Read The Winner's Crime Online
Authors: Marie Rutkoski
eastern runaway. They dragged the slave’s head back by the
hair.
The easterner caught Arin’s gaze as a Valorian drew his
dagger. “Don’t worry,” the slave called to Arin in Herrani,
which wasn’t very diff erent from the eastern language of
Dacra. “The emperor will get what he deserves.”
-1—
Then the Valorians cut off his ears and nose.
0—
146
“There,” Deliah said, snipping the thread. “Thirteen
+1—
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 146
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 146
9/25/14 2:52 PM
9/25/14 2:52 PM
stitches, two separate seams: forehead and cheek. I left the
eye alone.”
CRIME
The blood merely oozed now. Arin opened his stinging
’S
left eye. With both of his eyes open and clear, Deliah didn’t
look like his dead mother at all. She washed her red hands
in a bowl.
THE WINNER
“Nicely done,” said Tensen.
“Don’t ask me to do this again,” she told them, and left.
Tensen pulled a chair up to Arin’s, sat, and began to
dig the glass out of his right hand. After everything else,
the sensation of this was oddly satisfying.
“Deliah had some interesting things to share earlier
today,” Arin said. Tensen’s tweezers caught a big piece and
dragged it out.
“Oh?” Tensen dropped the glass onto a nearby end
table.
Arin told him what she had said. The older man lis-
tened. The bloodstained shards grew into a little heap.
“This is worth looking into,” Arin said.
“I don’t think Lady Kestrel’s choice of dress is Herran’s
greatest priority.”
Arin tightened his hands, then winced as this drove the
glass deeper. Tensen, his tweezers lifted, gave him a cool
look that told Arin he got what he deserved. “You’re wrong,”
Arin said. “The fact that the Senate leader must know
about the dress is important. The winnings from a correct
bet could buy the Senate leader a small island, and none
of the money would come from imperial coff ers. Thrynne
overheard something between the Senate leader and the em-
—-1
peror. What if the emperor was collecting a favor, and
147
—0
—+1
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 147
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 147
9/25/14 2:52 PM
9/25/14 2:52 PM
repaying the Senate leader with a tip for the perfect bet?
SKI
O
We need to fi nd out what that favor was.”
Tensen prodded a tiny shard to the surface of Arin’s
palm. He inspected it.
“And the ruined dress,” Arin continued. “Something
MARIE RUTK
dangerous is going on with Kestrel.”
“Vomit on a sleeve and dirt on the knees? Let’s not be
dramatic. So the lady drank too much wine and tripped
during a tipsy stroll through the Winter Garden. It’s none
of our concern.”
“She’s scheming,” Arin insisted. “I can feel it.”
Tensen set down the tweezers. “You’re seeing what you
want to see.”
“No, I’m not. That makes no sense. I don’t want her to
be in trouble.”
“But maybe you’d like her to be
troubled
. Unhappy
with her new life. What would you do then, Arin? Rescue
her from it?”
Arin said nothing.
“She seems happy to me,” said Tensen.
“The dress’s seams were ripped. The skirts were fi lthy.
There’s no mud in the Winter Garden. The garden has
fl agstones. Where did the stains come from?”
Tensen stared at him. “Arin. I don’t mean to be un-
kind, and I know you feel that what Deliah said is impor-
tant, but all I am hearing is an obsession with the prince’s
bride and what she likes to wear.”
Arin closed his mouth. He shivered, suddenly chilled
-1—
by doubt.
0—
148
“Please,” said Tensen. “Leave the spying to me.”
+1—
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 148
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 148
9/25/14 2:52 PM
9/25/14 2:52 PM
“But you’ve learned nothing. Not since you told me
about Thrynne.”
CRIME
“All in good time.”
’S
“Is it your new recruit? Has he learned something?”
Arin saw Tensen’s expression change slightly. “Or
she
?”
“Not yet. I’m encouraged that we’ll hear something
THE WINNER
soon.”
“I don’t like this. I don’t like how happy you seem about
nothing at all from somebody whose name I don’t know.”
“I think of my in for mant as the Moth.”
“I want a
name
.”
“I see. You’re concerned about whether we can trust
this person. Don’t be. The Moth is highly motivated to
give us what we need.”
Arin slammed his good hand down on the end table. “I
will send you back to Herran. I swear that I will pack you
onto the next ship there if you don’t tell me who your in-
for mant is.
Now
.”
Tensen swept the scattered shards back into their pile.
He relaxed into his chair. His small green eyes were bright.
“I noticed you speaking with Princess Risha the other
night.”
He fell silent, and the silence began to speak to Arin.
“Yes,” Arin said slowly. “She was upset.”
“Of course. What happened in the plains was tragic.
Its people are refugees in the eastern capital. Hundreds
died during the trek from the plains.”
“Are you telling me—?”
“It can’t be easy to be a knife held to the throat of one’s
—-1
9
own people. That’s why Risha was kidnapped as a child.
14
—0
—+1
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 149
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 149
9/25/14 2:52 PM
9/25/14 2:52 PM
The emperor can make the eastern queen grieve at a mo-
SKI
O
ment’s notice. I’m surprised the emperor hasn’t killed the
queen’s little sister already— but then again, that’s a card he
can only play once. He must be waiting for the right mo-
ment. I wonder what Risha thinks, while he’s waiting.”
MARIE RUTK
Arin absorbed what his minister was saying— or what
Arin
thought
he was saying. It occurred to him that it might
be wise to suspect one’s own spymaster, who’d been em-
ployed to traffi
c in deceit. And Tensen had been an actor
before the war. But Arin could see no reason for Tensen to
pretend that Risha was his Moth. Arin
could
see why she
would work against the empire.
The old man looked at him, his expression kind. Arin
suddenly craved kindness. He was seized by a horrible feel-
ing, a familiar one. He’d been caught in its fi st for ten
years. He was sick of it. Why couldn’t he outgrow it? He
was no child. He had no business feeling lonely.
Loss of blood made Arin light- headed. His thoughts
seemed to fl oat and drift.
Tensen rose and brought a fresh bowl of water to Arin,
who sank his right hand into it.
“Risha is very beautiful,” the minister commented.
“Yes,” Arin said. “She is.” It was hard to think. Arin
was so tired.
“Well, I’m going to bed,” Tensen said. “Unless I need
to pack for an abrupt departure over the tempest- tossed
winter sea?”
“No. Go to sleep.”
-1—
Tensen smiled and left him.
0—
150
Arin sat for a long time in that chair. He considered
+1—
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 150
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 150
9/25/14 2:52 PM
9/25/14 2:52 PM
what he knew, what he thought he knew, and what he
knew he didn’t know. Then he reconsidered everything.
CRIME
His thoughts began to take strange shapes. They beat
’S
their wings and fl uttered away. Arin found himself borne
on those wings and fl own into sleep.
He had dreams where moths were crawling on his face.
THE WINNER
Their legs became black stitches. They laid eggs in a long
line down his forehead and over his cheek. The eggs
hatched.
He dreamed of Kestrel. He dreamed of Risha.
He dreamed that Kestrel had become Risha, that the
sun had become the moon, and he couldn’t tell whether he
was blinded by the light or the dark.
An infection set into the wound. Arin’s fever raged
high.
—-1
151
—0
—+1
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 151
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 151
9/25/14 2:52 PM
9/25/14 2:52 PM
16
NO ONE LOOKS AT A SLAVE, ARIN HAD SAID.
Kestrel began to look very closely at hers. She settled on
one. This par tic u lar woman was in fact not a slave but a
paid servant, one of the Valorians selected to be a lady- in-
waiting to Kestrel. It was a mark of high status to be served
by one’s own people; in return, the Valorian ladies- in-
waiting were decently paid and their blue servant dresses
trimmed with white.
Kestrel couldn’t remember the woman’s name. But she
was about Kestrel’s height and size. She would do.
One morning not long after the reception in the impe-
rial gallery, Kestrel contrived to be alone with the servant
and spill a large glass of water on her.
“I’m so sorry!” Kestrel cried. “Oh, I
am
clumsy.”
“No matter, my lady,” said the fl ustered woman. “It’s just
water.”
“But water is very
wet
. You must be uncomfortable.
-1—
Here, change into this.” Kestrel off ered one of her dresses,
0—
+1—
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 152
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 152
9/25/14 2:52 PM
9/25/14 2:52 PM
carefully selected for being simply cut, without ornament,
yet made from a rich fabric.
CRIME
“I couldn’t,” said the maid.
’S
“Of course you can! And you will keep it. Do you think
I would miss it? Now, you’ll insult me if you believe that.
Go on, you may use my dressing room.”
THE WINNER
The maid was reluctant, but Kestrel placed the dress
fi rmly in her hands. The woman’s expression changed as
she began to think things through. Kestrel saw her thoughts.
If the maid worked for an entire year, she could still never
aff ord a dress like this. It was a trea sure. She could wear it
and be stunning. Or maybe she would sell it. The fabric
was velvet. It would fetch a fi ne price.
The maid went to try on Kestrel’s dress.
When the woman emerged into the sitting room, Kes-
trel could tell that it took all of her control not to spin
around and feel the skirt swing. “It fi ts perfectly,” the
woman said. “Are you sure I may keep it?”
“Of course.” Kestrel took the woman’s work dress from
her crooked arm.
“Oh. I have to take my work dress back to the house-
keeper.”
“I’ll take care of that.”
“But I can’t let you—”
“I insist.” Kestrel smiled. Later, she would apologize to
the house keeper. She’d explain that she had no idea where
she’d put the dress. She’d cover any cost.
After the maid had left, Kestrel took the damp work
dress into her bedroom and dried it before the fi re. She hid
153
—-1
—0
—+1
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 153
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 153
9/25/14 2:52 PM
9/25/14 2:52 PM
it in the back of a wardrobe fi lled with summer clothes that
SKI
O
would remain packed away for the next two seasons.
It was possible that this maid reported to Verex—
or worse, to the captain of the palace guard, or the em-
peror. But Kestrel didn’t think that an exchange of dresses
MARIE RUTK
would seem noteworthy. It was only the whim of a kind
mistress.
Kestrel waited for a night when she wasn’t called upon to
appear at a function. This took some time. There were din-
ners, game nights, and friendly, bloodless swordfi ghts per-
formed for an applauding audience. The prince’s bride was
expected to attend everything.
The governor of Herran, however, seemed to feel no
such pressure.
Arin never came. More than a week had passed since
she’d seen him in the art gallery. Kestrel didn’t dare to ask
for any news of him. When she met Tensen’s eyes once
across a crowd of courtiers, he shook his head.
Unless she had information to give Tensen, she should
keep her distance— especially after what happened the last
time. Kestrel could still feel the emperor’s nails digging
into her skin.
He hadn’t carried out his threat to her—or so she
thought. But his mood had soured. The entire court felt it.
Kestrel wasn’t the only one relieved when fi nally a night
arrived when no one was expected to put on fi nery and
-1—
gather in the emperor’s presence. A holiday- like atmosphere
0—
154
ruled the palace. There were rumors of lovers who would
+1—
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 154
135-58876_ch01_2P.indd 154
9/25/14 2:52 PM
9/25/14 2:52 PM