In Her Shadow(29)

"I have soldiers there searching. In fact, it's possible they have found her, but the crowd is too thick and angry. I can't get past them to find out, and my soldiers on the other side can't get a messenger out to me. Even so, I don't think they have found her. They're not looking in the right place."

A knowing smile cracked across the Abbess's face. It would've been unnerving if the smile weren't so warm.

Britta cocked her head. "Wrong ships?" she asked. "Surely you told them to search them all."

"No, I didn't."

"But why? Who wouldn't you search–" Britta stopped cold. "Regnal navy ships. You wouldn't have them searched. Why would you? No one gets aboard them who aren't from the empire. Which means. . . Goddess. Your father."

It hadn't seemed real until someone said it aloud. Before that, the idea had been hazy, half-formed like a cloud in a dream. Had his father orchestrated this? Not Ava's kidnapping, no. That had been all Weboshi, but the Governor knew an opportunity when he saw it. It made the most sense, and the idea his father was willing to put Ankshara to the torch, that he was willing to kill Regnals and Anksharans alike in the name of seizing the city for the Emperor, wasn't foreign to Lucius. Didn't the man realize what sort of risk he was putting his own son in? What if things went really wrong and the manse fell? What about Ava? No, it didn't seem possible the Governor could be so callous.

"I don't know if he took Weboshi," said Lucius. "He's not afraid to take advantage of the situation though."

Britta put a hand on his knee. "What do you need us to do?" she asked.

"I need you to come with me, down to the docks. A priestess at my side will allow me to pass through the crowd unmolested. A show of mutual support will help defuse the situation."

"Me?" said Britta. "I mean, I'm willing, but it would be a stronger show of support if the Abbess of Night was with you."

"No," said the Abbess, "he still has to arrest me."

Britta's blinked at him as if expecting him to deny it.

"She's right," he said.

Britta's hand retreated. She folded them over her lap and cleared her throat. "I get it," she said. "You have your duty to perform."

"Yes," said Dux Lucius. "But it's more than that. I can't let my father know I suspect him and – gods – What if I'm wrong?"

"But arresting her is a risk itself. The people won't like that."

"Not if they don't know."

Britta frowned. "So what you're suggesting is some sort of secret arrest?"

"House arrest. Father's orders didn't stipulate I had to slap her in irons. I think I've got enough legal leeway to claim I was doing what I thought necessary to prevent a riot. Plus, this way we don't have to march her through the streets. Hopefully, it'll take a while for word to get out we've arrested her. We'll leave one soldier behind. If anything, it might look like we're protecting her, if halfheartedly"

"People will figure it out."

"It's the best I've got," he said.

Britta and the Abbess of Night exchanged glances.

"He's smart," said the Abbess.

She waved a hand in the air and said, "Do what you must."

"Thank you," said Dux Lucius as he stood. "Abbess of Night, I place you under arrest for criminal conspiracy and aiding the escape of a wanted criminal from the Emperor's justice. You are to be held here, under guard, until such time as your trial or circumstances prove your innocence." He turned to Britta. "Now, grab your cloak. We need to hurry."





Chapter 13


Dux Lucius's men waited at the gate. They fell in behind him as he started for the docks. Only one stayed behind to guard the abbey. Not a show of force, Britta thought; a light touch – so he would appear to have done his job without having gone overboard. The problem was, what if the crowds at the docks came inland and decided to rescue their beloved Abbess? There was no way one soldier could hold them off. But that's where she came in, Britta supposed, as she and the cohort made their way down the street towards the harbor.

People in windows above tossed rotten fruit down on the soldiers, but stopped when they saw Britta and her cloak traveling in the soldiers' midst. The soldiers, at Lucius's command, did nothing to retaliate. They didn't even lift their shields to defend themselves. One poor young man got a stinking chamberpot thrown on him, and except for a wince, showed no anger for it. Their discipline was amazing. She'd never seen the garrison's soldiers working together like this. Dux Lucius hadn't been here long enough to train them, so they must have learned this before. This level of discipline explained why Regnal legionaries were the most feared soldiers in the known world. What would happen if the abbey ever attempted open defiance?

It didn't matter. She was here to show solidarity with these men, conquerors though they were, not for her sake, or Dux Lucius's, or her abbey's, but for the crowd itself. She'd heard Regnal soldiers were trained to use their shields to form a wall like a tortoise shell. The soldiers would be perfectly safe from the crowd, but if the crowd threw itself at the wall, they'd be hacked to pieces at the soldiers' leisure. Perhaps not "hacked." Lucius insisted the soldiers carry clubs to beat back the crowd, but they still carried swords on their hips just in case. Beating or hacking, Britta couldn't let it happen to her people. So when the cohort passed under windows where angry women leaned, rotten tomatoes cocked to toss, Britta stood tall and locked eyes with each and every one, shaming them with her gaze to back down. Such was the power of a cloaked sister in Ankshara.