We were truly alone. Leona stood before me in the street. There was weight in the moment, a brief silence that hung between us. I felt my heart tick up a gear. It was the gravity with which she had spoken that caught my attention. She was afraid of something.

Her eyes slid away from mine, shame haunting her voice. "It's still true they worked against you because of your birth. It's stupid, really. When Barrow Strider summoned the Tower four hundred years ago, there weren't any nobles. Everyone was a commoner. All our families, all our noble houses, they all started like yours."

She turned slightly, unable to hold my gaze. Her voice stayed low, cautious of prying ears. "Somewhere along the way we got the idea that our bloodlines were different. Like it was some special providence that brought our families to Boston when the Tower rose. We were the builders, the inheritors. I remember the way the older men would talk when it was first revealed you would be joining the Tourney. There was disgust. Disdain. But not much concern. A lot of them were offended that you would be taking part, but nobody really believed you might threaten to win. You were common, after all. The other eleven of us had the right blood."

I prickled and burned. I would never forget the dismissal, the prejudice I'd felt. It was odd how little comfort I could take from my standing now—the Sword, the victor, Lord of House Bloodsword—when I could so easily remember how it felt to be the outsider, the punchline.

She said, "When you started to show ability, when you grew so quickly, it started to worry them. At first, it was just bigotry. They didn't want to see more of their noble children leaving the arena before you. And there were the bets your father had made to get you in. That money was a tempting prize. There were a few of them who stood to gain a lot from those bets. It's been hard in Boston for the families. We live well, but we spend hard. Sometimes we spend more than we earn."

"But then Balthazar planted his flag with you. He supported you when the priests wanted to throw you out. He spoke publicly about his belief in you. He proclaimed his faith in you even before you'd become the favorite, when everyone was certain it would be Lance or Gideon who'd wear the suit next. The people loved you, of course. That was always going to be the way. But the powers of the city had been worried about Balthazar for a long time. He's an upstart. In some ways, they looked down on him as they did you. House Balthazar isn't much better than common to them. I think there was once ever a Balthazar Griidlord, and he amounted to little or nothing. But the house persisted, hovering on the fringes of upper society, impacting little, running their lands quietly."

"But when Baron Balthazar stepped into city politics, there was immediate turmoil. He has a way of pushing buttons, finding secrets, seeing motives. Ten years ago I think my father would have said it was impossible for a Balthazar to become Lord Supreme. And yet, there he is. And by pinning his banner to your rise, stirring the people, making reforms, changing laws, he's made them nervous."

"Who?" I said. "Who is he making nervous? It can't be all the nobles of the land. They had to vote him in as Supreme."

She kept talking, hardly hearing me. I could tell she'd rehearsed this. "Now that your Falling went the way it did, the people are in love with their Lord Supreme. Not just the people, but the lesser houses too. I can't imagine how nervous the greater lords must be. Balthazar has always spoken of change. He's already started making it."

I said, "Leona, if there was a grand conspiracy, I would know of it. Lauren would know. She'd have told me."

Leona shook her head. "No. She wouldn't."

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I frowned. "Why not?"

She said, "She's… Tiberius, I was a shit. A proper shit. I looked down my nose at you as completely as any of them. When it was put on me to bring you down, I saw it as duty. I thought I was protecting the integrity of the noble houses, keeping them from the pollution of common blood. I thought I was preserving the order of our city from the chaos Balthazar would sow. They told me I'd be protected. It was only after, when I realized I was truly destined for the gallows, that I understood I'd been used. When you—when it was you who had me spared—it opened my eyes. But before that, I was devoted to the idea that you shouldn't rise."

I hesitated. "And Lauren was different. She never seemed too accepting of me…"

"She was always a little different. I remember the embarrassment she caused her father in the past. Things she'd say at dinners. Talking about old democracies, the equity of the people. It was beaten out of her, at least the tendency to say it out loud. But she was always looked on with suspicion by those who wanted to preserve the old order."

"And I think she would have been carefully excluded from the conversations. The talking behind closed doors, in the lounges after the parties. Especially because of her father."

I said, "Cornelius?"

Leona nodded gravely. "He was one of the main conspirators. I should say, is."

I felt my skin grow cold. "But… he welcomed me into his house so… so warmly."

She said, "What could he do? You were the Sword. Once you won the suit, you became a noble. They had to live with you. Maybe it's a case of keeping your enemies closer."

I said, "But I'm not their enemy."

She said, "Balthazar is. He wants to change how the systems work. He wants to diminish the rights of the nobles, empower the people. Maybe… maybe he's not wrong. Things are rotten. But for now, what matters is that he's their enemy. And if you stand with him, then you're their enemy too."

I said, "I stand with Boston."

My mind was racing. I could've predicted the names of the houses that worked against me. I could've guessed. But Cornelius? That hurt.

She shook her head again. "There are two sides. You have to be on one or the other. I know for sure that you're seen as being in Balthazar's camp. The reality is sad and simple. If you don't stand with them, you stand against them."

I said, "Who are they? How can there be enough of them to matter if Balthazar had the sway to get elected?"

She said, "He played to the smaller houses like he did to the people. Every house holds the same vote, but there are many houses with little more than that vote. Probably ninety percent of the wealth and military power of the city rests with four or five families."

I heard my voice shaking in disbelief. "And the Oakcrests are one of them…"

She nodded. "Cornelius at any rate. And the Ironveils, the Darkwaters, the Farseers. And… Father."

House Earthtithe.

The other names surprised me not at all. I realized I'd been waiting with dread for another name.

"Not the Chowwicks?" I said.

She shrugged. "They're not a great house. Not the smallest. They probably oscillate."

I said, "But oscillate between what? The path is set, is it not?"

She said, "That's why I'm telling you about this. Things are far from set—not yet. There could be violence. I think you should guard yourself in the city."

I said, "I wear the suit… they can't touch me…"

Leona said, "Griidlords have been assassinated before. The suit comes off to bathe. Or to make love. Guard yourself."

I shook my head slowly, disbelief and wonder crowding my mind. "You think it could be that bad?"

She said, "If Balthazar has his way, then the order of the city will be completely upheaved. There are some who stand to gain. Men like your father—moneyed, powerful, but lacking standing. Smaller houses might see this as their chance to climb the ladder. But the five grandest houses, they stand only to lose. Seven out of every ten standing soldiers in the city hail from those five houses. Probably nine of every ten knights."

I said, "You're… you're talking like that might matter. For Oracle's sake, Leona, there's not going to be open fighting."

She stared at me with pity, as though she felt sorry for my lack of imagination, for my naïveté.

She said, "You saved my life, Tiberius. You might not have intended to give me a home, but you did that too with this place. I was used and betrayed by those powers. By my own…"

She choked slightly, another tear escaping to run down her face.

"My own father used me up. That's how strong they feel about it, Tiberius. I don't think any of this will be over until there's a clear winner. And I don't see that happening without bloodshed."

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