“What knowledge are you looking for?” Nothing in Yara’s tone suggested she was in the mood to share information, but at least she was asking. That might represent a door being cracked open.
“Evrial.” Again, Mevlar tried to take a step forward, but Sicarius restrained him easily. That did not keep the enforcer from talking. “You can not spend time with these felons. I’ll be duty-bound to tell the captain that Sicarius was here in town and you did nothing to-”
“What do you want me to do?” Yara snapped at him. “He’s got you by the balls, and he could kill us both in half a second.”
“It might take a whole second,” Amaranthe said lightly, trying to alleviate the tension crackling between the two of them. She had a feeling she had walked into a brother-sister argument that had been simmering for some time. Had something about Yara’s investigations bothered her higher-ups? Maybe they had distracted her from her regular duties.
The only one who paid attention to her comment was Sicarius. He gave her the barest hint of an eyebrow twitch. Maybe he disagreed with the one-second estimation.
“Remember our adventures last spring?” Amaranthe said, drawing Yara’s eyes back to her. “With the makarovi and those magical machines? I need to know what happened to the shaman’s workshop in that mine.” She avoided looking at Sicarius, though she could feel his eyes upon her. He must be wondering at her opening topic choice.
Yara scowled. “Looking to acquire some of his toys for your own use?”
“No, but there’s still at least one of his creations out there, threatening people.” Amaranthe kept it vague and hoped Sicarius would think she was talking about the sentries in the weapons manufacturing facility.
Yara’s brow furrowed. Apparently, the vagueness wasn’t convincing her of much. Maybe Amaranthe should share a few details about the threat to the emperor. Not the bump under his skin, but the Forge group’s behind-the-throne machinations. If Yara knew the emperor was threatened, she might be more willing to assist the team.
“More than your district may be in jeopardy,” Amaranthe said. “A huge pile of weapons and ammunition is on its way to the capital, possibly to be used as part of a plot against the emperor.”
Yara lifted her hand and fingered the sergeant’s rank pin affixed to her collar. “Let’s go outside. I will speak with you.”
“Evy… don’t do this,” Mevlar said. “Being with them… this could destroy your career.”
“Not if nobody finds out.” Yara fisted her free hand and propped it on her hip. At six feet tall, with shoulders almost as broad as those of her brother, she was an imposing woman, but Mevlar glared right back at her.
“I can’t look the other way,” he said. “Going against your superior’s wishes to snoop was bad enough. What you do now could bring dishonor to the entire family. If you go with them, however briefly, I’ll have to tell the captain, lest he find out from someone else and-”
“Think you’re involved too? By all means then, tell him. Maybe tattling on your little sister will earn you the promotion you’ve coveted for so long.”
Mevlar clenched his jaw.
Ah, Amaranthe thought, Corporal Yara and Sergeant Yara. Yes, it must have rankled Mevlar to have his younger sister promoted over him.
Yara grabbed a gray enforcer parka from the back of a chair and stalked toward the door. Amaranthe stepped aside to let her lead. The woman brushed past Sicarius and her brother without sparing a glance for either.
“You coming, Lokdon?” she growled, stomping down the stairs.
“I hadn’t realized what a charismatic young lady she is,” Books said.
Before stepping outside, Amaranthe told Sicarius, “Make sure he doesn’t run off to tattle on his sister right away, please. In a manner that doesn’t leave him permanently damaged.” And, Amaranthe thought, in a manner that keeps you busy for the next ten minutes.
Sicarius gave her a curt return nod.
Outside, dawn was brightening the gray clouds spanning the sky, and Amaranthe resolved not to take too long with Yara. In a town this size, some early riser would note the oddity of a steam vehicle parked in the street, and she didn’t need enforcers being sent to investigate. Amaranthe had no wish to incriminate Yara, and already regretted that she hadn’t found a way to contact the woman without involving the brother.
Yara stopped at the last corner on the side street before it dwindled to a trail and headed out into a field. An old barn towered to one side, and she stepped into its shadow. A rooster crowed nearby.
“The soldiers blew up the mine,” Yara said.
At first Amaranthe was tickled that Yara was talking so readily, but it seemed less of a victory when she realized the information wouldn’t prove helpful. “Blew up? With everything still inside?”
Yara nodded. “They wanted to ensure none of the shaman’s foul tools were used again by anyone else, so they collapsed the entire side of the mountain.”
“I… see. Do you know if they-”
“The back entrance through the vertical shaft too.”
“Oh.”
“Now,” Yara said, “your information.”
Though disappointed, Amaranthe briefed her on the details of the last couple of days. She couldn’t bring herself to mention the pile of bodies Sicarius had left on the lawn, but she spoke of everything else.
Yara didn’t seem to notice the omission. “I’ve been trying to locate that sort of evidence for weeks. After I found the bullet and the broken rifle, I knew something was going on, and it disturbed me that it was happening in my district.”
A small lump formed in Amaranthe’s throat at the way the sergeant spoke of her territory. It was the same way she had once felt about her own district, a mingle of pride and protectiveness.
“When I showed the captain my findings,” Yara went on, “he dismissed it as nothing. When I started investigating on my own time and he found out about it, he ordered me to stop.”
“Hm,” Amaranthe said, mulling over the possibilities. If Yara had been investigating on enforcer time and it interfered with her regular duties, then an order to stop would be understandable, but if she was snooping about when she was off-duty, why would it matter to her superiors one way or another? “Was your captain surprised when you first showed him the rifle and cartridge? Or was it as if…”
“He was already familiar with it?” Yara suggested.
Amaranthe nodded. Maybe the captain had been paid to look the other way. As discreet as the delivery team had been, and as well hidden as the manufacturing base was, it would be hard to keep such an outfit secret forever.
“He just grunted and waved for me to take the stuff away,” Yara said. “His disinterest might have been an act. I don’t know.”
“And there’s not much you could do,” Amaranthe said, giving her voice a sympathetic nuance. “It’s not as if enforcers are encouraged to question their superiors.” She smiled ruefully, remembering her own encounters with Chief Gunarth.
“No.” Bitterness crept into Yara’s tone. “They’re not.”
Amaranthe was searching for a way to switch to subtly probing for information about Yara’s last meeting with the emperor, when Yara spoke again.
“What were you doing on the train?”
Amaranthe should have been ready for the question, but it startled her. She hoped her pause to think of an answer wasn’t suspicious. “Practicing maneuvers in case we ever have a mission that takes place on a train.”
“That sounds like something you’d only do if you had a mission on a train.”
“Does it?” Amaranthe asked innocently.
The hardness had returned to Yara’s voice. Maybe she thought Amaranthe was up to something illegal. Technically Amaranthe was up to something illegal. Even if Sespian had requested they kidnap him, that didn’t make it an act enforcers would sanction.
Yara shifted, her broad shoulders tensing. “It’s convenient that your group happened across these men loading weapons in the middle of the night.”
“It was luck.” Amaranthe wasn’t going to call it good luck, not when she didn’t know what the ramifications would be. “You seem to follow what’s going on in the city. Have you seen the newspapers lately? We’ve been mentioned a few times as people working for the good of the empire. We’re not colluding with Forge. They’re the villains.”