THE SABLE SPY | TWENTY-FOUR

  BECAUSE THEY WANTED to be courteous, they invited the ladies of Lady Kuroki over for tea, and told them of their plan, being very polite about it. Cass, this time, did most of the speaking. The three girl's faces were stone, completely unreadable as they repeated their idea.

Miss Daneira nodded approvingly when she finished talking. Iolanthe, who Cass had decided was the person whose opinion mattered most in this situation, looked pensive. Lady Asteria just stirred her tea. Arecian tea, this time. Cass hadn't packed enough Saian ones. She had not been expecting a long trip when she went to Gira, and since Gira was a Saian vassal state anyways, there would have been plenty of places to buy tea leaves from.

The same could not be said of cold, wet and grey Arecia.

"It'll work," Io finally shrugged. "I keep trying to remember Hua Jueying in the past few days. The few memories I have of him don't speak of someone that smart. He only ever sees the surface level of things, I think." She took another sip of tea. She looked as if she belonged in any upper-class parlour. She was too good to be thrown away as a field agent, Cass thought. She belonged to the ballrooms and politics. Maybe Lady Kuroki will have her passed off as someone's unimportant country cousin.

"You must have been very young." Cass reached forward to pour Miss Daneira some more.

"Thank god for that." There was a dark little smile on Io's face. Those who knew of her past would know what she meant. The others would give it some thought and realise it as well. It took courage to look into the demons of your past and smile while doing it, no matter how sadistic it was. Little Io seemed like someone with an abundance of it. Admirable.

Daneira's hand fleetly touched Io's shoulder before moving away. It was a quick movement, Blink and you'd miss it. A moment of comfort, a shared camaraderie. Miss Daneira did not have an easy childhood either.

Lady Asteria pretended not to see this moment of slight weakness her friends showed. "You have more to tell us."

Cass told her of the mole in Sai and how they had captured Norman Hightower. They listened with interest. When she finished, Lady Asteria said, "Can we see him? We have some questions of our own. You could watch, if you want. We do not mind."

"We'll ask Cadieux," Marcus replied. "We still have some information we require from the man as well. He'll be transported afterwards, once we are done."

"Transportation is too small a punishment for someone who betrays their own country for money," Miss Daneira said, her lips curled with undisguised disgust. From that, Cass decided that the lady must have had her own interaction with a traitor. She hoped it was not one who betrayed Sai.

"It's an easy way to make cowards talk." Cass shrugged. "Offer them a gentler fate than the one they ought to have. A little show of mercy goes a long way."

Daneira did not seem convinced. In fact, she seemed more disgruntled now. Her traitor had not only betrayed Sai but her as well, it seemed. A personal grudge.

Asteria and Iolanthe were unperturbed by this burst of emotion. Asteria said, "I will, of course, inform Lady Kuroki with your permission, which you have already given by informing us of this. We will see what we can do to root out our traitor."

Marcus nodded. "There's a chance we'll send an Arecian agent with you. We have our own questions for your mole. We expect to catch ours, of course, soon. Either he will fall into our trap, or Hightower will give us a name."

"Perhaps the two of you could come. I hear that Lady Janae is now engaged to Monsieur Cadieux, though, so perhaps not. You wouldn't want to miss the wedding."

How Asteria knew this, Cass wasn't sure. She was certain the news hadn't spread to the ton yet. They wouldn't exactly approve of this match. Cadieux was Epimurean aristocracy, no matter what, but extremely minor and, as far as she was aware, untitled. Lady Janae was the widow of a viscount.

"I am still an exile, Lady Asteria."

She raised a brow. "You are friends with the princess, as am I. We can make an exception for you. We already have for your sister, though her presence in Sai is not public knowledge, of course. Just say it's to discuss your family's return. Everyone would believe it."

Marcus looked extremely annoyed, so she decided to steer the conversation elsewhere, before he said something they'd regret.

"Where will you go after this?" She asked, tilting her head in curiosity. "Back to school in Asayama?"

"That was the plan," Asteria shrugged. "It seems we'd have to make some alterations to it. We will head directly to Sai to inform the royal family of these intrigues you have stumbled upon here and in Gira. They'd be very interested. Would you mind terribly if we brought Hua Jueying to Sai? He'd face justice there, we'd make certain of it."

"We can make these arrangements later. One of us would go with you, if you wish to take the man away. He is holding an Arecian lord captive, after all." Cass had a feeling that if she agreed to go to the Bone Court, Marcus would volunteer for the mission. And Cadieux would agree, being the officious busybody he was. There was no way to win this. Though she did promise to stay until the wedding, and was now finding many ways to break that promise. In a way, she deserved the inevitable result of this situation. And, if she thought about it...

The idea didn't seem all that bad.

"Not for much longer, hopefully," Asteria murmured. "I wish you the best of luck in your endeavour. Would you mind terribly to ask if we could question Mr Hightower now? Lady Kuroki would like us back before lunchtime.

"Not at all," Marcus said smoothly, standing up in one swift motion. "Cass, keep the ladies company. I shall head upstairs and ask Cadieux for permission to do so. I'll be right back." He left the room before anyone could say a word, leaving the four of them inside. Cass raised the teacup and served more tea, acting the perfect, attentive hostess.

In a softer voice, Asteria said, "The war against the Meliqueans is going to come soon. Those of us in Sai could use your expertise, Miss Diao. Have you given thought to my suggestion?"

She replied, in an equally muted tone, "I am considering it."

Asteria tilted her head. "I would have thought you would be much more excited at the prospect of changing so little in your life. We in Sai are preparing for war. Danna here... her mother was Meliquean. They are considering sending her there in a few years as a spy. It will be dangerous. They speak of Io going with her. Things are turning dim and events are passing swiftly. I'd suggest you make your choice soon."

"It is a terrifying idea," Daneira— Danna admitted. "Being in the nest of the enemy, with few allies to fall back upon. But if the Meliqueans are not stopped soon..."

"We would not fight alone. The Arecians would join in." Cass looked up from her cup. "The battle will last a long time. We will do our best to shorten it, yes?"

Io slumped into the couch, her expression bleak. Her childhood, it seemed, would be spent behind enemy lines in a great war. It was a useful but lonely and cruel education. She realised this, of course. The Saians did not train fools as their spies.

Danna looked troubled. After a few moments, she said, "I have family in Melique. Estranged, but family nonetheless. It feels strange that I'd be fighting against my cousins in a few years."

"Has a proper date been set? When formal warfare would be declared?"

Asteria shook her head. "My father estimates it to be within the next three years. It's being discussed behind closed doors, doors that not even I have the privy to."

They were careful with their discussion, of course, because they were inhabiting a house full of foreign spies. Arecia did not wish for war to be declared, being the eternal peacekeepers they were. Not that it stopped them from declaring war against Joskum and Lohia less than a hundred years ago. Or invading Wheldrake two decades ago— Wheldrake, which was now Arecian land. Or Arecia joining Caershire, their enemy until recently, in bullying Dumah into giving them resources and supplies.

(Not that Sai was any better, but Sai didn't pretend to care about peace. Perhaps it was because the Yie dynasty was more than aware that their revolution was fresh on everyone's mind. It had been a bloody revolution.)

When footsteps neared, Cass declared loudly, "Tonight, we'll mess with the locks and give them a nice scare. Would you like to join us, though we don't think we'd need the extra hand. Perhaps you could join us during the days of waiting. They'd be moved during dawn, I think, when most of the tavern's customers had left and the sky was still relatively darker."

"We'd love to." If two of them were to work in Melique in the coming years, they'd need the field experience. Cass, in her head, was working on a good cover story for the two. Danna, with her Meliquean heritage, could say she was hiding there until the war was over. Or she could pretend to be someone else running away from the war, right into the heart of the army itself. Io could be her young servant.

Cadieux showed up. "Ladies, if you'd like to question Hightower, right this way. Do try not to scare him too much. Cass held a knife to the poor man's bloody throat and he's been quivering like a coward over it ever since."

"A natural response, monsieur," Asteria snorted. "I think anyone would be terrified if Miss Diao held a blade to their neck. She seems to be the most skilled fighter." When had Asteria...? Ah, during the meeting at Vawkher's Alley. She would have had a bird-eye's view of the entire incident.

Cadieux led them to the corridor and paused. "I'll stand here, if you don't mind, just in case he reveals anything during your questioning we'd be interested in as well." They hadn't, for example, managed to get the name of the mole out of him, since Hightower thought they already knew. He'd have stayed a lot more quiet otherwise, or maybe lied. They were lying to afford being lied to. Ha!

He took out the key and unlocked the door. Inside, Hightower was inside, shaking. They had moved him to one of the rooms where they kept less risky prisoners from time to time, so there was nothing sharp in the room. There was a fire in the room besides it, but not within this one. The window was locked. There would be no escape for him, though Cass personally thought the locks were there as much to keep him safe than captive. There was no telling what the Meliqueans might do to him.

"Mr Hightower?" Asteria tilted her head, taking in the quivering man. "He's more pathetic than I thought he'd be. I was expecting a lot more, I must admit."

Everyone remained silent. Miss Daneira took a few steps out and glanced about the room, before facing Hightower and tilting her head. He was still staring, mouth wide. Unlike Cass, who was dressed in breeches and shirts, these three were dressed in gowns and robes. They had chosen the western style today. He could be excused for his obvious confusion, Cass thought. "We have some questions for you we hope you'd have the answers to."

"Who are you people?" Hightower finally demanded, pushing himself up from his chair, mustering as much bravado as he could.

Asteria flashed a grin, feral and predatory. "Let's just say we represent the Saian part of this conspiracy. Lady Asteria Lu, Countess of Zi Yan. My father is the Duke of Shui Xiang, the emperor's spymaster."

Maybe it finally dawned upon Hightower just how much trouble he was in. He stumbled backwards. "Oh, bloody hell. I told them all I knew about the Saian part of things." He jabbed his finger at Cadieux, Marcus and Cass. "I swear, I know nothing else."

"Perhaps you think you know nothing else." Danna wrapped her fingers around a little wooden horse figurine on the desk. "We're just here to make sure you remember everything, even the things you might not realise."

Hightower watched with widened eyes.

"For starters," Danna murmured, her voice soft. "We'd request the dates of every shipment to Sai. That would make our life much easier."

It seemed Asteria was there to intimidate, and Danna was there to soothe. Marcus, Cass and Cadieux watched from the corridor, silent. They might as well have not been there, from how still they stood. Iolanthe watched from a corner of the room, arms crossed, eyebrow raised.

"Can't remember all of them," Hightower said, voice weak. "Latest one was three weeks ago."

"Exact date?" Danna asked, tilting her head.

"Need a calendar. It was a Tuesday."

This went on for a little while. By the time the girls left, they had already dug out the dates of at least three shipments, two to Sai, one to Melique. The Meliquean one would be mostly useless, but the Saian one could be used to lure out their smugglers. Asteria told them they'd inform them of their proposed next step once they spoke with Lady Kuroki. They watched them enter the carriage.

Cadieux said, "That was interesting."

Cass shrugged and turned back into the house.