children." She sighed. "And it would seem that a lot of people are after me for more than that, which I would think warrants at least some effort to make it difficult for them."

"I like your hair," she muttered, before she registered that the words were coming. Nika pretended he hadn't heard even as Grace rewarded her with a shy smile.

"It'll still be under there," she said. "I don't want to dye it, but it everything's just so fraught at the moment. I'll stop when the danger passes."

Nova nodded, already wishing for some way of taking the slip back. It was bad enough that Nika knew at all; she didn't need to expose herself as a hopeless sap at the same time.

"Fine." She groaned. She couldn't believe she was actually going to help the man who had tormented her for ten years, but he was the only man with half a chance of repelling the one who had tormented her for her entire life. If someone had offered her the chance at freedom there and then, she would have taken it. The Reach could collapse on itself for all she cared. But her uncle and sister would come after her for as long as she remained a threat to the throne. Never mind that all she wanted was a hut in the middle of nowhere and some peace. "I can't believe I'm doing this. The slave trying to save her owner's life. What next?"

"I'm not keen on it either," Grace said. "He's ruined Jordan's life. I have this horrible feeling," and at this she shot Nova a very pointed stare, "that it's worse than I know right now. But if your stories are anything to go by, he's the lesser of two evils."

"Well. I'm glad we're decided," Nika said, distinctly uncomfortable. Nova just grinned at him, though she had a feeling it came out more of a tortured grimace.

"You'll have to wait for Yddris to get back to find someone who doesn't hate Harkenn's guts and isn't just saving him because he's fractionally less terrible than the alternative," she said. The Unspoken's fondness for the lord had always confounded her. She knew that didn't mean Yddris approved of everything the man did, but he wasn't even nice to be around for people who hadn't fallen foul of him. Perhaps it was her unmitigated bias speaking and Yddris saw something in him that very few others could. Lady Kerrin also seemed to find him confusingly tolerable.

"So Grace is going to find you the scroll in the library," Nova said, after an awkward pause. She didn't think Nika liked the lord either, but he was far too proper to voice it.

"What are you going to do?" Grace asked.

Nova smiled grimly. "I'm going to force my way into an audience with his lordship."

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