Chapter 54: The Shock

Chapter 54: The Shock

Harris rushed toward Josh's study.

"It is impossible," he muttered under his breath, his pace faster than he intended. He caught himself and slowed slightly. He could not arrive looking rattled. That was the last thing he could afford.

But the thought would not settle.

Josh could not be ahead of him. Not on this. Harris had always been the one who moved first, planned first, saw the board before anyone else had finished setting the pieces. That was how he had survived this long.

He stopped outside the study door and pressed one hand briefly against the wall.

When did Josh start running the affairs of this pack without involving me at all? he thought. When did that happen?

He straightened his coat.

He knocked twice.

"Come in," Josh said.

Harris entered with the expectation of finding something… anything tangible that could help him understand what Josh knew and how far it had gone. He looked at Dan first. Dan was organising papers on the side table with the focused efficiency of a man who had been at it all morning. Then at Josh, who was at his desk with a cup of cooling tea and the expression of a man who had been working and was not particularly surprised to see him.

"You look buried," Harris said, settling into the chair across the desk without being invited. His usual habit. "Anything interesting?"

"Administration," Josh said.

"Thrilling." Harris leaned back. "The Greywood aftermath I imagine. Those gatherings always generate paperwork." He glanced at the papers on Dan's table. "Anything I can help with?"

"No," Josh said. "Thank you."

Harris nodded. He looked around the room casually. Taking it in the way he always took in rooms, slowly, without appearing to.

He could not read Josh's face. That was the problem. Josh was controlled on a normal day but this was a different quality of control. Sealed. Like a room with no windows.

Harris was about to stand and leave when Josh spoke.

"Shademaster."

Harris stopped.

The word sat in the room between them.

Harris turned slowly. He looked at Josh with an expression of mild confusion.

"I beg your pardon?" he said.

Josh looked at him steadily. "Shademaster."

"Is that…" Harris tilted his head. "Are you referring to me?"

"Are there two of us in this room?" Josh asked.

Harris almost smiled. Almost. "I heard you say a name, Josh. I am wondering why you said it in my direction."

"Have you heard that name before?" Josh asked. His voice was perfectly even. "By any chance. Does it mean anything to you?"

"I cannot say it does," Harris said. He kept his expression pleasantly puzzled. "Should it?"

Josh said nothing. He just looked at Harris with those grey eyes that gave away absolutely nothing.

The silence stretched.

Harris's gaze shifted slightly. "Where did you come across it?"

"Here and there," Josh said.

"Mysterious." Harris straightened his coat. "Well. If it is a name connected to the raids you are investigating I am happy to help look into it. Speaking of which…" he paused, as though the thought had just occurred to him, "...how is that going? The investigation. Do you need more men outside the pack borders?"

Josh looked at him.

"How do you know my men are outside the pack borders?" he said.

Harris opened his mouth.

Closed it.

The pleasant expression flickered. Just for a fraction of a second. Like a candle in a draft.

"I assumed," Harris said. "An investigation of that scale would naturally require…"

"I have not spoken to you about the investigation," Josh said. His voice was very quiet. "I have not told you its scope or its location or whether any men have been sent anywhere. I have not mentioned it to you at all."

Harris said nothing.

The room was very still.

"Forget about it," Harris said. His voice was light. Easy. Or almost easy. "I misspoke. It is nothing."

He turned and walked to the door.

Without looking back, he left.

He picked up his cup of tea. It was cold. He set it back down.

Dan looked at him from the side table.

Neither of them said anything.

Neither of them needed to.

++++

Olivia realised she had not eaten when her stomach made its feelings known loudly somewhere between the corridor and the east staircase.

She turned toward the kitchen.

She was still three steps from the entrance when a hand grabbed her arm.

"Finally," Cassandra said, pulling her sideways. "I waited in your room until I could not wait anymore. Where have you been? What happened? You went to the study and disappeared for half the morning."

"It is nothing much," Olivia said.

Cassandra looked at her.

Olivia looked back at her.

"It is just the usual discussion we spoke about," Olivia said. "Trust me."

"You always avoid too much talk."

"And I always tell you eventually."

Cassandra held her gaze for one more second. Then she released her arm and fell into step beside her toward the kitchen.

"Fine," Cassandra said. "Later." She paused. "But I observed something."

"Of course you always do," Olivia said.

"Harris," Cassandra said.

Olivia glanced at her. "What about him?"

"The way he looks at me," Cassandra said. She was trying very hard to sound casual and was not entirely succeeding. "I noticed it at Greywood. I have been noticing it since I arrived here." She tilted her head. "That man is falling for me, Liv. I would stake money on it."

Olivia looked at her best friend. Then she burst out laughing.

"It is very obvious," Olivia said when she could speak again. "I do not need anyone to convince me otherwise. I have never once heard that man laugh properly since I came to this palace." She pointed at Cassandra. "But since you arrived? He has been laughing like a he-goat at everything that comes out of your mouth. Every. Single. Thing."

Cassandra straightened with enormous dignity.

"Well," she said. "I am simply a very amusing person."

"He laughed when you pointed your spoon at him," Olivia said.

"That was a valid gesture."

"Cass." Olivia was still smiling. "He cannot take his eyes off you and you know it."

Cassandra looked away toward the kitchen with her chin lifted.

"Am I supposed to apologise for being memorable?" Cassandra said.

"No," Olivia replied. "Just admit it."

"Admit what?"

"That you have been laughing at everything he says as well."

A pause.

"The way he concludes things, makes me laugh," Cassandra said finally.

Olivia laughed again. Cassandra joined her this time, shoulders shaking, trying to maintain dignity and failing completely.

They walked into the kitchen together and the cook looked up and began reaching for plates without being asked, which was its own kind of kindness.

++++

Dan knocked on the study door at three in the afternoon.

Josh called him in.

Dan entered carrying a leather folder thick with papers. He crossed the room and set it on the desk without a word.

Josh looked at it.

Everything. Routes. Dates. Names. Cart records. Survivor accounts cross-referenced and verified. The Yesmar raids mapped against the dates Harris had been absent from the palace. The H on the cart symbol. The Shademaster name traced through three separate accounts to the same source.

Airtight.

Dan stood to the side and said nothing.

Josh looked at the folder for a long moment.

Then he picked up his pen.

He signed the order.