The woman, suddenly flustered, stumbled through apologies and denials, all the while unable to look Emriana in the eye. Shaking her head, Emriana grabbed her hand and dragged her deeper into the house, back into Lobra's old bedrooms.
"Enough pretending. You were moping about this morning when you were helping me to dress. I know you know what I'm talking about, because I can see it in your eyes. Now tell me. What was her name?"
Patimi started to shake her head again, but then the facade faded away and the woman simply pressed both of her hands against her face, her body wracked with silent sobs. Emriana felt slight remorse then, feeling compassion welling up for the poor woman who must have lost someone she cared for, and yet had to go through her day as if nothing were wrong.
The girl reached out, tentatively at first but when Patimi didn't shy away, more boldly, giving her a comforting hug.
"I'm sorry," Emriana said, patting Patimi's hair gently. "Tell me what happened."
Finally, the servant had collected herself enough to pull free of Emriana's hug and straighten her shoulders. She sniffed a couple of times and wiped her eyes, then nodded and began to speak.
"The soldiers came last night, late, after almost everyone was already abed. They told us that Jithelle had marked herself as wizard, had run from the soldiers. It was all so hard to believe, I just couldn't imagine…" Patimi's face screwed up with emotion again, and she cried softly for a few moments before continuing, "Jithelle would never have done that, ma'am. She didn't even know her runes, much less any magic tricks. She was a good girl and wouldn't get into any trouble."
Patimi sniffed again and looked at Emriana beseechingly, as if expecting the girl to somehow make it better.
Emriana sighed and consoled the woman again.
"Of course she wouldn't," she said. "But why were you pretending that nothing had happened? Why aren't the Pharaboldis mourning or even acknowledging her death?"
Patimi shook her head and replied, "Madam Anista said we don't want the scandal. Because of the plague mostly, but also just because…"
"The plague? What plague?" Emriana asked, startled.
"Oh, the soldiers claimed that she and the other man-her lover, they say, though I don't believe it-the soldiers said that both of them were practicing dark rituals and were tainted with the magic plague. Said the bodies"-and Patimi began to sob as she finished-"had to be burned!"
Emriana sat back, stunned. If the bodies had been burned, that meant that Vambran couldn't have watched the communing spell to speak with the pair's spirits. And no one would hear their side of the story. A thought struck Emriana, then.
"Patimi, you said you didn't believe that the other one, the man who was with her, was Jithelle's lover. Why?"
"Because she had her heart set on someone else. She was never interested in Hoytir; no one ever even saw them together."
"Hoytir? That was the man? You knew him, too?"
Patimi stared at Emriana.
"He was one of the stable boys," she breathed, wiping her eyes again.
"What?" the girl exclaimed, sitting back, her eyebrows raised. "Here?"
The servant nodded and said, "A decent man, from what I heard, but he and Jithelle never looked twice at each other. He knew his place."
"What do you mean? Why wasn't it his place to see her?"
Patimi looked at Emriana for a long time before speaking, and the girl got the very uncomfortable impression that there was sympathy in her eyes.
"You don't know," the woman said at last, looking away.
"Know what?" Emriana demanded, forcing Patimi to look at her again. "Tell me," she insisted. "If someone murdered Jithelle and Hoytir, the only way the killers can be caught is if you tell me."
Patimi nodded and took a deep breath.
"Because," she said at last, "Jithelle was sharing a bed with Master Denrick."
When Vambran awoke, he was in his bed at the estate, and half the family was lurking over him, worry creasing their faces. The first person to notice the mercenary's eyes flutter open was Emriana, who yelped softly from the chair she was occupying next to her brother's bed.
"He's awake!" the girl cried out, hopping to her feet. "Mother, Grandmother! Vambran's awake."
"Yes, child, we can see that," Hetta said calmly, sitting forward from her own chair on the opposite side of Vambran's head from her granddaughter. "We're not blind or deaf, Em."
Emriana pursed her lips but said nothing more.
Uncle Dregaul loomed into view as servants helped Vambran to sit up.
"You're lucky to be alive," the man said, staring pointedly at his nephew. "Kovrim said he got to you just in time."
Vambran could see his other uncle lurking in the background, behind Dregaul. He nodded in thanks to the older priest.
"Yes," Vambran said, acknowledging Dregaul's comment. "I was fortunate."
"Well, we're all very glad to see you back here, safe and sound," Dregaul said, giving Vambran a single pat on the shoulder.
Then he turned and was gone, heading out the door. Vambran's mother pushed to fill in the void left by Dregaul.
"How are you feeling, dear?" she asked, leaning down to get a better look at her son. "Are you still in any pain?"
Vambran shook his head and replied, "No, Mother. I feel fine, actually. Just a little tired."
"Well, Kovrim said you'd be all right, but I wanted to hear it from your own mouth. He said the scars from the acid burns would fade in a couple of days." Ladara Matrell's face scrunched up in emotion. "Oh, Vambran, you must be more careful! You could have-could have…"
The lieutenant reached out with his hand-his right arm, which felt free of injury, he noted-and took hold of his mother's.
"It's all right," he said. "I'm fine. It was just a mugging, and I was a little careless. It won't happen again." Ladara nodded and wiped a few tears from her cheeks. "I need to talk to Uncle Kovrim for a few moments, though. Alone."
Hetta nodded and turned to depart. Ladara sprang to the older woman's side to assist her. Only Emriana hesitated.
"I need to talk to you," she said, giving her brother a level stare. "Soon."
Vambran nodded and shooed her away. When the two priests were alone in his room, Vambran motioned for his uncle to sit down beside the bed and asked, "What else happened?"
Kovrim shrugged and replied, "Not much more to tell. After you fell unconscious, I laid a few healing spells on you, had a carriage prepared, and had you brought here. You gave me quite a fright, you know."
"That was no casual mugging, Uncle Kovrim."
"How do you know?" the older man asked, worried.
"Because the woman on the roof flat out told me before she attacked me. They weren't after my coin. They were coming after me specifically."
"And you think there's a connection with this and what you saw last night?"
The lieutenant nodded and said, "I'm pretty certain of it. I just don't know how they figured out that I was going to keep snooping around. You're the only person I've told."
"Someone's been following you around, it would seem," Kovrim said with a sigh. "Mayhap reading your thoughts, eavesdropping on conversations." He shook his head in consternation. "You've gotten into something of a hornet's nest, it would appear. You'd better be doubly careful from now on."
"What about the stranger in red?"
"What stranger?"
Vambran frowned. "The figure on the roof, dressed all in crimson. I didn't get to see his face-he had it covered-but he took care of the mage woman while I was fighting with the two brutes on the ground. Didn't he stick around?"