It was not cruelty; it was the plain arithmetic of what Silas had done.

But before he touched a single figure of the financial loss, Corwin gathered the entire staff in the main kitchen, because there was a different debt to settle first, and it could not be paid in private.

Chapter 15 — In Front of Everyone, Again

Espe stood near the back, arms crossed.

“Yesterday I made a serious error,” Corwin said to the room.

“I accused Espe without evidence, and I did it publicly.