The Crimson Campaign

“You shouldn’t have,” Faye said, giving him a gracious smile.

Adamat looked less pleased with the idea. There was a wariness in his eyes. He didn’t trust Bo.

Bo couldn’t exactly blame him for that.

“Did you feel it?” Bo asked.

Adamat seemed taken aback. “Feel what?”

“It would have been an unexplained shock,” Bo said. “Like being alone in a room and a cold glass of water thrown in your face.”

Adamat slowly shook his head. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Strange, Bo thought, that Knacked couldn’t sense it when a god died. Mihali — Adom reborn — had been murdered six days ago. It wasn’t the same as when Taniel had shot Kresimir in the eye, though. This had felt more… permanent.

“Nothing,” Bo said. “No need to worry yourselves over it.”

“We were just having dinner,” Faye said, giving her husband a warning look. “Would you join us?”

“Thank you, but no. I was hoping to talk to your husband alone.”

Adamat cleared his throat. “Faye can hear anything I would,” he said.

Bo could tell at a glance that Faye wasn’t going to leave the room. So much for divide and conquer. He wondered if he should have brought Nila and Jakob inside with him. Bo had asked them to wait in the carriage, but now he thought their presence might have helped put Adamat at ease.

He still wasn’t sure what he was going to do with that girl. She was a Privileged, it seemed. A Privileged who didn’t need gloves. Bo didn’t think that she understood the gravity of what she really was. No Privileged in all the Nine could touch the Else without gloves. Not even the Predeii.

Only the so-called gods could do that.

“I need your help,” Bo said.

“I’m not for hire,” Adamat said, glancing at his wife. “My family has gone through greater trials the last few months than any family ought. I will not leave them for anything.”

Faye narrowed her eyes at Bo, her gracious welcome suddenly gone. To Bo it felt as if the warmth had been sucked out of the room.

“Two things,” Bo said, holding up his hands. He’d left his gloves off for this. The last thing he needed was for Adamat to think he was trying to threaten him. “First, I need you, Faye, to watch over Jakob Eldaminse for a time.”

“The boy’s alive?” Faye asked.

“Second,” Bo added, “I need Adamat to help me rescue my best friend — my only friend. I have evidence that condemns General Ket and her sister of selling army property for their own profit. I need you, Sergeant Oldrich, and Oldrich’s men to come with me to arrest General Ket and get Taniel Two-Shot released.”

This whole thing made Bo nervous. He’d not heard a word from the front since finding out that Taniel was being court-martialed. Taniel could be in prison, he could have been hanged. Bo cursed himself for not acting fast enough on this, but he’d had to find evidence before he could do anything about it. He should have left for the front as soon as he’d found evidence of Ket’s involvement a week ago, but he’d had to gather more evidence than just one dead noble’s records.

“Arresting a member of the General Staff during wartime?” Adamat scoffed. “That’s suicide. No. I won’t do it. As I said, I have a family to care for and protect. I am not for hire.”

“Please,” Faye said, her jaw stiff, “we’d like to get back to dinner with our children now.”

Bo ignored them. He hated himself, sometimes, for the things he had to do. For the killing, the lying and stealing. For having to manipulate people. “In exchange for your help, Adamat, I will give you one favor from myself.”

“What could I possibly…”

“One favor!” Bo said, holding up a finger. “Anything you want from the last living member of the Adran royal cabal.”

Faye frowned. Bo could see her mind working behind her eyes.

“No,” Adamat said. “I don’t think — ”

“Love,” Faye said, tugging on Adamat’s arm.

Bo took a deep breath. “One favor,” he said again. “Anything you want. Even if it means I have to slaughter my way through Kez to find your missing son.”

There would be protestations. Arguments. They would try several more excuses, but Bo could see in their eyes that he had them.