Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 189
two."
"Well, I'm afraid I have to add to the complications," he
said dolefully.
"Why? What's happened now?"
Axel puffed his cheeks out. "This time I really was
minding my own business. I went for a walk in the gardens.
You know me, I think better on my feet, always have.
Anyway, there's the usual conspirators, sitting in shady bowers
here and there in pairs. Very silly. As I'm walking, who should
I see coming down the path, but the bastard himself."
"Turcaret?"
"The very same." Axel rolled his eyes. "Anyway, he
calls me over like I'm some sort of lap-dog, you know--" he
gestured with one hand, as if to bring something to heel, "and
says, ‘I need to have a talk with you. Meet me in my quarters
at eight o'clock tonight.’"
"Talk?" She frowned.
"Yeah." Axel shrugged uneasily. Their cover story here
might be blown. "So I said yes," he finished unhappily.
"He's forcing our hand," she said.
"So what do we do? I told him I'd be there."
"Wise, but obviously we can't just react at this point. I
wanted just a day or two more to pinpoint Armiger, but..." She
nodded decisively. "I think we have enough."
"You know where he is?"
"About a hundred kilometers from the Iapysian border,"
she said. "Almost due south. More importantly, I think we've
figured out where he's going."
"The queen?"
She nodded. "He seems to be interested in war. If he can
use his powers to save Queen Galas, he might take over
Iapysia. I thought before that the battle where the Winds