A Country Falls (Greatest Thief 3)

Chapter Seventeen

She was standing behind Mayah's desk, a handful of letters spread out in front of her. A bloody knife acted like a paperweight, holding down one edge of a particularly large report. Nearby, Mayah was tied to a chair, with a wad of cloth stuffed in her mouth. She looked angry but unhurt. My mind felt like it was moving in slow motion. I looked down at the damp carpet under my foot, and realized that it was soaked with blood. My eyes followed the stain towards a body.

Angelys, eyes open and glassy, blood still seeping from the slice across her neck.

"Don't," Kassia said. Her tone mimicked idle boredom, but her fingers reached for her bloody knife. "Get in here. Castin, I see you. I'll kill Lady Mayah and both of you before help can get here."

Castin stepped fully into the room and let the door close behind him. He tried to step around and get in front of me, and I caught his arm. I appreciated that he wanted to protect me, but I thought Kassia was less likely to hurt me than to hurt him.

"What do you want?" I asked, as steadily as I could manage.

Kassia still hadn't really looked at me. She flipped open another letter, and her eyes skimmed it as she replied, "Come sit down. Castin, take off that sword and go stand in the corner."

I caught his gaze and nodded. He frowned but started to undo his belt. I left him to it and crossed the room to take my usual chair on the other side of Mayah's desk. I spared Mayah a quick glance, but couldn't interpret the look she was giving me.

"What do you want?" I repeated.

Kassia glanced up. She was dressed all in black, in clothing that was actually quite similar to Mayah's Navirian training clothes. The biggest difference was that Kassia had numerous knives on her belt. Her hands were nowhere near her knives, but I knew not to underestimate how quickly she could grab them.

Kassia dropped the letter. "Your army is starving my city."

That wasn't the direction I imagined our conversation taking, but luckily, I had been hearing all the reports. "That's not true. Deorun has food stored away."

She shocked me by laughing. "Is that what you've been told? Everybody in the three kingdoms knows that until the Ady and Muss rivers flood, most of Deorun's food comes from Deor-Morcea."

That rang a bell in the back of my mind. "And the Co Navy has been blocking trade from Deor-Morcea for months."

"Hmm. So you're more aware of what's happening this time around." Kassia picked up her bloody knife, and wiped it off on one of the letters. Blue wax caught my eye, and I realized it was one of Jalor's letters to Mayah. Carelessly ruined by Kassia. "What I want is leverage against King Zianna."

I tried to put her comments together. She wasn't going to simply tell me everything, but she would probably confirm if I guessed right. "Mayah is the closest noble Telt who isn't with the army, and you knew the city would still be in disrepair."

Kassia raised an eyebrow, which I took as both confirmation and odd encouragement. She liked this game.

"There's also Prince Kalvahi's grudge against East Draulin."

"A minor contributing factor," Kassia said. Her gaze snapped over my head briefly. "Castin. Believe it or not, I can talk to Finn and watch you at the same time. Finn, what is he doing here, anyway?"

"He enlisted," I said. "He's acting as my guard."

"Hmm. That's unfortunate."

I didn't want to ask her why, so I continued with my guessing, hoping to distract her. "It also helps that Mayah is their friend."