Page 8 of Claiming Sarah

“I may be damned, but I am not a fool,” I replied, not backing down at his outrage. “You haven’t called the royal guard on me because you know what Justice has done. Your brother needs to answer for his crimes—all of them. If you didn’t want that, then you would have had me arrested by now.”

Volatile glared at me. “You think you know everything, don’t you?”

“Definitely not, but I remember meeting you when I was a boy, and I knew then what I know now. You are a good man. Valor Ladrang always said that about you, and so does everyone else.”

His gaze narrowed. “We met before?”

“Yes, at the Ladrang house. You came to do business with Valor, and he wanted me and Deacon to sit in on the meeting. I remember it distinctly, because you were the only person I had ever seen Valor deal with who he didn’t mind getting screwed by.”

He laughed heartily. “Valor always tried to lowball his merchants on the price of our silks. Cheap bastard.” His smile gradually fell. “I miss him and our friendship.”

“Were you angry with him for his affair with Silence?”

“No.” He sighed and dragged a hand through his hair. “I mean, it was not right of course, but if a man like Valor was willing to break the law for someone, then there was a good reason for it. He was trustworthy to a fault.”

I nodded in agreement. “That’s why I respect him. Deacon takes after his father in a lot of ways.”

“So,” he sat back down across from me and looked into my eyes. “You think my brother is murdering the families of the dead conduits, and you want to track down my children to see if they themselves are conduits, so you can communicate with the dead, maintaining our faith system. I would be aiding in treason, if this worked. He could have my head.”

I smirked. “He could have your head fornotcalling the royal guard as soon as I admitted to treason, though I’m not sure it matters anymore.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Time to sell it.“Justice could use any reason to take anyone’s head. That’s what he does to anyone who is disloyal to his whims, and you cannot tell me that he would not have done that to his own daughter, had she not been pregnant.”

“The people would have rioted, had he executed Silence.” He sounded so tired as he spoke. “As it stands now, the people are in mourning for their murdered princess.”

“From what I’ve heard, he’s already executed the guilty culprits who allegedly killed Silence.” Which meant Justice had murdered innocent men.

Volatile closed his eyes and huffed. “He held public executions for all to see, yes.”

“But if you had already heard from the palaceIwas involved in Silence’s murder, then you knew he executed the wrong men knowingly. Why would Justice do such a thing?” I had to make him say it out loud.

“To keep order,” he said reluctantly. “Make the citizens believe he had taken care of the issue, so they wouldn’t riot, trying to find her murderer.”

I nodded once. “Justice will do anything to maintain the people’s compliance and placidity, even if it means murdering the wrong and innocent people. Their lives don’t matter to him. Only their worship matters to him. That’s the real reason he murdered the conduits and declared the faith as treason in the first place. He wants to be worshiped like a god. He is not a proper ruler. He is a tyrant, he’s—”

“Do you not feel guilty for those he executed in your stead?” he interrupted me.

“Why should I?” I countered. “I didn’t murder them.”

“But, had you not rescued Silence—”

“She likely would have been dead by now,” I said in a flat tone. “She wasn’t doing well in that dark, dank cell. The babies weren’t—”

“Babies?” he asked, his eyes widening. “There are more than one?”

Shit. Let that slip.I blew out a breath and gave him the truth. “Yeah. Twins. A boy and a girl.”

He smiled and his eyes welled up, before he wiped them. “They are healthy? Safe?”

I nodded. “Mother and babies. All doing well.”

“That is very good to hear. Thank you, Cozz.” He swallowed hard, regaining control of his emotions. “I want to believe that is true. But I do not trust you and you do not trust me, and that is fine for now. Trust takes time to build.”

“I am willing to build that with you, Volatile.”

He was pensive for a moment. “I miss Silence,” he said, sadness in his tone. “My niece was always such a kind person.”

---