Page 46 of The Empty Throne

Frozen clear through again, he handed off thecaribou to the hands that came out to greet him, then stumbled hisway into the palace. Servants appeared to help him, ready withtowels, tea, and more. When he'd been dried, stripped, andredressed in a soft, warm dressing robe, and his teeth had finallystopped chattering, Cohea said, "I need to speak with Regent Kiteimmediately."

The servants stared at him, clearly takenaback, before one of them said, "Regent Kite isn't here, YourGrace. He had to leave on an emergency and has given authority toActing Regent Sobeki in his absence."

Well, there was a fitting twist if ever he'dheard one. "Then take me to him immediately, please."

One of the servants bowed before handing offthe tray she held. "I just delivered lunch to him about an hourago. I'll take you to him."

"I'm grateful." He followed the woman throughthe palace to Sobeki. To Cohea's surprise, it wasn't the office,the library, or any of Sobeki's other usual haunts.

Instead, she led him to the conservatory,which had been the domain of the late queen, forever creating andimproving upon various potions, tonics, and more. If she had notbeen a noble, and later a queen, she would have made a finehealer.

Sobeki sat at a table near the back, lookingover papers and muttering to himself. He looked up as he heardfootsteps, then leaped to his feet so quickly that his chair tippedover. "Cohea! I've been trying to find you for ages! Bittersea saidyou'd been captured and that you'd probably escape, but—"

The servant bowed off and left them, andCohea crossed the room to sweep Sobeki up into a tight hug. "I'msorry to have worried you so much. Why is Kite not here? What didthe border guards come to see you about?"

"Sit down, Cohea, you look ready to fallover. Let me have something hot brought for you and we'll talk.There's a lot to say. I don't even know where to start." Sobekisighed, righted his seat, and sat down. He shuffled and stacked thepapers he'd been going over, setting them aside with a crystalpaperweight on top, an ornate green and gold pencase that Cohea hadgiven him as a solstice gift a couple of years ago set next tothem. "Are you all right, not counting the toll the weather hastaken?"

"Been better, been worse," Cohea replied. "Ifnot for Bittersea, I'd probably still be recovering from my woundsin that shitty tower. Have you heard from him?"

"I spoke with him briefly." Sobeki circledhis hand in the air, his way of saying he'd done so by way ofspirit walking. "He was headed to your estate and couldn't offerany useful information to pass on to Kite." He fell silent asfootsteps approached, and three servants came into view. Onebearing a tray of food, one a tray of drinks, and the last Cohea'srequested clothes. "Thank you."

"Your Highness, Your Grace," the servantsmurmured, bowing before fading off again.

"Tell me," Cohea said.

"They're coming," Sobeki said quietly, hishand resting on the table curling into a fist, the rings on hisfingers scraping along the glass. "The border guards that made ithere are all that's left of a goddamn slaughter. Fazekas and otherclans are marching toward us. The army is preparing to move out,and I've sent runners out in every direction to warn people. Myonly hope right now is that this weather might slow the Terekiansdown, give us a bit more time." He opened his hand and rested hisforehead in it. "Part of this is my fault. Mine and Kite's."

"What do you mean?"

"We have his son. Fazekas's, I mean," Sobekisaid. "He was captured by soldiers while trying to leave from ourharbor. We thought to keep him as a negotiating piece, but…" Heclosed his eyes and dropped his hand into his lap to join theother, both of them clenching his robes tightly. When he opened hiseyes, they were filled with rage, and Cohea only realized then thatit was anger that had him clenching his hands into fists, not fearor anguish. "Fazekas cursed him, Cohea. He paid someone to put afucking castle curse on his son."

"That… sounds bad," Cohea said slowly."Unfortunately, I don't know what a castle curse is."

Sobeki stared a moment, then relaxed andhuffed out a soft laugh before explaining all that had transpired,from the moment the guards had brought Lysa to the palace up untilhe, Kite, and the others had departed.

"What a mess." Cohea poured himself a cup oftea and didn't bother to add anything, just threw it back beforepouring another that he took the time to add cream and sugarto.

"Was Bittersea being honest when he said hedidn't know anything about his family having bloodstones?"

"Yes." Cohea wolfed down some of theridiculous dainty tea sandwiches that'd been brought. Must be leftover from something else. Of all the foreign customs to beimported, it had to be these silly, delicate things.

"What makes you so certain?"

"Believe it or not, Bittersea really isn'tmuch for lying. Too easy, not nearly as upsetting andproblem-causing as the truth tends to be. He may evade the truth,or not mention something if it suits his purposes, but you'llalmost never hear him flat out lie. If he said he didn't know, thenhe didn't."

Sobeki nodded. "Oskia has vanished. I managedto contact her briefly, but she was… hostile. Not what everyonecalls her being hostile when she's really just being assertive andsuch. I mean like she was planning on spilling bloodhostile."

"No idea what set her off?"

"Not really. She's seeking the identity ofthe heir. Her mother is dead, and she said she learned of some'matter' she had to finish. It was all very strange."

Only if you didn't have all the pieces of thepuzzle. Coheadidhave them, though, and a sneakingsuspicion he knew what the matter was and confirmation of somethinghe'd suspected.

"Why do you look like you're going to afuneral?"

Cohea heaved a sigh. "I know what she'sdoing, or at least I can make a very good guess."

Sobeki abruptly looked likehewas theone attending a funeral. "Cohea…"

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