She forced tears to her eyes as she rounded the corridor bend to find Shastro talking with a courtier. She waited, her eyes, brimming with tears, fixed on him. He glanced at her, smiled, and went to turn back to his conversation. Then his mind registered her distress. He swung back.
“Murna, my dear child. What has happened? Has someone been unkind? Only tell me and I shall have them punished.”
Aisling looked up at him. “My Lord Duke, anarchy. A threat to your court.” She watched as he stiffened. His gaze darted about them, and a small tic began at one side of his mouth.
“Anarchy? A threat? Speak, Murna, what is this?”
“My Lord, Keelan, the friend of my cousin is missing. He but went to the market to purchase a new bridle. That was many hours ago, and he is not to be found.” She saw him relax, about to object that the disappearance of one minor member at court was hardly a threat. She bowed her head.
“My Lord, I fear for you.”
“For me?” He tensed again.
“Isn’t Keelan the brother of your lord sorcerer?” Aisling asked innocently. “If there should be a plot against him, perhaps a plan to use his brother as a lever. But worse still, what if they but seek to persuade him against you?” She saw the shot go home. Shastro went a greenish-white in terror. Sweat suddenly stood out on his forehead.
Absently he patted her arm. “Dear child. So sensible, so loyal to Kars and its duke. Yes, if it should be a plot against me. I must see Kirion at once.” He looked down at her. “Go back to your cousin. Tell him I swear I shall do all possible to find his friend. If he has men searching he is to call them back. Better not to hamper what my own men can do. Go, quickly!” She went, running lightly back to the Aranskeep suite, where Hadrann waited anxiously.
“Did it work?”
Aisling was worried. “It worked. Right now he’s on the way to demand Kirion find Kee at once. But, Hadrann, I fear Shastro is going to believe this an Estcarp plot again. I think he was starting to wonder as soon as I spoke.”
“You can’t worry about that. No, I think Kirion may claim this plot is homegrown. It would give him the chance to obtain a few more people for his experiments. He won’t get those from Estcarp. It wasn’t Shastro we were after anyhow. It was Kirion. He loathes Kee, but he’d hate to see anyone else hurting him; he prefers to do that himself. In a way Kee is his, and gods help the one who steals what belongs to Kirion.”
Aisling sat as her knees began to feel weak. Wind Dancer jumped up and rose to pat her cheek gently with one large paw. She held him to her, the warm furry body and the rumbling purr a comfort. Hadrann poured wine, then looked at the cup, dumped it back in the decanter and poured them both fruit juice. He handed one mug to Aisling.
“Damn court habits. I always drink far more when I’m here. Tonight we want our wits about us if we ever did.”
Outside they could hear an increasing hubbub. Aisling leaned out of the window to see. Below in the courtyard mounted soldiers milled. Shastro was nowhere in sight, but Kirion, haughty on a sleek black horse, was giving sharp orders. Aisling shrank back. Better that he did not look up and see her spying, as he’d think of it if he saw her.
She smiled wryly. Ten to one Kirion had no idea that she’d been behind Shastro’s demand that his sorcerer find Keelan. The duke would never have admitted that the idea of a plot had been thought up by another. No, he’d have rushed to Kirion to alternately storm and complain, then to whine in fear. After that all the decisions would have been her brother’s.
They waited through two hours that seemed to stretch to twenty. Then below there was a lesser commotion, and Aisling flew to the window. A filthy, battered figure was being helped from a trooper’s horse. She bit back her scream of greeting. She must not betray them. Must not let any see how much she loved a man none knew to be more than a friend of her cousin’s. But it was Kee, her brother, safe, and if not sound at least not too visibly damaged.
She flew to the door, snapping orders at their waiting guard. “Have someone bring hot water and our bath from the storeroom at once. Find a healer and tell him to attend the Aranskeep suite in half a candlemark. Send one of your men down to the stables to help the Lord Keelan back here. Lay out clean linen and outer clothing.”
“At once, Lady.” He was rapping out orders in turn as she shut the door again. Then she sagged into a chair to wait. Hadrann smiled at her. “If he could ride back he can’t be too badly hurt.”
“He’s Aiskeep and proud.”
“So?” The single word was provocative.
“So he’d stay on a horse if he were dying and be too proud to say so.” Aisling snarled. She would have continued but for raising her eyes to see his grin. “Oh, I see. Start a fight and take my mind off worrying. But I am… is that them?” She would have flung the door open but for his grip.
“I’m the one who is so worried over my friend,” she was warned in a low voice. “You are merely mildly concerned over my friend.” Hadrann thrust her behind him and opened the door with cries of distress.
“My dear boy! What has befallen you? Are you injured? But you are so very dirty, one would think you had been rolling in the streets.”
Keelan eyed him bitterly. “I have. No, I’m not much hurt, but I’d kill for a hot bath.”
As he spoke a procession of palace maids bearing steaming copper cans approached. Behind them marched two men carrying a large bathtub stamped with the Aranskeep seal. Keelan gaped.
“Has someone added clairvoyance to his abilities?”
Hadrann glared at him. “Shut up with that!” he hissed. Louder he said, “No, dear boy. Merely common sense. I did… ah… see you from my window. You appeared greatly in need of quantities of hot water and soap.”
“I am.” Keelan assured him. “Very much so.” He waved the bath procession through the door before him. “Get on with that and hurry.” He took the hot drink handed to him by Aisling, allowing his gaze to meet hers briefly. Anxiety met reassurance, and he saw her relax slightly.
The bath was rapidly filled, and one by one the maids departed with watercans emptied. Aisling had laid out towels and soap meanwhile.
She vanished discreetly for five minutes as Hadrann helped his friend off with the filthy torn clothing. Alone she also opened her mind and listened for other minds. Ah. One came, slipping silently between the walls. Once her brother was safely ensconced in hot soapy water she returned. Her hands moved now and again in fluttering motions. They would look no more than the usual movements of a nervous woman were they overlooked, but Keelan could read hunter signals. He’d learned from her, and Hadrann had learned from both.
“All right. Now for the love of Karsten tell us what happened to you. My cousin was worried sick.” Keelan ducked his head under the water, scrubbed vigorously at his hair, then surfaced to meet her glare. He grinned wearily.
“I made a mistake. All right? I should have taken one of Had-rann’s guards with me. His captain even asked, but I was only going to the market. I intended to buy a new bridle, then come straight back.” He lowered his voice to a slurred murmur. No one farther than a few feet from him would have been able to make out the words.
“I haven’t been in the lower city for months. I had no idea how bad it’s gotten. They’re close to rebellion and they hate anyone from court. When the time comes we may be able to use that.” His voice became louder again. “… and I bought a real beauty of a bridle too.”
“What happened to it? You certainly didn’t have it with you when you returned,” Aisling digressed. Let them bore the listener. Keelan obliged with a long monologue on the best types of horse gear, the best place in Kars to buy it, and then a string of curses upon the heads of those who’d stolen it along with almost everything else he’d had at the time. Aisling allowed him to return to the subject of his attackers.