“She hopes you’ll let her examine it,” Falak said.
“As long as she promises to give it back.” I presented the cloak to her, and she took it gently, reverently, and hugged it close to her chest. “It really works, Falak. In daylight, she’ll be completely imperceptible.”
“But what about at nighttime? If the empress’s men show up here again like they did tonight, there will be no way to keep her from them. If they demand to search the wagons, how will I stop them?”
Svieta had watched us while we talked, her dark eyes darting between us. When Falak fell silent, the tinkerer tugged Falak’s sleeve. The two leaned close and talked in a low, serious tone. Genevieve and I gave each other questioning looks while they conducted their private conversation. Finally, the ringmaster nodded, straightened up, and clicked his heels together. “Perhaps, this is your lucky night, ladies. My tinkerer has suggested the possibility of a reprieve, but it will cost you both a great deal.”
The princess glanced at me, her brows knitting together. I shrugged at her.
“What do you want?” she asked Falak.
The ringmaster jabbed his thumb at his companion. “Svieta wants the cloak.” Before I could object, Falak waved me off. “A temporary loan for educational purposes. She’s quite certain, if she can understand its basic nature, that she can improve upon its current function.”
Images of Svieta conducting scientific experiments on my beloved cloak sent chills shivering down my spine. “She won’t hurt it, will she?”
“She says she thinks she can make it work, even without sunlight.”
I snorted. “Impossible.”
Falak peered down his nose at me. “Don’t underestimate her abilities. She can do things with Magic that most people would never dream of.”
“Such as animate your menagerie?”
The ringmaster rolled his eyes and looked away, refusing to answer.
“How can she manipulate Magic if she’s not a Magician?” Genevieve asked.
Again, Falak refused to answer.
“Fine.” I folded my arms over my chest. “She can take it, but she must swear not to harm it.”
The ringmaster muttered something to his tinkerer, and the older woman returned my stare and nodded. In halting Dreutchish, she said, “Ich verspreche.” I promise.
Falak turned to Genevieve. “That’s Evie’s price for my complicity. Now it’s your turn to pay up, little princess.”
She held her open hands out at her sides. “I don’t have anything to give you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. There’s one currency in which I trade that everyone from queens to beggars is in possession of.”
A memory emerged from the vault in my mind, and I remembered what Falak had asked of me in return for giving me a job. “Secrets.”
He nodded and squinted at Genevieve. “Indeed. And I rather suspect our dear princess is overflowing with an abundance of that particular resource.”
The princess glared at him, and the muscle in her jaw budged as she gritted her teeth.
“I’ll stand in the face of your sister’s army.” Falak prowled closer to Genevieve. “I’ll tell them I have no idea what happened to you, if you like. But, in return, I expect two things.” He stopped before her and leaned close until his nose was mere inches from hers. He raised one finger. “First, I expect you to do exactly as I say. You’ll take my orders and commands without question or complaint, and you’ll be ready to give a complete and profound performance with the unicorn by the time we reach Barsava.” Genevieve bit her lip and nodded. Falak raised another finger. “Second, I want you to tell me a secret—a very expensive secret. A secret so rich and decadent it costs you a bit of your soul to have to tell it to me. Anything less than that, and you can take your horse and leave this very moment.”
Genevieve swallowed and raised her chin. She bobbed her head, once, and lowered her gaze. “I’ll tell you, on one condition.”
“You’re in no position to demand conditions.”
Her shoulders flinched in a brief shrug. “The condition is: You have to believe me.”
He exhaled a quick, sharp breath. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“No one else has.”
“I’m not everyone else.”
Genevieve nodded again, and her throat worked as though dredging the words up from some deep place inside her. “My sister and I, as you know, are the descendants of the Lords of Ore.”
“That’s no secret,” Falak muttered. I pinched his shoulder. He scowled and rubbed his arm, but clamped his lips shut.
“The last of our ancestors to have any real powers—” She paused and gave Falak a wary look as if expecting another interruption. He motioned for her to continue. “The last in our family to have powers was our great-grandfather. He could manipulate silver, gold, lead, iron, copper, tin, any metal or mineral. Bonhemm was a rich country because of it.”
“We know this, princess.” He rolled a hand. “Get to the point.”
She squinted at him and scowled. “Since we’ve lost that ability, we’ve lost a source of easy income. We still have mines, but they aren’t as productive. Bonhemm’s coffers are greatly reduced. Tereza’s desperate to change that, desperate to reclaim our heritage, the birthright of our forefathers.”
“How desperate?” he asked.
Genevieve raised her shirttails and turned in a complete circle, exposing the pale flesh of her stomach and back. Puckered pink scars and dark marks marred her skin so that only a few small patches of healthy, unmarked tissue remained. An involuntary gasp escaped my throat. She pointed to a series of black marks over her ribs. “Tattoos, brands, cuttings.... Those are only the tortures that you can see.” She lowered her shirt. “You can’t see the number of times I’ve been near death from being forced to swallow all manner of poisons, potions, and treatments of Magical spells so dark and obscure that Otokar himself suffered in the execution of them. He’d risk his own life for her.”
My mouth fell open as wide as my jaw allowed. Disgust and horror rolled through my stomach like a pod of angry sea monsters, churning bile and acid until it rose in my throat. I had no words, though. No words to express my outrage and horror at all she’d been forced to suffer.
“They did this to you for what?” Falak asked. “To try to reawaken your powers?”
She nodded. “My sister and her Magician wouldn’t dare experiment on themselves, now, would they? They couldn’t afford the risk. But me...?” She slammed her eyes shut and shook her head viciously. Her throat worked like a water pump. Once she’d regained her composure, she opened her eyes. “I’m expendable. Tereza was the heir. I am the spare, but they spared me nothing.”
