CHAPTER 25
A FAMILY, BROKEN
Luca couldn’t hide her triumph as she entered the empty smoking den on the Old Medina side of the Old Medina wall. Almost empty but for a table already set with water pipes and small cups of steaming mint tea. A table tall enough for chairs.
Djasha and Jaghotai already sat around it, along with a man Touraine had called the bookseller. Sa?d. Jaghotai had a deep-purple bruise along one cheekbone, but even she exuded the same jovial air of a job well done. Of peace.
Touraine, who still looked ill, was the only one who didn’t. At least her presence was a comfort. With a gentle hand at her back, Luca bade her sit before following. Sa?d poured them both fresh cups of pale tea, thick with the smell of sugar. He also set new coals on a water pipe before handing the tube to Luca.
She pulled from it. The tobacco was laced with rose, and it couldn’t have been sweeter.
“My people have a watch on the warehouses now. They’ve confirmed your security measures and the contents,” Jaghotai said. She dipped her head begrudgingly, long dreadlocks dipping, too. She smoked from her own pipe. “She told the truth.”
“So we have a deal?” Luca said from within a cloud of smoke. She pulled out her own copy of the treaty document she’d drawn up.
Jaghotai smoked and jerked her head at Djasha. “Your turn, witch.”
The Brigāni slowly turned to look her companion dead in the eyes and held Jaghotai in her gaze for five eternal seconds. A look like that would have made Luca apologize, at the very least. Jaghotai only smirked around the tube at her lips.
“Don’t take all day,” Jaghotai said. “I want my new toys.”
“We have a deal.” Djasha pulled out the wax tube Luca had given her last night and uncurled the paper. “We’ll send one priest to you when we have the weapons. They’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
“Very well.” Luca pulled out a pen and a small bottle of ink. She laid both contracts out and copied the Apostate’s amendment to her own.
When she finished and held the pen out for Djasha to sign, the Brigāni woman’s golden eyes were hooded and unreadable. She clutched her robes to her, as if she were cold.
Luca leaned closer, felt herself falling toward the woman, toward a depth she knew was hidden just out of reach. She was a child again, peering over the edge of a boat into the lac de Solange to see what lay in the dark. There was no one here to pull her to safety if she tipped.
“Do you know our history, Your Highness?” Djasha asked finally.
“Of course. All the way back to Empress Djaya at least, but the… curse… on the other city leaves much of that occluded. The Blood and Wheat Treaty, signed by my great-great-great-grandmother after your empress went mad. The Technological Trade Agreement, signed by my great-great-grandfather, that got plumbing and irrigation for you and surgical techniques and vaccinations for us. Then—”
Djasha cocked her head. “And then your father, who dissolved all of it.”
Luca’s recitation had been rote, as if Djasha were one of her tutors and she were just a child. She was cut off like a child, too.
“And in any case, I’m not talking about your version of our history.” Djasha paused. She closed her eyes, as if she were having a fainting spell.
Touraine and Jaghotai startled to their feet a second before the door burst open. Luca couldn’t help it—she screamed, ducking under her arms.
It was only Gillett, his face pale in the dim light of the smoking den. The gauzy dyed curtains made the grim lines of his face stand out in green and red and blue.
“Your Highness, we need to leave now. Mesdames, monsieur—” Gil looked meaningfully at the rebel leaders. “See to your people. You’re under attack.”
“What have you done?” shouted Jaghotai. The Jackal was up and lunging for Luca before Gil’s words had sunk in. Touraine tackled the woman in a clatter of low tables and stools, a howl of rage. Gil already had his pistol out, and it was pointed at Djasha.
“Into the carriage, Luca!” he said.
“But, Touraine—”
“Get… the fuck… out!” Touraine said from the ground, restraining the Jackal.
Luca obeyed.
“It wasn’t her!” Touraine growled at Jaghotai, holding her down until Luca was safely out the door. More of a whimper, really. Sky-falling fuck, but she hurt. “She didn’t plan this attack. It’s Cantic.”
“Then why the lucky coincidence?” Jaghotai shoved Touraine away.