"Dhampir," she said again, her tone a note of music this time.
Magiere stepped around Leesil with her falchion up.
"Stay where you are and keep your hands still, or I'll slice off anything that moves."
"I wish to help you," the woman said.
Wynn's footsteps approached behind Leesil. "Are you coming? I need help with a locked… Oh," she said as she saw the new arrival.
Leesil stepped away from Magiere to the passage's other side. It wasn't much separation, but it was as far as he could stretch this stranger's field of view. He'd learned enough hard lessons in recent days, and didn't care to have this woman able to hold all of them in her sight line at the same time. With Wynn present, her crystal in hand, there was enough light that he tucked his own crystal into his surcoat.
"Who are you?" he asked, sliding farther down the side of the passage.
"You want to help me?" Magiere asked with a bitter challenge in her voice. "How do you plan to do that?"
The woman tentatively lifted her hand from the iron door and then froze with apprehension in her eyes. Magiere nodded, and the woman lowered her hand to her side.
"Osceline," the woman answered. "That is my name. You have questions about the past and look for records-but you won't find anything here. I can help you. I serve the one who can provide your answers."
Leesil curled his hands at his sides until he could pull loose his wrist-sheath straps with two fingertips. A stiletto hilt dropped into each of his palms.
Magiere lifted the falchion's tip higher toward the woman. "You serve someone who claims to know me?"
"More than a claim," Osceline answered, and a smile surfaced briefly upon her quivering lips. "He was mere when you were born."
Chap lunged forward, snarling and snapping. Osceline shrank away from the dog, and Leesil took advantage to slip past her in the corridor. She was trapped between him and the others. Wynn grabbed Chap's haunches, but her gaze was on the woman. Magiere scooped downward with her free hand and shoved Chap back.
"You're lying," Leesil said. He wasn't about to let anyone toy with Magiere.
"No, I'm not," Osceline replied. "My master took great pains to recruit Buscan and then sent me to protect his plans. Likely you've heard what has happened here. When word reaches my master, I won't live out the day."
"Who killed Buscan?" Leesil asked.
Osceline's gaze shifted erratically between him and Magiere, as if uncertain how or who to answer to.
"I don't know who they were," she said at length. "They caught me off guard."
"So you were there when it happened," Leesil said. "In the room… you saw who did it?"
"I told you. I don't know them… who they were. Buscan was familiar with one of them."
"Them?" Leesil pressed. "More than one? And this old friend, did he have a name?"
Osceline glared at him. Her fear seemed to waver as if she knew something he'd missed-or had something he wanted. Leesil realized he'd gone too far. If she knew anything, she was considering what value her knowledge might have.
"I heard no name, and it doesn't matter anymore," she said, turning back to Magiere. "It is nothing compared to you. My master thought you dead long ago, or he would have found you-saved you from the life you've had to endure. Only in recent years did we hear the rumors and whispers… that a dhampir walked the wilderness. So, he began setting up his servants to watch for you, to find you. He needed Bus-can for this, to help properly place loyal watchers. Now, Bus-can is dead."
Leesil saw Magiere's grip tighten on the falchion's hilt.
"Do you know the name of my father?" she asked in low voice. "Is he your master?"
"No," Osceline answered. "My master will explain all himself. That is his wish. I can't tell you any more, except where to find him, but first you make me a promise."
"I'll promise you nothing!" Magiere said Her voice was a little too loud, and Leesil could see her pain. He wished he could offer comfort, but for the moment, he couldn't take his attention from Osceline.
"Then I tell you nothing," Osceline answered.
Leesil lifted his stilettos into view. Osceline's gaze shifted toward him, but she didn't move another muscle. She saw nothing she considered a threat, and Leesil's own wariness sharpened.
"What is it you want?" Magiere finally asked.
"Swear to tell my master that it was I who found you, I who sent you to him and no one else. Do this and I might regain his favor and my life."
Magiere glanced at Leesil, and he nodded agreement.
"All right," Magiere said. "You have my word, as I've no deity to swear by."
Osceline cocked her head toward Leesil. "Swear on his fife."
Magiere tilted her head forward, dark hair curtaining half her face. Her irises flooded black. She lifted the falchion with her elbow cocked back and took a step toward Osceline. The woman flattened herself against the cell door, but there was still no fear in her eyes.
"It's all right," Leesil said.
He saw Magiere hesitate, her attention split between him and the woman. She lowered her blade.
"I swear on his life," she said, the words grating out of her throat. "I will tell your master you sent me. Now spit it out! What is his name, and where do we find him?"
Relief filled Osceline's lovely face, followed by satisfaction. A silent tension passed through Leesil as he wondered if they'd just made some terrible mistake in bargaining with this skulker in the belly of the keep.
"Ubad," Osceline said, calm and collected. "His name is Master Ubad."
She stepped away from the door as if there were no longer any threat she need be concerned with. She even turned her back on Leesil, facing Magiere directly.
"You can find him in the wetlands beyond the village of Apudalsat," Osceline continued. "To the east, in the province of the Sclaven on the edge of the Everfen region. The keep is deserted, as is the village, but he is there. Go to the keep- he will know when you arrive. He is wise and will explain all to you. But do not forget your oath to me."
Osceline turned around and stepped past Leesil without looking back. She walked down into the passage's dark end. Magiere started after her, but Leesil grabbed her arm.
"Let her go. " When he glanced back, Osceline was gone. "I believe she was telling the truth… for what little she did tell us."
Chap rumbled softly in Wynn's arms as she crouched behind the dog.
"We have not finished looking," the sage suggested. "There might still be-"
"We've found nothing here," Leesil corrected, "and I don't think looking further will change that. We'd best leave while we can."
He saw the ridged clench of Magiere's jaw, and he'd seen how close she'd come to cutting into Osceline when the woman had made her swear on his life. Magiere turned away, heading for the hidden staircase, but her hand slid gently down his arm as she did so. Leesil waved Wynn and Chap on behind her.
He looked back down the passage Osceline had taken as he sheathed one stiletto and pulled out his crystal. There was something wrong here. He stepped farther down the row of cell doors shut tight on both sides.
In three steps, the crystal's light revealed an empty deadend, and he'd heard no cell doors open.
Leesil backed carefully to the intersection of the corridors, watching every shadow.
He followed the others up to the study, looking back over his shoulder more than once. From the wood-paneled room, he led the way out into the hall and then down the narrow stairs facing the door. This emptied into a corridor on the main floor, and it did not take long to reach the kitchen and step out behind the courtyard barracks once again. Leesil locked the door behind them and refastened the key to the belt of the unconscious guard. Magiere handed him her falchion, and he slipped it into the sheath.