Chapter 6
Uncle Marco was at the old Carbone chapel.
Salvatore found him before midnight.
He arrived looking irritated rather than afraid.
That told me he still believed he had standing.
“Alessia.”
“Uncle.”
He saw the black seal in my hand.
His face changed.
Not surprise.
Relief.
Interesting.
“You found it.”
“No.”
I looked at Miriam.
“She protected it.”
Marco smiled faintly.
“As your father intended.”
Garrett stared at him.
“You knew she had it?”
There.
Betrayal inside the conspiracy.
Garrett had been searching for something Marco already knew Miriam possessed.
I looked between them.
“Start talking.”
Marco sighed.
“Garrett came to me last winter.”
“About?”
“Your leadership.”
I almost laughed.
How traditional.
“What specifically?”
“He believed you were dismantling the old balance.”
“And you?”
“I agreed with parts.”
At least honest.
“Did you tell him about the seal?”
“Yes.”
Garrett’s jaw tightened.
“You said Miriam probably destroyed it.”
Marco shrugged.
“I hoped she had.”
Interesting.
“So why tell him?”
Marco looked at me.
“To see what he would do.”
I stared.
Another test.
Old men and their tests.
“You used my husband to test whether my husband was dangerous.”
“Yes.”
“And did not tell me.”
“No.”
My anger sharpened.
Miriam looked disappointed too.
Good.
Marco continued.
“I thought if Garrett only complained, nothing.”
“And if he hunted the seal?”
“Then he wanted more.”
I held up the captain list.
“He wanted more.”
Marco nodded.
“I see that now.”
“No.”
My voice stayed quiet.
“You could have seen it months ago.”
Silence.
I looked at Garrett.
“What did Marco tell you the seal could do?”
Garrett answered through clenched teeth.
“Open the oath room.”
“And?”
“The succession ledger.”
“And?”
“That the family could vote from the old line if leadership became compromised.”
I looked at Marco.
My uncle closed his eyes.
There.
Lie.
Not complete fabrication.
Distortion.
Marco had turned historical contingency into present authority.
Why?
He answered before I asked.
“I wanted him to expose himself.”
I almost smiled.
“And if he exposed my mother’s face to the floor first?”
Marco had no answer.
May you like
That was the problem with tests designed by powerful men.
Someone weaker always pays the tuition.
