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.Or you can go serve some lordling somewhere, writing letters andexamining his wife s bed to see if she s faithful to him, hoping he ll give you permission to marry someoneyou can tolerate.Out of all the nations, Ruthgar is the best to serve.And the worst to offend. But why do you want me to spy on the Prism? He s never done anything to offend Ruthgar. We like to keep an eye on our friends.It helps us remain friends And yet you were just telling me how I could do this to hurt the man who killed my mother.Which is it,Aglaia? Do you want me to betray him to hurt him, or it s not really a betrayal at all because you aren tgoing to hurt him? Well said, Aglaia said.But then she continued, unflappable, The point is, you may be able to damagethe man personally who is responsible for so much havoc in your country, but your interference, yourbetrayal perverse girl, insisting on calling the service of your own country a betrayal your betrayalwon t result in war.These lands have seen enough of that. It took Liv a moment to digest.It did make sense.In a way. But this is impossible.I don t know the Prism.He s talked to me once.Once. And he liked you. I don t know that I d go that far. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get someone next to that man? We re going to give you all thisjust fortrying.Besides, we know he has a weakness for Tyreans. A tiny, quick lift of her eyebrowsshowed that she was honestly surprised that the Prism would have such bad taste. Maybe you can usethis son of his to get close to him.We don t care. Page 165 It was bad enough to be asked to betray the Prism, but to use Kip to get to him? No.Kip was a goodboy.Liv wouldn t do it.There was only one way out of this, and she d known it all along.Liv pulled out three coin sticks. This is how much the Ruthgari government has spent on my upkeep forthe last three years.With interest.Here, take it.I m done with you.I m free.I don t owe you anything. Aglaia Crassos didn t even look at the coins.She didn t ask how Liv had gotten so much money.Intruth, it had taken signing over a writ to an Abornean moneylender that would allow him to receive herallowance directly, and a ruinous interest rate.Liv was a pauper once more.She d have to sell some ofthe marvelous dresses they d given her just to stay afloat. Liv, Liv, Liv.I don t want to be your enemy.But now that you re finally worth something, I d swive a horse before I d let you go.You have a cousinwho was here when you first arrived.Showed you how things work here, yes? Erethanna, Liv said. She s a green serving Count Nassos in western Ruthgar.She just petitioned to marry some blacksmith.The count has put a hold on it at my request. You& Liv said, trembling. Lovely couple, apparently.So happy together.Tragic if the count decided the land needed Erethannato marry another drafter to increase her odds of having gifted children. Go to hell! And your own studies can be opposed.And rumors can be started from dozens of corners about allsorts of despicable things you ve done.We can poison any well when you finish your studies and arelooking for work.You can t stay under the Prism s patronage forever.The second his eyes turnelsewhere& I m not worth that much to Ruthgar, Liv said, real fear constricting her throat. No, not to Ruthgar.But to me you are.Your attitude has made you worth my full attention.And if youmake me look bad, I will make you mourn the day you ever met me. I already do. Liv felt deflated. Get out.Get out before I kill you with my bare hands. Aglaia stood, grabbed the money sticks, and said, I ll take these for my troubles.After you vereconsidered, you know where to find me. Get out! Aglaia walked out.Liv was left trembling.Not thirty seconds later, there was a knock on the door.That was it.Liv wasgoing to kill her.She strode to the door and threw it open.It wasn t Aglaia.A beautiful woman stood there.A Blood Forester, with the oddly pale, freckled skinthat still seemed strange to Liv even after years at the Chromeria, and red hair like a flame.The womanwas dressed in a slave s dress, but it was tailored to her lean figure, and a finer cotton than Liv had everPage 166 seen any slave wear.A nobleman s slave?The slave handed Liv a note. Mistress, she said. From the High Lord Prism. Liv Danavis stared at the note, feeling stupid, off balance.It read, Please come see me at your earliestconvenience. Her heart leapt into her throat.A summons from the Prism.So here it was, the beginningof her paying her debt to Gavin Guile.She didn t fool herself by hoping it would be the end of it, too.When you owed a luxlord, you owed them forever.She just hadn t thought he d ask for her so soon.Oddly, the first thing she thought of was, What do you wear for an audience with the Prism? Liv didn tusually pay much attention to her choice of clothing.Maybe that was because when you only have a fewchanges of clothes, you wear what s clean and despair of ever wearing what s fashionable.That, ofcourse, had changed instantly.Gavin had ordered that she be kept in an equivalent fashion to a Ruthgaribichrome, and that meant lots of clothes, a few jewels, and this huge apartment literally five times largerthan the one she d lived in for the last three years.And though she might not have any money, now shehadmakeup.Now she had options, and she wasn t sure she liked it.The idea of turning into a prissy girllike Ana made Liv s stomach turn
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