To Alec’s horror, Malthus said nothing to this.
“Go home, and keep this to yourself,” said Laneus. “I’ll see to the details.”
“Don’t you think the others should know? We’re all in danger.”
“He didn’t name any names except yours. Did you have any indication that he thought there were others?”
“Yes, but not who.”
“I’ll take care of this, Malthus. Go home.”
The two men parted company on strained terms. Alec waited until the room went dark, then crept back the way he’d come.
He was just lighting the lamps when Seregil entered their rooms at the inn and flopped down in one of the chairs by the empty fireplace to pull off his boots. “Not a bad night. How did you make out?”
“Malthus went straight to Laneus’s house,” Alec told him. “Laneus wasn’t very happy with his news. He suspects you didn’t tell Malthus all you know, and that you might be working
for Reltheus. And it sounds like he-Laneus, that is-means to have us killed.”
“Does he really? He’s a sharp one, all right. Anything else?”
“That’s all you have to say? He means to kill us, Seregil!”
“Well, he won’t be the first, will he? We’ll worry about that when it happens. What were the exact words?”
“Only that Laneus said he’d take care of things.”
“We should certainly avoid eating with him. Not that he’ll dirty his own hands.”
“What did you say to Malthus to bring all this on?”
“I made out that I knew more than I did, and gave the idea of assassination a gamble. Malthus went pale, and though he denied it, I’m pretty certain he was lying.”
“But who? Phoria or Elani?”
“I don’t know. Both? I did my best to warn him off the idea.”
“Do you think he’ll listen?”
Seregil sighed. “I have no idea. If he’s telling Laneus about it, probably not.”
“I still say you’ve put yourself at too much of a risk, talking to him. They had you safely dismissed. Now they know that you know something. He didn’t come to you to be part of the plot so now you’re a danger to them.”
“We’ll see.”
Alec still looked dubious. “I think we should be very careful.”
“Always, tali.” Seregil reached for Alec’s hand and kissed the back of it.
Alec sat down on the arm of Seregil’s chair. “Did you send the Cat’s answer back?”
“I did. Would you like to guess where it alighted?”
“With Reltheus?”
“Close. Duke Kyrin. I had a look at what was behind that cabinet in the library. He has a secret room down a flight of rather unreliable stairs.” He held up a hand before Alec could ask and told him the whole of his night’s adventures, including finding the deadly poison.
Alec shook his head. “I guess we’d better not eat at his
house, either. So they’ve been gathering information longer than Elani has known Danos?”
Seregil twisted a dark lock of hair around one finger. “Yes. There may have been more than just Reltheus’s ambition that brought them together at that hunt. Perhaps you could work that into conversation, the next time we see Elani.”
CHAPTER 24. Spies in the Ranks
DUTIFUL son, or diligent spy, Danos wrote letters frequently, which were carried back to Rhiminee by the royal courier service, a highly efficient network of expert riders that stretched from the city to the front. Klia and the other higher officers had couriers attached to their camp, but for the rest of them, there was the general courier who showed up irregularly to carry the letters of those of the lower ranks who could write or pay someone to pen a letter for them. When the courier arrived he or she would hang their leather mail bag on a post near the cook’s wagons in a squadron camp and leave it for a day or so, then collect it and ride back.
Beka and Nyal managed to keep an eye on Danos when they were in camp, and saw when Danos’s servant, Caem, went to the post bag with a letter. It was often Nyal who crept through the shadows to pilfer it, then carried it to Beka’s tent to open and inspect. Most were addressed to his father, with a few to friends and the occasional missive to Princess Elani, but not one of them contained anything suspicious, and no sign of the code Thero had told them of.
It wasn’t until after the bloody siege of the captured Mycenian river town of Galltree that Nyal caught sight of Caem, tucking what appeared to be a letter into his tabard and setting off in the opposite direction from the post bag. It was nearing dusk, and the Aurenfaie managed to follow him among the sea of small soldiers’ tents without attracting his notice. As Nyal watched, Caem suddenly stopped at an empty tent and went inside. Nyal gave it a wide berth, then
came around the back side and stretched out on his belly to look under the edge of the canvas in time to see Caem carefully lift Danos’s seal, place a folded bit of parchment inside the packet, and then apply something from a small bottle to fix the wax down again. When he was done, he put the packet into his tunic and walked back to the post bag.
Nyal waited until he’d passed out of sight among the tents again, then went to the bag, ostensibly to put in the letter he always carried with him for just such an occasion. Beka used the same ruse.
It was a simple matter to glance at the topmost letters in the bag, find the one addressed to Duke Reltheus, and slip that under his leather coat. Back in the relative safety of his own tent, Nyal lifted the seal and found not one but two letters inside. One was sealed with the same wax and addressed to Princess Elani. The other was sealed with tallow and contained a few lines of code. He scanned this quickly, then shook his head as he went in search of Beka.
She was eating with her riders, so he joined them. Catching her eye, he gave her a meaningful wink, the sort sure to be misinterpreted by anyone else who saw. When they were done with their meal, they made their way to Klia’s tent.
“You have something good, I assume,” Beka whispered in Aurenfaie as they walked along in the darkness between the watch fires.
“Very good, though the commander isn’t going to like it,” he replied softly.
Klia was conferring with General Moraus. They waited outside, and presently the general came out. When he caught sight of them he clapped Beka on the shoulder.
“I hear you and your riders distinguished yourselves again, Captain.”
“Thank you, sir!” Beka made him a smart salute.
“Quite the fight, but you were in the forefront again as I hear it.”
“Yes, sir, we were.”
The general nodded approvingly. “Lose many?”
“Only two, sir.”
“Astellus speed them, eh? And you-Nyal, isn’t it? I hear
good things about you. They say you’re one of our best scouts.”
Nyal bowed. “Thank you, General. I’m honored to serve.”
“Well, keep up the good work, both of you. We’re going to drive those damn Plenimarans into the sea before the summer’s out.” With that he strode off into the darkness with his escorts.
One of the sentries announced them, and Nyal heard Klia call for them to come inside.
Klia was alone. “You have something for me?”
“Finally,” Beka said softly as Nyal handed their commander the purloined letters.
“Let’s see what we have.”
They followed her into her private quarters at the back of the tent. Klia sat down at her field desk and spread out the three letters next to the candle. The first was a letter to Duke Reltheus, filled with news of battle and questions about family and life at home. The second, the one for Elani, was a love letter, full of protestations of affection, suggestions for places to hunt on his father’s land, and cautious mention of a possible life together.
“Seems pretty sure of himself,” Klia murmured as she set this one aside. Turning her attention to the third, she handed Beka a wax tablet and stylus. “I’ll count. You write.”