Kushiel's Mercy

apologize.”
    Kratos shook himself all over like a wet dog. “You understate the case considerably, my lord.” He did clasp my hand then, peering at my face in wonder. “You do have a bit of the look of him. Leander. Only . . . different. A lot different, somehow.” He gave a short laugh. “I’ll wager you’re a fellow knows how to wrestle. Bears, by the look of it.”
    “That, my friend, is truer than you know.” I released his hand. “Give me a few hours, and we’ll talk.”
    “As you wish, my lord,” Kratos said with uncommon deference in his voice.
    I took to my bed and dreamed of Sidonie.

Fourty-Eight

    Kratos gave a subtle nod as we strolled past the heavy wooden door to the cellar where kegs of wine and ale were stored. The guard posted at the corner of the corridor stared straight ahead, incurious. I glanced to my left and saw the narrow servants’ stair that led to the second floor. We kept walking, circling around and returning to our chambers.
    “So,” I said. “One guard.”
    “Not bad, eh?” Kratos grinned.
    “Not bad at all, my friend,” I said. “Are you sure the outer door to the wine cellar isn’t guarded?”
    “Oh, aye.” He nodded. “Except when they’re taking deliveries, it’s kept locked tight from the inside.”
    There was no outer defense wall around the palace in New Carthage, only roving patrols of Astegal’s men tasked with keeping order in the streets of the city. The guards at the palace doors might question a lone Amazigh leaving in the small hours of the night with a rolled carpet slung over his shoulder. But out on the street, it would be a different matter.
    Elua knows what manner of errand Bodeshmun might have devised.
    “Well done.” I clapped Kratos on the shoulder. “Does anyone suspect you?”
    He grinned again. “Only of being a wine-sot looking to steal a way into the cellar.”
    It could be done, I thought. And it would be a hell of a lot easier if Sidonie simply coaxed her guards into drinking another drugged toast. Then all I’d have to do was wait for them to fall asleep and spirit her out of her chambers. There was still the guard in the hallway to dispatch, but I’d be able to take him by surprise. Once I got Sidonie safely away, we could flee to Terre d’Ange to seek aid from whatever army Barquiel L’Envers had mustered. And there was Alba, too. Surely our combined forces would suffice to join Serafin’s Aragonian rebels and defeat Carthage. Then we could deal with the spell.
    That night, I proposed the idea to Sidonie.
    She looked at me like I was mad. “No.”
    “Love, consider it!” I pleaded. “It’s a lot less dangerous.”
    “For who?” Her brows shot up. “Us, yes. But how many hundreds or thousands of men would have to die before we got this close to Bodeshmun again? And who knows what manner of dire spell he might devise in the meantime? No.” Sidonie shook her head.
    “Believe me, I don’t harbor any romantic ideas about sacrificing myself for the good of the realm. But I couldn’t live with myself if we didn’t try, Imriel.”
    “I had a feeling you’d say that,” I murmured. “All right. Tomorrow, then. It’s only going to get more dangerous the longer we wait. Go to Bodeshmun as late as possible. I’ll have Kratos keep watch after the dinner hour. It would help if you can convince the guards only one needs escort you.”
    “The other will grow suspicious when we don’t return,” Sidonie observed.
    “I know.” I nodded. “I’ll take care of him, too. But it will be easier to take them one at a time.”
    “Can you?” she asked.
    I understood the question. I’d killed men before in self-defense. This would be different.
    If I were quick and lucky, it would be outright murder. “Yes.”
    “Good.” She was pale, but her face was resolute. “You’d best go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    I nodded again. “If things go awry—”
    “Just know I love you,” Sidonie finished the thought for me. “Always.”
    There wasn’t anything else to say. I kissed her quickly and left to take up my post outside her door, fearful that if I lingered, it would be too agonizing to part. I didn’t have to explain it to Sidonie. She understood.
    That night, it was I who dozed under the watchful eyes of her Amazigh guards, my head propped against Sidonie’s door. I’d kept their secret, so I reckoned they’d keep mine.
    And I would need every ounce of energy I could hoard to make it through the following