For an instant Wynn felt as if she were arguing with Chane again, and she fell silent to look at Osha. Much more had changed in him and left her wondering how a year with Brot’an might have altered him in other ways.
“Yes, much has changed,” he whispered, “for both of us, it appears.”
A sudden sadness washed over his long features ... except for his eyes. His gaze flicked once toward Chane.
“You know most of why ... for me,” he added, “but as for you ...”
Wynn began to ache inside.
There was too much to tell, most of it hard to explain, and some of it she didn’t dare try. And here and now wasn’t the time.
“You have overstepped your authority!”
At that harsh female voice outside in the passage, both Wynn and Osha looked to the door, and Shade went for it first. Wynn rushed over, relieved by the interruption. She cracked the door enough to look out without the risk of anyone outside seeing Chane’s current state.
Both Nikolas and the duchess stood outside as the latter tore into the Suman guard, who had at least sidestepped away from the door. Lieutenant Martelle, with poorly hidden satisfaction, stood a few paces behind the duchess. And there was Aupsha, stoic as usual, two steps farther down the passage toward the stairs.
“I do not care what your superior ordered,” Sherie continued, closing on the Suman guard. “You are not part of the keep’s forces. You are dismissed—now!”
In profile, the Suman was expressionless, but he glanced at Martelle, who in turn settled a hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword.
It was obvious to Wynn that the keep’s standard guards obeyed anything the duchess commanded. Perhaps they trusted her judgment more than they did her brother’s, considering the foreign interlopers that the duke had brought to this place.
With a slow bow of his head, the Suman guard turned and walked away toward the stairs. Lieutenant Martelle watched that one’s every step. Maybe there was more than simple tension between the keep’s guards and the Sumans?
Wynn was about to thank the duchess for the assistance, when something else caught her eye.
As the Suman guard passed Aupsha, he turned his head toward her. Even with his back to Wynn, he obviously kept his eyes on Aupsha until he passed beyond her. She did not return his glance and remained attentively watching the duchess.
Wynn was too caught up in that brief moment and was startled when the duchess turned on Martelle.
“You and your man are dismissed as well,” Sherie said. “I will take responsibility for our guests.”
“Yes, my lady,” the lieutenant answered with a nod. As he left, he waved to the guard at the passage’s back end to follow him. The duchess turned to face Wynn in the half-opened door.
“I apologize. After speaking with Nikolas earlier, I went to see my brother, who is ... unwell this morning. I came as soon as I could.”
She, too, appeared tired but was pristine in attire and bearing. Her blue-black hair was combed to hang evenly over the shoulders of a burgundy gown. She also seemed less rigid this morning, regardless of formality. When she’d spoken Nikolas’s name, there was almost no bitterness. Then again, perhaps that was only because of so many other complications she had to address. Either way, it appeared that Nikolas’s attempt to speak with her had not been the disaster he’d envisioned.
“Aupsha and I will walk you down to a late breakfast,” the duchess added.
Wynn was still uncertain about her status here. “So ... you’ve dismissed our guards, but for how long?”
The duchess stood with her back perfectly straight. “With my brother indisposed, I am in charge. You will be treated as guests, so long as you remain within the keep’s upper floors or the courtyard. Do not try to go anywhere else and avoid the duke’s private Suman guards. They are ... protective of his privacy and act quickly, without consulting Captain Holland or Lieutenant Martelle. As long as you avoid the lower levels, this should not be an issue.”
Wynn was relieved that she and hers were free to move about the keep, making her tasks easier to accomplish. After Chane’s and Osha’s foolishness from the night before, this was far more than she expected. She shooed Osha and Shade out before she pulled the door closed and wished she could lock it behind herself.
The duchess looked Osha up and down. “What about your swordsman?”
“He’s a late sleeper and usually remains awake for my needs at night,” Wynn answered, knowing it sounded ridiculous in the middle of all this noise and chaos.
“As you wish.” Sherie turned down the passage, with Aupsha and then Nikolas behind her.
As Wynn took a step, she stalled at one thought and let Osha and Shade slip out ahead of her. Yes, she was now free to move about except for anywhere below the keep.
As Osha entered the kitchen, he took a little satisfaction in having Wynn to himself until dusk. She had come to him to exchange ideas, to think through obstacles in seeking his help, and then he succumbed to bitterness again. It was not right to press her about her own past since they had parted, now that they faced hidden threats amid seeking the identity of a messenger and a thief, one and the same or not. But he hoped to know soon why she, too, had changed so much.
For now Osha had this day to show her exactly how much help he could be to her.
Sgäilsheilleache had not taught him the traditional methods of Anmaglâhk interrogation, for he had not believed in the use of torture. But he had started to teach Osha other things, such as how to ask unexpected questions, ones seemingly disconnected, and how useful silence could be as well, even after an answer was given.
Osha never had the chance to practice any of this, but by nightfall, before that undead rose again, he would turn any opportunity he found to Wynn’s favor. As he sat down at the kitchen’s table, his only discomfort was the way the dark-skinned woman glanced too often at him.
If Aupsha had been in the passage with the elder sage, had she seen him there?
“You may go, Aupsha,” the duchess said.
With a bow of her head, the tall woman departed the same way they had all come. This left Wynn, Osha, Shade, Nikolas, and the duchess alone, sitting at the table. Everyone looked at one another in an awkward moment of silence.
The bad-tempered cook came stomping through an archway at the kitchen’s rear.
“I’ve got breakfast ready, my lady,” she announced angrily, “but that girl, Eliza, can’t be roused. I’ll have to serve you myself.”
“Is Eliza ill?” the duchess asked.
“Just lazy,” the cook growled. “Says she can’t seem to wake up.”
The duchess frowned at the cook’s manner. “We will be glad to have you serve us, Martha.”
Osha exchanged a glance with Wynn, who looked tired as well. They had both experienced the same thing this morning, and only Wynn’s calling his name through the door had brought him to his senses.
With a grunt, the unhappy cook served strong tea with milk, eggs, potatoes, and bread that was too white. Osha did not care for the latter, as it felt like paste compared to his people’s rich, wild grain breads. Wynn fixed a plate for Shade, and no one chastised her. Osha found the rest of the food better than what he had eaten at the sages’ guild or while sailing across the far ocean. He ate three eggs.
Wynn kept glancing at him, and he sensed that she felt limited or hampered by the duchess’s presence. Then, as the meal neared its end ...
“Sherie, you said Karl was unwell this morning?” Nikolas asked. “Is there anything to be done for him?”
The duchess looked across the table at the young sage. For an instant her expression filled with a sad longing that Osha knew only too well.