The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters

blade hard across her head, sprawling her atop Doctor Svenson, who groaned.
    She shook her head, the whole right side stinging. The Contessa still sat on the settee, next to the Prince and Lydia, miserable as children marooned in the midst of their parents’ row.
    “Rosamonde,” said Xonck again, “what does she mean?”
    “She means nothing!” the Contessa spat. “Colonel Trapping is no longer important—the Judas was Crabbé!”
    “The Comte knows all about it,” managed Miss Temple, her voice thick.
    “All about what?” asked Xonck, for the first time allowing the saber to drift toward the Comte d’Orkancz, who sat opposite the Contessa.
    “He won’t say,” whispered Miss Temple, “because he no longer knows who to trust. You have to ask
Roger
.”
    The Comte stood up.
    “Sit down, Oskar,” said Xonck.
    “This has gone far enough,” the Comte replied.
    “Sit down or I will have your God damned head!” shouted Xonck. The Comte deigned to show actual surprise, and sat, his face now quite as grave as the Contessa’s was livid.
    “I will not be made a fool,” hissed Xonck. “Trapping was my man—mine to discard! Whoever killed him—even if I would prefer not to believe—it follows they are my enemy—”
    “Roger Bascombe!” shouted Miss Temple. “Do you know who killed Colonel Trapping?”
    With a snarl and three iron-hard fingers of his sword hand Xonck took hold of Miss Temple’s robes behind her neck, yanked her to her knees and then, with a roar of frustration, tossed her down the length of the cabin through the doorway to land with a cry at the feet of Caroline Stearne. The breath was driven from her body and she lay there blinking with pain, dimly aware that she was somehow even colder. She looked back to see her shredded robes hanging from Xonck’s hand. He met her gaze, still furious, and Miss Temple whimpered aloud, convinced he was about to march over and step on her throat just like he’d done to the Dragoon…but then in the panting silence, Roger Bascombe answered her question.

    “Yes,” he said simply. “I know.”
    Xonck stopped where he stood, staring at Roger. “Was it the Contessa?”
    “No.”
    “Wait—before that,” broke in the Comte, “
why
was he killed?”
    “He was serving Vandaariff instead of us?” asked Xonck.
    “He was,” said Roger. “But that is not why he was killed. The Contessa already knew Colonel Trapping’s true allegiance.”
    Xonck and the Comte turned to her. The Contessa scoffed at their naïve credulity.
    “Of course I knew,” she sneered, looking up at Xonck. “You are arrogant, Francis, so you assume that everyone wants what you do—your brother’s power—and Trapping especially. You hide your cunning behind the mask of a libertine, but Trapping had no such depth—he was happy to deliver every secret of your brother’s—and yours—to whoever best indulged his appetite!”
    “Then why?” asked Xonck. “To preserve the Comte’s
Annunciation
project?”
    “No,” said Roger. “Trapping hadn’t yet agreed on a price to save Lydia—he’d only given Vandaariff hints.”
    “Then it
was
Crabbé—Trapping must have learned his plans for distilling Vandaariff—”
    “No,” repeated Roger. “The Deputy Minister would have killed him, to be sure…just as the Comte would have…given time and opportunity.”
    Xonck turned to the Contessa. “So you
did
kill him!”
    The Contessa huffed again with impatience.
    “Have you paid any attention at all, Francis? Do you not remember what Elspeth Poole—stupid, insolent, and barely regretted—displayed for us all in the ballroom? Her
vision
?”
    “It was Elspeth and Mrs. Stearne,” said Xonck, looking through the doorway to Caroline.
    “With Trapping,” said the Comte. “The night of the engagement.”
    “We were sent to him,” protested Caroline. “The Contessa ordered us—to—to—”
    “Exactly,” said the Contessa. “I was doing my best to
indulge
him where the other guests would not intrude!”
    “Because you knew he could not be trusted,” said the Comte.
    “Though he could be
distracted
—until we had time to deal with Vandaariff ourselves,” observed the Contessa, “which we then did!”
    “If Colonel Trapping alerted Vandaariff then our entire enterprise could have been compromised!” cried Caroline.
    “We are all aware of it!” snapped the Contessa.
    “Then I don’t understand,” said Xonck. “Who killed Trapping?