‘I know that “the Dance” is what they call politics, amongst the Spider-kinden, so I suppose Teornis is just telling me that he knows what I’ve done. His people must have recognized the Very Blade as soon as Laszlo brought her into harbour.’
‘Oh Sten…’ she sighed. ‘You do not understand what he means, not at all.’ Which could cost you your life.
He frowned at her. ‘What, then?’
‘Oh, it’s high praise of a sort,’ she said sadly. ‘He means that, by uncovering this you have proved yourself a peer in his eyes. He considers you a worthy opponent. It means that he will make no allowances for your kinden. You are a Spider to him, and he will not spare you, nor expect you to spare him.’
‘Ah.’ Stenwold looked at his hands. ‘Well, that seems plain. Should I be expecting the assassin’s knife, then? Should I start preparing my own food?’
‘Oh, that would be poor form,’ Arianna explained. ‘Inelegant. To commission the death of your chief enemy is an admission of defeat – or next to it. Spider-kinden do not simply have their dance-partners killed: they destroy them, piece by piece, until death would seem a mercy. I do not think Teornis will seek to have you killed unless you leave him no other choice by backing him into a corner. Your friends and allies are under no such protection, though. It is a long-standing tradition to attack someone through their household. Take Jodry, for example.’
‘Jodry?’ Stenwold shook his head. ‘Jodry’s the Speaker for the Assembly, after all. I can’t see Teornis causing that much trouble just to get to me. In fact, it’s more likely he’ll kill me to inconvenience Jodry, surely.’
‘No, Stenwold, no,’ Arianna insisted. ‘What does Teornis care about Beetle ranks and titles? What makes the true adversary is skill, not… public office. You are his enemy. You are the man he will dance with. For the rest – Jodry, your Fly-kinden, the Mantis and her crew, that militia-woman – fair game, Stenwold, all of them.’
‘And you?’ Stenwold pressed.
‘Oh, who knows what Teornis would do with me,’ she said, looking straight into his face and thinking, I am telling you, Stenwold. Listen when I tell you. Understand me! But he did not understand her. There was only concern in his expression.
‘I should have you leave the city,’ he started, and raised a hand to cut off her immediate objection. ‘And I know that would solve nothing. Distance is no shield. Instead I must make use of you. Your help here will be the difference between life and death, it seems.’
Oh, very likely. ‘What do you want from this, Stenwold? What will you count as a victory?’
‘Keeping Collegium safe,’ he replied immediately. ‘I do not know what the Aldanrael think to gain from this piracy – they would not risk so much just for plunder. Whatever it is, though, they must walk away from it. My people will be nobody’s prey.’
‘And if Teornis offers a compromise?’
‘If he does, is it likely to be sincere? Or merely a trap?’
She shrugged. And I cannot answer that. I cannot see what Teornis seeks either. ‘It may be. But, even so, if he does?’
‘Will I treat with him, you mean? I would be a fool not to listen to what he might have to say, but I will not simply bare my city’s back for the rod. Men have died. Ships have been lost. If we offer some meek submission, then we simply invite worse.’
And that is true also, she thought. ‘Think carefully on what you will tell the Assembly,’ she warned him.
‘I know. Words said openly cannot then be unsaid.’ He rubbed at his face.
And am I advising him now for himself, or for Teornis? she asked herself. What can I say that is not a betrayal of one man or the other? ‘If you give him no other alternative, he will fight,’ she said. ‘I know the Mantis say we are cowards, my kinden, but that is not true. It is just that direct violence is considered the last and ugliest way of solving any problem. We will take up the sword, if no other choice is left to us, but if you leave him an escape, he may take it. Public face is very important to us. When you make your speech, at least allow him some graceful way to step away. You never know, if the Aldanrael’s plans are still young, they may prefer to abandon them rather than risk a confrontation. Teornis himself may jump at a chance to wash his hands of the matter.’
‘I understand.’ Stenwold nodded soberly. ‘I will choose my words carefully.’
She left him at his desk, staring at a blank parchment.
Downstairs, she had Cardless prepare her a tisane, while she took stock of her options. Tell Stenwold was one of them, but the time for telling him had now come and gone. She should have mentioned it as soon as they were alone together. She should have mentioned it as soon as he returned from his voyage on the Tidenfree. Every moment that passed took her further away from the moment when confession would bring her absolution rather than blame.
Can I just walk away and vanish? She knew she could not. She could betray Stenwold, but never abandon him. She could not stand apart, and know that he was facing this fight, and not know what would become of him. If I am by his side, whoever’s side I am on, then there may come the moment when some act from me can… Can what? Save or destroy him, which? Teornis would not let her run, either. He would judge her more harshly for taking flight than he would for remaining loyal to Stenwold, although he would not hesitate to be rid of her in either case. Even as Stenwold’s ally, she was valuable to Teornis as a means of applying pressure, while as a runaway she would be despised and worthless – fit only to be hunted down like an animal so that her incriminating knowledge could be capped.
And if I go to Teornis now? It was worse than that, of course. If she did not go to Teornis now, he would want to know why. His note to Stenwold showed he was well aware that swords were being drawn. He would not believe her if she pleaded ignorance, and she was not sure she could lie to him convincingly in any case. Every minute I stay away invites him to conclude that I’ve betrayed him.
Stenwold. Teornis. The big, lumbering Beetle with the sharp mind, or the elegant, laughing Spider. Stenwold, who roused the whole city against the Wasps. Teornis, who held the entire Fourth Army with just two hundred men and some clever words. Stenwold, who kept the Vekken at arm’s length for days. Teornis, whose relief force drove them off.
Stenwold, who gave himself to the Empire to save me from the crossed pikes.
Teornis, who will make me one of his family.
She felt her selfishness stir, at last. Who was she to sit in judgement on either the War Master of Collegium or an Aristos of the Aldanrael? She was just Arianna, Spider orphan of a failed family, also Rekef deserter, exile from her old home and parasite on her new one. What were honourable causes and noble sentiments to her? She had joined the Rekef readily enough when it suited her, and abandoned it just as swiftly. She had then taken up with Stenwold… well, Stenwold was the Big Man in Collegium in those days. Now her association with him had surely taken her as far as it could go. She might be the toast of the city, but this was a Beetle city and, however much they tried to mimic the glories of the Spiderlands, they would never seem more than clowns in borrowed clothing.
Teornis would make her one of the Aristoi. She would be part of the Dance. She would be wealthy, and have slaves and riches and all good things. More, the Dance never stopped and she would never be bored. Beetles might strive for a comfortable life. Spider-kinden strove only to live.
She slipped out of the house. If Stenwold had any sense, he might begin to suspect. She knew that he would not, though. He was a spymaster, and there were few of his agents that he held in total trust, but she was his agent no longer. She had stepped in too close, and he would no more suspect her of betrayal than he would have suspected Cheerwell his niece.