Did I completely believe all I said to her? No. But, despite all, she was a friend, and she needed. The words I gave her eased that need, and cost me nothing. A small smile twisted my mouth. She had bedded me for the very reasons that I now gave her the small lies she needed to hear.

She nodded, and no more tears flowed. After a time of walking, she asked me, ‘What should I do about my husband?’

I shook my head to that. ‘I don’t know, Starling. Do you still love him? Want him?’

She nodded stiffly to both my questions.

‘Well, then. I think you should tell him that.’

‘That’s all?’

I shrugged. ‘I think you are asking the wrong man for advice about this. Someone more successful in love might be able to give you better advice.’

‘Like Chade, perhaps.’

‘Chade?’ I was both appalled and amused, but the temptation was too great. I kept a straight face. ‘Chade’s the ideal man to consult.’ I wished I could be present at that discussion.

‘I think you are right. He always manages to keep his lovers both satisfied and discreet. Even when he chooses to let one go,’ she mused, and then laughed at the shocked look on my face. ‘I see. Not even you know of his affairs. Ah, well, you are right, he is the man to ask. I’ve never heard of a woman turning him out of her bed; it’s always the opposite. And he is not exactly the most youthful of men. Well. I shall discuss it with him when I report to him tonight.’

Her last words sparked a sudden suspicion. I risked it. ‘Then you think you’ll discover where the one-armed man is staying?’

She gave me a sideways look, as if awarding me a point in a game. ‘Sooner than you will. And he asked me, when I overtook you, to let you know that he expects you to stay well away from Laudwine. Not that the man is known by that name in Buckkeep Town, or Chade would have him by now. So. I have passed on his wishes to you. He assures you that in this, he still knows best.’

‘Or at least, he believes he does,’ I returned coolly. I was putting together that this was no chance meeting. Chade had somehow discovered that I had left the castle and had sent Starling to intercept me and deflect me from Laudwine. Providing me with the opportunity to apologize to the ruffled minstrel was likely a part of his plan. How that old man loved pulling the strings! I found a smile and plastered it onto my face. ‘Well, you’d best mount up then and be on your way, if you’re to discover Laudwine before I do.’

She gave me a quizzical look. ‘Are you still going down to Buckkeep Town?’

‘Yes. I have other business down there.’

‘Such as?’

‘Hap.’

‘He’s in Buckkeep Town? I thought he would have stayed at your cabin.’

So Starling did not know everything that Chade knew. That was a small comfort. ‘No. Part of my reason for returning to Buckkeep, a large part of it, was to make it possible for Hap to get a good apprenticeship. He’s apprenticed to Gindast.’

‘Is he? And is he doing well?’

By all the gods, I longed to lie to her and tell her that he was excelling. ‘It hasn’t been easy for him to adapt to city life,’ I hedged. ‘But I think he is beginning to master it now.’

‘I shall have to go and see him. Gindast is a great admirer of mine. My expressing an interest in Hap cannot hurt him there.’ There was an innocence to her assumption of fame and importance that made it impossible for me to take offence at it. Then she paused abruptly, and, as if the thought surprised her, asked, ‘The boy is not still angry with me, is he?’

She gave injury so carelessly; perhaps she expected others to forgive it as easily. Perhaps that was the curse of a minstrel’s tongue; to be gifted at wounding with words. At my hesitation, she filled in, ‘He is still angry, isn’t he?’

‘I really have no idea,’ I said hastily. ‘You did injure his feelings rather deeply. But he’s had so much on his mind, as I have, also. I’ve never discussed it with him.’

‘Well. I suppose I must make amends with him, then. If I get a chance, I’ll steal him for an afternoon. I know Gindast will let me have him. I’ll take him out for a fine meal and show him the parts of Buckkeep Town an apprentice isn’t likely to see. Don’t frown like that. Hap’s just a boy; I’ll soon soothe his ruffled feathers. Now, as you say, I must be hastening along. Fitz, I’m glad things are better between us. I’ve missed you.’

‘I’ve missed you, too,’ I said, abandoning all attempts at honesty. I wondered how Hap would react to her invitation, and if she would even recognize how much he had grown and changed. In truth, I wished she would just leave him alone, but I didn’t know how to ask that without offending her again. Evidently Chade wanted her well-disposed toward me. I’d corner him on the whys of that later. For now, I assisted her into the saddle, and smiled up at her as she looked down on me. When her smile answered me, I discovered that, yes, I had missed her. And that I preferred this to her festering anger at me. Then she nearly ruined it by quirking the smile to a grin and saying, ‘So. Tell me true and take the string from my last insult to you. Does Lord Golden prefer boys to girls? Is that why the ladies have had so little success with him?’

I managed to hold my smile in place. ‘So far as I know, he prefers to sleep alone. For all the wild flirtations I’ve witnessed, I’ve never had to shake anyone out of his sheets in the morning.’ I paused, then added in a lower voice, hating myself, ‘I suspect the man is extremely discreet. I’m just his bodyguard, Starling. You can’t expect me to know all his secrets.’

‘Oh,’ she replied, clearly disappointed at my lack of gossip. Minstrels are ever hungry for scraps of scandal She had often told me that the best songs are found at the end of a trail of rumours. I thought she would ride off, but she surprised me again. ‘Well, then. And yourself, these days?’

I sighed heavily. ‘I’ve been emulating my master. I sleep alone, thank you.’

‘You don’t have to,’ she offered, one eyebrow lifting archly.

‘Starling,’ I warned her.

‘Oh, very well,’ she laughed, and I saw that some strange way my answer had reassured her. She had not been replaced. In refusing her offer, I forced myself to go without. I supposed that pleased her. She blew me a kiss as she rode off. I shook my head as I watched her go and then resumed my trudge down the hill.

A few minutes later, Civil Bresinga passed me, headed towards Buckkeep Town at a good clip despite the steep and snowy road.

He did not slow his horse and scarcely gave me a glance. I doubt that he recognized me or would have cared if he did. But he rode gloveless and bareheaded, his cloak fluttering behind him, as if he had left the castle in a very great hurry. Did it have something to do with the Prince refusing to ride out with him this morning? Did he have to notify someone of a failed plan? I muttered a curse to myself and hurried after him through the snow, but he was already out of sight.

I halted, out of breath and panting. Calm, I counselled myself. Calm. I had no way of knowing what was going on with Civil. I would stay with my original idea, and search for Laudwine. In that process, I suspected I might discover where Civil had gone.

My first stop in Buckkeep was the weekly market. I bought a red scarf and a serviceable belt-knife, and all the while I made casual inquiries as to where I might get fresh goat-flesh for a Jamaillian dish my master suddenly desired. I received a number of suggestions, but most were for goatherds who lived in the hills behind Buckkeep. There were only two suggested who lived in Buckkeep Town, and only one of them was near Smithy Row.

The short wintry day was ending as I headed toward Smithy Row. The fading of the light was fine with me. The recommended goat-keeper kept only a few beasts, more for milk than for flesh. I located his home as much from the smell as from my directions. In the dusk, I moved quietly closer to it. Through a window, I glimpsed a family with three young children settling in for the evening. In the shed behind their house were a dozen goats. Cheeses were stored in the rafters. The most nefarious creature around was a sullen old billy with evil yellow eyes. I left as quietly as I had come, wondering if I had tricked myself. Perhaps the sounds I had heard when I Skill-shared memories with Thick had nothing to do with where Laudwine was now. Perhaps it had been a temporary meeting place, not where the Piebald leader stayed.