“Your point?” Tamas asked. “Some of us don’t have aeons to live, you know.”
Claremonte grinned fiercely. “Pit, you have spirit. That’s what I love about you. Back in Kresimir’s time, there was this general named – damn, I don’t remember now. Anyway, he was a mortal, not even a Knacked, and he was the only one who would stand up to Kresimir when he thought he was doing something stupid. Novi used to say he had balls as big as South Pike. You remind me of him.” Claremonte’s face grew pensive. “Kresimir had him flayed alive, in the end. Stupid waste. Anyway, where was I?”
“Your point,” Tamas said.
“Ah, my point! I am a modern god, as I was saying, and I play fairly. You have my word that this war is over. What’s more, I’m only here for the election. Tomorrow morning I will withdraw my troops from Adopest as a gesture of goodwill. In three days the election will go forward as planned. I’m not even going to rig it. If I’m elected as First Minister of Adro, I will help usher this country into an era of prosperity the likes of which the Nine has never seen.”
“And if you lose?” Adamat found his voice, and decided to try it out. The words only trembled a little.
“If I lose, my good Inspector, I will go back to Brudania and my Trading Company and continue trying to better mankind from my position of power there. I will molest you no further.”
“Why should we trust you?” Adamat demanded.
Claremonte turned to look at him, eyebrows raised innocently. “Because you have no other choice. And because I just gave you my word. The word of a god is a solemn oath.”
“You arranged all of this.” Adamat felt his anger coming forward, straining as a powerful pressure in his chest. “Kresimir’s return. The Kez-Adran War. You’ve had your fingers in it from the beginning. I’ve seen Vetas’s notes. Don’t try to deny it.”
“Why would I deny it? Of course I’ve been involved with it. But you’re being unfair. It was Julene, that misguided child, and the Kez cabal who conspired to bring Kresimir back. You think I wanted my elder brother here, poking his nose into everything? He’d send us all back to the Bronze Age! No, I simply put my fingers into the pot to try to mitigate his damage. The people I’ve used along the way, including your family, I’m afraid, are unfortunate casualties of a war you didn’t even know you were fighting.”
“Don’t you reduce my family to ‘unfortunate casualties,’ ” Adamat growled through his teeth. He gripped his cane so hard in his hand he thought he might snap the handle. If Claremonte cared for his fury he gave no indication.
“You attacked my forces,” Tamas said, his fingers still steepled beneath his chin. “You tricked me into betraying a white flag of truce, and you took something that doesn’t belong to you.”
“Ah. That was… unfortunate,” Claremonte said. “I did what I thought necessary. My spies told me about the savage girl and her restraining of Kresimir – remarkable, by the way – and I didn’t know what to think. If she faltered even once, all of this would be for naught. I thought it necessary to take action and capture her. I assure you, the order was given without the knowledge that you had called a truce with Ipille.”
“You keep using the word ‘unfortunate,’ ” Taniel suddenly said, turning all the heads in the room. “It stinks of apologetic ingratiation.”
“I’m a businessman, my boy. Apologetic ingratiation is what I do. Ask Ricard.”
“Why are you here?” Adamat said. “The next week could have gone by without you revealing any of this and it would have proceeded just the same.”
“I wanted to make sure that this council knew what and who I am. We don’t need any more of that same hullabaloo that occurred with the Proprietor’s men. That would be ill advised. As would you attacking me with your bare hands, Mr. Two-Shot.” Claremonte’s eyes flicked to Taniel, who looked ready to leap.
“It worked on Kresimir,” Taniel said breathlessly. “How do you think I got his blood for Ka-poel?”
Claremonte blanched at that. “I’d rather not find out. Now, I suggest a trade. The girl in exchange for Kresimir’s body.”
“Done,” Taniel said.
Tamas stood, shooting Taniel a glance. “What makes you think we have it?”
Claremonte gave him a level look. “Come now.”
“Ka-poel will be returned unhurt,” Taniel said.
“Taniel, enough,” Tamas barked.
“Not that girl,” Claremonte said. “I need that girl. I’ll give you another girl.”
“Who?” Tamas’s brow furrowed.
“Vlora.”
“She’s still alive?” Taniel asked.
“Quiet!” Tamas roared. “Taniel, wait outside. That’s an order!”
For a few moments Adamat thought that Taniel would resist his father, but with a glare for Claremonte he stalked out into the hallway.
“That’s not a fair trade,” Tamas said when his son was gone.
“Your powder mages killed many of my Privileged. The fact that Vlora is still alive is more than testament to my generosity.”
“And the fact that I didn’t let Taniel pummel you into next week is testament to mine.”
Claremonte rolled his eyes. “We needn’t resort to threats, Field Marshal. We aren’t children.”
Tamas drummed his fingers on his desk, eyeing Claremonte. “The trade would be conditional on the return of both Vlora and Ka-poel, and the withdrawal of every last one of your men from Adopest.”
“You can’t be considering this,” Winceslav protested. “We don’t know what use he’ll make of Kresimir’s body.”
“If I wished to release him, I would only have had to kill the girl,” Claremonte said. “Bring Mr. Two-Shot back inside. He’ll tell you.” He shook his head. “I’ve already promised to remove my men, but I can’t give you the savage. She’s the only thing holding Kresimir in check and I want my eye on her. Once Kresimir is buried in the deepest ocean trench, where the weight of the sea above him would keep even him from rising, I will give back the savage. You have my word.”
The room was quiet for several minutes while Tamas considered this, and Adamat wondered why Ondraus and Ricard hadn’t protested. This was madness! If Tamas had Kresimir’s body, it was not something he should let out of his keeping.
“Lady Winceslav is right,” Adamat said quietly.
Tamas glanced at him and sighed. “I agree. I can’t make that trade, Claremonte.”
“Hmm.” Claremonte got to his feet and collected his hat and cane from the sofa. “That is most unfortunate. Still, I will stand by my word. My men leave the city tomorrow, and then we wait for the results of the election. Until then, good luck.” He bowed to them each in turn and then left.
The rest of the meeting was a somber affair. Adamat heard shouting a few minutes after Claremonte left, presumably when Taniel found out his father wouldn’t make the trade. An hour went by before Ondraus followed Claremonte, presumably for their meeting at lunch, and an hour after that Adamat was alone with the field marshal.
“The books say that Brude has two faces,” Adamat said. “Not just some kind of allegory, but two actual presences.”
“So Claremonte isn’t the only enemy we have to focus on?”
“No. He’s not. I’m looking for the other one.”
“It could be anyone?”
“Yes.”
Tamas let his head drop into his hands. “That just made my day infinitely worse, Inspector.”
“Sorry, sir. Do you trust Claremonte?”
“Not at all. I’ll believe he’s going to leave of his own volition ten years after he actually does it.” Tamas held his head in his hands, staring at his desk. “Please tell me you have any information to make this better.”
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
Tamas glanced up, a look of disbelief on his face. “Oh?”
“Yes. See, when Claremonte said he was the last god left in the Nine, he wasn’t precisely correct. Adom is still alive.”