another GHOST IN THE SEAL snippet

I’ll be editing GHOST IN THE SEAL all weekend, so let’s have another snippet!

“Do you know what your error was?” said Kalgri.

Cassander sighed. “I suspect you are about to enlighten me.”

“You’re too young,” said Kalgri.

Cassander laughed, startled. “I beg your pardon?”

“Don’t be a fool,” said Kalgri. “This face might look young, but I’m not. I’m so old, and I’ve killed so many people I can’t remember them all.” She shivered, giggled, and looked at him, the tip of her tongue sliding over her lips. “Do you know what I learned? The method doesn’t matter. Only the result. Only the corpse at your feet. It doesn’t matter whether you cheated, whether you fought fairly or stabbed your enemy in the back. Only the corpse at your feet matters.” She made an exasperated sound. “You…you think like an Imperial magus.”

“That is because I am an Imperial magus,” said Cassander, amused. “Or I will be, once the Umbarian Order assumes its proper role over the entirety of the Empire.”

“You think like a magus,” said Kalgri, “so you think in terms of grand gestures, and battles and lords and crushing your enemies with spells. No. Better to pour a little poison in their glasses. Better to kill them and never let them know that you were the one who killed them…

-JM