Cicely Rowe

It’s unfair is what it is. Hasn’t she strived with the best of them? Doesn’t she have a string on every lordling worth counting clear out to Bath? Hasn’t she put a boot in the throat of every ha’penny squire who’s come sniffing after her deeds or right to same? She’s earned her place again and again, but Bithewaye treats her like the clever hound who fetches his pheasants. Surely not everyone deserves the privilege of office, but she’s still not in line for Richard’s job, and she rather thinks she should be. After all, England has a queen, and so do the Weihan Cynn. Why not the Invictus?

Cicely is the proprietress of the finest of gentlemen’s taverns and theaters, collector of bribes and favors, and distributor of same. For six weeks she’s been sitting on a fat secret: Richard’s real name. Trouble is, she doesn’t quite know how to turn it to her advantage. Cecily views reformers like Adam as lying somewhere between rats and poets, and tolerates neither in her establishments. But a secret’s worthless until you find a buyer.