Mirage (Mirage #1)(56)

“Your Grace?” Kora said.

“Was I unclear in my meaning?” he asked. “We can no longer afford such bald dissent. Not if we mean to continue to control this and all the other planets within our empire. We began the Andalaan conquest for profit and resettlement, and we’ve lost more money than is acceptable.”

His voice was even tempered, his face impassive. Despite that, I felt fear rope its way around my neck, as if at any moment he might explode into violence.

“Leave Ghazlan,” he said. “We cannot afford to rebuild its infrastructure. But we can afford to lose Tairout and Sidi Walid.”

I forced myself to think even as I felt grief twist in my chest. This was why I was one of Arinaas’s spies, so that I could pass information on to her. And it was all here, sitting in a data packet plugged into my workstation. Galene smiled at me from down the table, cool and mocking, as if she could sense my weakness.

I knew what I had to do, though I was terrified to do it. My hands worked, fiddling with the console, as I kept my eyes on the king.

“Sidi Walid is home to one of the oldest zaouias on the planet,” I said. My voice came out clear and as even as the king’s. Galene looked at me in surprise, as if shocked that Maram might speak at all, much less with authority. “It will be a moral blow to the dissidents.”

I felt ill suggesting the destruction of the zaouia. Even after the occupation, most of them had fulfilled their duties—giving shelter to the poor and needy, offering a place for respite and prayer. But Maram had to seem hard, and I needed people to focus on my words, not what I was still doing with my hands.

Mathis stared at me, and smiled. “An excellent point, Maram.” He turned back to the council. “Deploy the fleet.”

*

I returned to my apartments in a fugue. Tala offered me food and tea, but I shook my head and returned to my room. Somehow I got out of the Vathek gown and Maram’s circlet and jewelry and into my own clothes. The chill had not gone, and I found I had to wrap myself in a heavier robe to stave it off.

“Amani?” I jumped when Tala laid a hand on my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

I stared up at her, wide eyed. What could I tell her? Only, I imagined, what she already knew. That the Vath did not see us as people. That any method to keep us down and obedient was and would always be used. That the conquered people were not the priority, only the resources we sat on.

Bile burned in my throat. I’d helped them—given them advice on how to conduct a campaign that would kill yet more of us. They would target the zaouias, I thought. Because I had pointed them there. The places were ancient, and still home to the poor and needy. I’d done that.

I’d done that. Oh, Dihya.

I drew in a deep breath. “Nothing,” I said at last. “The Vath are … overwhelming. The council meeting was … I was not prepared.”

It was necessary, I reminded myself. I’d needed the information. The rebels needed the information.

She smiled in sympathy. “Shall I bring you in some tea?”

I shook my head. “I just need to rest, is all. I may stay in my room the rest of the day.”

“Alright,” she replied. “You know where to find me if you need me.”

I waited until her footsteps faded away before I rose from my seat and locked the door behind her. My hands reached for the charm I’d worn at Ouzdad, peeling back the thin, gel-like tab attached to the back. It emitted a brief, blue light when I pulled it off, then stuck it beneath my ear. It did not take long for a voice to speak.

“Yes?”

Something like a smile pulled at the corners of my mouth. “Have you given me your direct line?”

Arinaas laughed. “I can reroute the call to someone else if you like.”

I leaned back into my cushioned seat, and allowed myself a true smile. “No, thank you.”

“Ah,” she said, an echo of laughter still in her voice.

I liked Arinaas, I realized. She seemed straightforward and had a dry sense of humor I enjoyed. I never questioned where I stood with her and she never rode circles around what she wanted out of me. I had so few of those relationships now.

“What news?”

I sobered. “The Vath are going to bomb the coastal cities in the Eastern Reach.”

She muttered something under her breath that sounded like a swear. “Mouha!” A name. “Get me Sa’ad. Quickly.”

A low murmur.

“Drag him across the desert if you have to.”

“Arinaas?”

“Amani.” Her voice had gentled.

“It’s as bad as I imagined?”

“No,” she said. “Not yet. There is still time to weaken their assault. You have proven very useful, my friend.”

“I have a data packet with troop numbers and weapon depots, but I need someone to collect the information from me.”

“Well done, Amani,” she said warmly, despite the news I’d given her. “We’ll find a way to get it from you. I’ll be in touch.”

“There’s something else,” I said. “They’re … they’ll be targeting the zaouias in Sidi Walid.”

Arinaas swore. “We’ll take care of it. Contact me if you learn more.”

“I will,” I promised.