The Heart Forger (The Bone Witch #2)(99)
Cries rose up from outside. The army had reached the gates. Battle was about to begin.
Emperor Shifang gave a curt order. “Send word that the Princess of Kion is now the Empress of Daanoris,” Shadi translated for us. “Prepare the troops. As soon as I give the word, we shall attack.”
Zoya stepped forward, speaking in Daanorian. “A moment, Your Majesty.”
A few courtiers gasped, and the emperor scowled. He turned to ignore her, but Inessa shook her hand free from her husband’s and stepped back.
“What is the meaning of this insolence?” Tansoong demanded.
“We have reason to believe that there is a traitor in our midst and that it is one of your own advisers, Emperor Shifang. This traitor bespelled your army and summoned the savul.”
“And who might that be?” demanded the emperor.
Zoya raised her hand. It swept past Tansoong and pointed unerringly at Baoyi. “Him.”
I was astonished. From Kalen’s and Fox’s expression, I wasn’t the only one.
“Lady Zoya?” Baoyi looked as stunned as I was. “I beg your pardon?”
“You poisoned Princess Yansheo under the guise of an Odalian duke. For your help, Usij promised you lordship over Santiang and most of Daanoris. It was you who secreted those seeking stones within the emperor’s army in the hopes it would distract our Dark asha long enough for her to be killed by the savul. You have betrayed Emperor Shifang and you have allied yourself with the Faceless.”
The man lifted his hands. “Emperor Shifang,” he beseeched. “I have served you faithfully for years. I am innocent of these accusations. Surely you do not believe these lies?”
“Let us not get ahead of ourselves, Baoyi.” I didn’t like Tansoong, but he was a master politician, quick to take advantage when the tide turned in his favor. The advisor said, “I have been keeping a close eye on you for many months, and I have many reasons to suspect that what they say could be true.”
“Is he in on the plan?” I heard Shadi whisper to Zoya.
“Of course not. He’s talking out of his ass, but at least the emperor’s paying attention.”
“They’re going to hear you,” Khalad mumbled.
“It’s not like most of them understand me. And at this point, it’s too late to be offended.”
“My suspicions began when you arrived from Tresea last year with several pieces of what you claimed were jade stones,” Tansoong continued.
“I have always been a collector, Tansoong.”
“Collector my foot. I know what jade looks like, and those certainly weren’t precious gems. After Yansheo fell sick, I pored through many magical tomes from Kion, trying to find an antidote even if it went beyond our own laws. In my desperation to see the princess well again, I came upon many magical treatises written by asha. What you call jade looked like what the asha call ‘seeking stones.’”
“You’re getting blind in your old age, Tansoong,” Baoyi accused.
“Oh, I know my vision isn’t what it used to be,” the old man drawled, enjoying his time in the spotlight. “You spirited them out of the palace as quickly as you received them, but I had my spy steal one of your ‘jades’ to confirm my suspicions. After that, I had my men deliver it, along with an anonymous letter, to your old friend, Narel, at the shack he frequents in the city. He and I had never seen eye to eye, but I knew he wouldn’t let your friendship get in the way if you were up to something suspicious.”
The realization that Tansoong was telling the truth and Baoyi was our enemy all along triggered something in my brain. I remembered Baoyi’s quarters, the jade stones Khalad had arranged on the mantelpiece. The Heartforger had piled three of them on top of the other, a careful display of balance. I had seen that somewhere else in the palace…
Baoyi shifted uneasily. “That means nothing.”
“No, but it explains many other things.” Zoya spoke up again. “The men in your army who sought to attack you, Your Majesty, were influenced by these same seeking stones.”
“Then there is all the more reason to suspect you and your group, not me,” Baoyi protested. “I have no skills for magic, and of all of us here, you would be the most likely—”
“You talked about conducting a search for the princess’s heartsglass yesterday. How do you know what heartsglass looks like?”
“I have read texts of them, that they are red in color and shine like rubies. It is common enough knowledge.”
“What isn’t common knowledge was that this particular sleeping sickness turns their hearts gray. None of us told you about this particular detail, yet you told me you had ordered your soldiers to bring back any gray jewels they might find. How do you explain that?”
Sweat beaded on Baoyi’s forehead. “Narel told me.”
“The Heartforger explicitly stated in his letter that he told you nothing to spare you from worry. Once I realized that, I focused my attentions on you. The jade you like to display on your mantelpiece are very similar in shape and size to seeking stones. How easy would it be to smuggle them under the guise of unpolished gems? The forger also mentioned a recent visit, yet you denied he ever came. Either he was talking to an impersonator—highly doubtful, since it would be too risky to have two of you in the palace at once—or you lied because you didn’t want to be the last man to see him.” Zoya was in fighting form, her eyes glittering.