Chapter 5
I visited Edmund before dawn.
No announcement.
He lived at a guarded estate thirty minutes north.
My guards.
My expense.
My favor.
He was awake.
Of course.
Men with hidden councils rarely sleep well.
“Leopold.”
He smiled as if I had come for breakfast.
I remained standing.
“Silas Vane.”
The smile disappeared.
Good.
“Graham Pike.”
Silence.
“Two empty chairs at my engagement dinner.”
Edmund exhaled.
“Jessamine talks too much.”
Interesting.
Not denial.
I moved closer.
“Nerissa saw you.”
His eyes narrowed.
There.
He knew the maid’s name.
Another detail Jessamine had not given him?
Maybe she had.
Maybe he knew more than she believed.
“What did you tell my fiancée to do about her?”
“Nothing.”
I believed that.
“Did you know Jessamine was threatening her?”
“No.”
That too.
For the first time, Edmund looked genuinely disturbed.
“What happened?”
I told him.
Not every detail.
Enough.
His face hardened.
“At Piers?”
He knew the boy too.
He had spent years around the household.
“She forced his hand against his mother.”
Edmund sat down.
“Jesus.”
Interesting.
He was capable of shame for Jessamine’s action while conducting his own betrayal.
Humans are inconvenient that way.
I asked:
“Why are you rebuilding influence?”
He looked at me.
“Because you’re narrowing the family.”
“Meaning?”
“Everything runs through you.”
“I’m responsible.”
“You’re isolated.”
Maybe.
Then:
“Silas gives older captains somewhere to speak.”
“He built private loyalty.”
“He built trust.”
Different interpretation.
“Under your protection.”
Edmund smiled faintly.
“There’s the real issue.”
Yes.
He believed sanctuary carried status.
I corrected him.
“My protection kept knives away from your door.”
Then:
“It never gave you a chair at mine.”
His jaw tightened.
“If you remove it, men will come.”
There.
Fear.
Real fear.
Not all ambition.
I looked at him.
“Then we should finally discuss why they hate you.”
He went still.
May you like
Seven years late.
But not too late.
