Crown’s voice was quiet. “Ianthe, please. Please. There’s so much I don’t understand. About you … about what happened … about Gideon.”
The voice did not sound at all pleased when it said, “So you do remember her name.”
“I was on a shuttle with her body for months and months. I want to know what’s going on.”
“There’s a lot to explain.”
“Are you going to let me come inside, or are you going to tell me out here?”
The voice said, “That’s up to you, darling.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just because I’m using Babs as a butt puppet does not mean that I’m without resources,” said the voice. “I’m a Lyctor. Yes, multiple puppets are a pain … I’m hoping the expert is out there somewhere admiring my handiwork … but I’m not blind, Corona. My pretty golden girl, roughing it in your jacket … and your earrings. I’ll give him this, he said earrings or necklace.”
Nona watched We Suffer tense. Something else was coming through her earpiece. She said, “Not until we hear the call. No. No. The signal.”
Crown whispered, “What the hell are you talking about, Ianthe? You’re scaring me.”
“You’re scaring me.”
Another sound. From somewhere to Crown’s left, there was a low, brief sound like a call, a note that rose until something muffled it. It sounded like the Captain. Crown said, “I don’t know what you want from me.”
“Only what you want from me,” said the other voice. And: “I’m going to be piqued if you make me be the bad guy here, okay? I am not having the world’s most fun at the moment. I can’t even hug you with my own arms, touch you with my own body. Only Babs’s … there’s a metaphor in there. In conclusion, I am not self-soothing over here. And studs never suited you and you know it.”
“Exactly how much necromancy can you do?”
“That’s an interesting question,” said the voice.
Another long pause. The voice said impatiently: “Nod or shake. Are they listening?”
There was no answer: none that Nona could see. Camilla’s head had lifted entirely. We Suffer was saying into the earpiece, “Do not line it up.”
“I understand,” said the voice. “Don’t worry, baby. I’m not mad at you. He told me what you were.”
Something happened. The speaker crackled, and the second voice got much louder, like they were talking right into the receiver.
“Listen, dregs, to the Saint of Awe,” the voice said. “I’m very pleased you handed my sister back to me. That’s why I am not currently flattening a planet that, I’ll be honest with you, nobody really gives a shit about. I’m changing the terms of the demand, but don’t panic. You see, I don’t particularly care about Blood of Eden. In fact, I wouldn’t mind if you all survived for a few hundred more years. You think we’re fighting you on Antioch? You think you’re the main event? Sure, you’ve made a hell of a mess, but we’re already doing cleanup. My eyes are not on you. Do you understand? Go and live another five thousand years. I only want every House asset you’ve got. I know what you have, and I’ll be taking all of it. I want the Sixth House Oversight Body. I want Camilla Hect on my front doorstep. And most of all I want Harrowhark Nonagesimus—as intact as you have her at this moment—or the whole planet is forfeit … Corona, don’t cry again, I’m really not angry with you. It’s funny that anyone thought you could fool me.”
We Suffer said, “Line it up.”
Crown was saying, “Deuteros—promise you’re not going to touch Deuteros,” and the other voice said impatiently, “If I have to look at Deuteros a second longer I’ll die. I can’t believe you’re going this far because you think you’ll look good in a uniform. You always were nutty about uniforms … Why Deuteros?”
Camilla said urgently, “No. Listen to her.”
We Suffer said, “What the hell is it?” in not a very nice way.
“She’s trying to tell us something.”
But all Crown said was, “She listened to me. I owe her.”
“Oh, that’s not special. Anyone would listen to you if you unbuttoned your top two buttons. Well, no, not Deuteros, you were never in her line. Look, I’m taking you both in, so you can relax. You just look so beautiful when you’re nervous.”