The Five of Diamonds

The Rebellion

The RebellionA lot of people had died. And I don’t mean those murdered by the Red Dog Gang because of me.

Almost at once, protests rose in Diamond quadrant against their second Purge, this particular one instigated after discovering spies in the quadrant. Young toughs on either side, emboldened by the disorder, tried to cross the river and infiltrate. In the year since, many had died in the fighting, or if captured on our side, in the torture rooms Katie’s father Roy kept underneath Spadros Castle.

Our carriage passed a magnificent restaurant, the chandelier inside twinkling through plate glass windows. It reminded me of those glorious chandeliers inside the back hallways of the Ball-house on Market Center.

The situation for the most recently-held Grand Ball must have been perplexing. The Diamond Family was in line to host the Grand Ball that year. Yet Mr. Julius Diamond — the quadrant’s Patriarch — was being held incommunicado by his oldest son and Heir, Mr. Cesare Diamond.

I heard the party inside went well. They say Cesare’s wife was responsible for much of the preparation. But many died outside the Ball-house that night as police and protesters clashed.

I didn’t attend. For many months after the battle with the rogue Spadros men outside the Old Plaza, I didn’t go much of anywhere.

But when they caught the Bridges Strangler right after the Grand Ball, I began to feel as if things could get better. If, as I’d suspected, those scores of murders had been the work of Frank Pagliacci, or whatever he was calling himself at the trial, then executing him was a major blow to the Red Dog Gang’s operation.

Maybe, just maybe, I was safe.

The carriage stopped. Honor appeared at the door. “Spadros Castle, mum.”

I smiled at him as he opened the door. “Thank you.” Some call it bad manners to acknowledge or even thank servants. But in my view he was a free man, and I’d be damned if I treated him like some object.

I glanced back. Katie sat arms crossed, face angry. Beyond her, Blitz stood outside, his hands firmly pressed upon the door; Morton had hold of Katie’s arm. I said, “Is something amiss?”

“No,” Katie snapped, flinging Morton’s hand away.

“Then let’s go. I’m sure your parents await you.”

Her eyes widened in fear, but she came out willingly.

I turned to Honor. “Drop Blitz off and return home; they’ll send us along once we’re done.”

Spadros Castle was a huge pile of white stone on East 192nd Street, a good ten miles from my former home, Spadros Manor.

Outside, Spadros Castle seemed to have been created more for defense than for any artistic quality. Inside, the front hall was cold. The butler never spoke, only gestured towards the parlor.

The decor was white, trimmed in pale blue, floored with light gray stone. Above the fireplace hung a stunningly lifelike pencil portrait of a much younger Katherine, spanning four feet by three. According to Katherine’s mother Molly, her father Roy had drawn it by memory.

Molly Hogan Spadros entered, wearing a red dressing-gown. Raven-haired and buxom, even at her age she was beautiful. Yet her makeup was smeared, as if she’d been crying. She rushed to Katie, taking the girl into her arms. “Oh, dear gods! You’re safe!” She turned to me, still clasping her child. “How did you find her?” Chagrin crossed her face. “I didn’t think to send a messenger.” Molly turned to the butler. “Send word that she’s here.”

The man bowed and left, shutting the door behind him.

Molly cupped Katherine’s face in her hands. “Daddy’s gone looking for you. Where have you been?”

“Well,” I said, “that’s what we’re here to talk about.”

* * *

We sat, and the picture emerged. From the start of my trial almost two years earlier, Katherine had become sullen, withdrawn. She’d dyed her hair black, flying into a rage at the slightest provocation. She’d been caught smoking, drinking, stealing wine from the cellar.

“Lately she’s been disappearing,” Molly said. Then she turned to Katie. “And your poor hair! It’ll take years to grow back. How could you?”

Katie scowled at her mother.

Morton’s face turned surprised, and he leaned forward. “She’s just now cut her hair?”

Molly’s eyes narrowed. I’d introduced Morton as my business partner, but I believe she felt suspicious as to his motives. “Just.”

I turned to Katherine. “Why are you doing this?”

Katie crossed her arms, face angry. “You smoke, and drink, and do whatever you want! Why do you care when I do?”

Molly said, “However did you find her?”

Morton leaned back, arm along the sofa. “Caught her pilfering a jewelry box on East 177th. On the second floor.”

Molly stared at her daughter, aghast. “What if you’d fallen? You could have been killed!”

Katie smirked.

I said, “There’s been a rash of burglaries in the apartment collective there. We were hired to catch the thief.” I gestured at Katie. “I caught her with her hand on the box!”

Molly appeared completely dumbfounded. “But Katie, why?”

“Daddy never gives me anything. I can’t have a horse of my own, I don’t have my own money —”

“For shame!” I said. “You live in luxury to make the King blush. Why grasp for more? Why steal from your people?”

Katie’s face turned angry. “Why should you care about them? They tried to kill you!”

“Yes,” I said, “some in Spadros did try. But not those ones. They just want to live in peace.”

Katie had nothing to say to that.

Morton said, “Say you did take those jewels. Where would you sell them?”

The girl seemed to withdraw into herself, face guarded. For a few moments, she said nothing as we watched her. Then she blurted, “There’s a guy in the Pot, okay?”

Molly gasped.

Katie didn’t seem to notice. “I give him the jewelry, and he gives me money.”

“Hmph,” Morton said, his face amused. “Likely a fraction of what it’s worth.”

Katherine Spadros had no idea what things cost, of that I felt sure. “And then he’ll sell it for twice that.” Which would still be a bargain for the party-goers streaming to the brothels who fancied a bit of jewelry to appease the wives waiting for them back home.

For once, Katie seemed less sure of herself. “You mean, they cheated me?”

I smiled at her. “For certain. You’ve been played.”