“I have met my part,” Lok reminded the motionless man. And he had. Eleven Marked had been found by the Scholar Gundaron-though only nine had been turned over to the Jaldean. Until a moment ago, Lok would have sworn that Beslyn did not know about the Healer and the Mender secreted in the Tenebro summerhouse. But he also would have sworn the man didn’t know about Dhulyn Wolfshead.

“As I will meet mine. You will not sit on the Carnelian Throne without my help.”

Lok inclined his head in a shallow bow. But once I’m there, he thought, that will be help I no longer need. Especially if he was the only person in the country-perhaps the peninsula-with Marked in his service. Especially if one of those was a Seer. The Jaldean was a fanatic and, like all fanatics, out of his depth when dealing with an equally ruthless but rational man.

“We have had some arrivals, as you say, but it is merely our cousin Mar-eMar, with her bodyguard.”

“And that bodyguard? I had heard one was an Espadryni woman.” A warmth lit up the jade-green eyes until they seemed almost to glow. “I have been given the benefit of your Scholar’s theories.”

Lok sat back and waved his hand in the air. “She answered the physical description,” he said, using his most reasonable tone. “But it is not so unusual. We were able to fully account for her background. She is not Espadryni.”

“You are certain?”

“As certain as we can be. We used fresnoyn in her food.”

The Jaldean nodded. “The chance of a Seer,” he said, so softly he might have been speaking to himself. “There are so few.” He raised his head and once more Lok had the benefit of his level jade-green stare. “It was necessary to be sure.”

“I believe the woman and her companion have already left Gotterang,” Lok continued, once more picking up his pen.

“What of the Mesticha Stone?”

“According to my last report, the ship had left Navra on its way to the shrine on the Isle of Etsanksa to retrieve it. We cannot expect to hear again for some weeks.”

“He is a good tool, your little Scholar.”

“He is,” Lok agreed. “I could not part with him.” Certainly not, Lok thought, until I find out what you want with all these relics he’s located for you, and why the Mesticha Stone is so important.

“Are you sure you will not have some wine? Can I offer you other refreshment?”

Ten

IN THE MIDDLE of the first watch of the night, while most of the Household were seeking their bedrooms, Karlyn-Tan checked that he had his set of master keys hanging from his belt and set off down the corridors and passageways of Tenebro House. As he inspected the watch-something he did often, if irregularly-he could take the most roundabout and quiet route to the room that held the Wolfshead.

His first checkpoint was a young guardsman standing with a drawn sword in her hand, her back to a tapestry that depicted, in fading colors, a boar hunt. Word had it that the Tenebroso herself had worked the tapestry as a young woman, before the deaths of her two older siblings had made her Kir, and turned her attention to other matters. The tapestry hung at the apex of a long curving corridor, where the guard who stood before it could see down both sides.

“All quiet, Steward of Walls.” The young woman standing watch at the tapestry saluted with her sword as he passed her, giving her nothing more than a nod of acknowledgment. He knew her well, as he knew all of his own people. He even knew what special feat in practice had won her the honor of standing guard inside the walls and not out. The honor was always a coveted one, but especially on very hot nights when the stone walls gave some cooling to the House. Or on nights like this one, when spring’s cool drizzle misted the battlements.

The thought that Lok-iKol would endanger this young woman, and all her fellow guards as well as everyone else in the House-Karlyn’s hand had touched his sword hilt before he brought it back, relaxed, to his side.

Karlyn nodded to four more guards before he finally reached the room that held the Wolfshead. He waited for several minutes, listening and taking deep breaths, before he unlocked the door and stood on the threshold.

The first thing he saw was the bed placed against the middle of the far wall, and Dhulyn Wolfshead sitting cross-legged upon it, composed, and smiling merrily.

“It is Karlyn-Tan, Steward of Walls,” he said in a voice that would reach her ears without traveling down the hallway.

“I remember you,” she said. She still sat softly smiling, her blood-red eyebrows slightly raised. Suddenly, her smile broadened. “Have you come to release me, Steward of Walls?” she asked.

Karlyn took three paces into the room until he was no more than the length of a sword from the woman on the bed. He cleared his throat. “Yes.”

The look of blank astonishment on her face, though quickly masked, made the Mercenary woman look younger. “You surprise me, Steward of Walls. Did you not think that my Partner and I left the city through the north gate?”

Karlyn shrugged. “Wolfshead, that is the tale told in the House. But I have seen your swords and weapons hanging in the north tower armory.”

She raised her eyebrows a fraction and inclined her head once.

“I must ask something of you.”

Her lips twisted to one side. “You and everyone else in the blooded House.”

“Will you tell me what the Kir wants of you?”

The stony immobility of her face gave him his answer. Did not know, or would not say.

“Can you tell me at least whether it brings danger to the House-other than the danger you represent yourself?”

This time Dhulyn Wolfshead drew down her blood-red brows and pursed her lips. “That would be hard to say. He takes a great risk, I would judge, but whether it endangers the House…” Her frown deepened. “When you invade another’s territory, do you endanger your own?”

Lok was planning an assault on another House? Karlyn found himself nodding. Yes, that would fit. Perhaps even explain the Jaldean.

“I will free you, Dhulyn Wolfshead. And in return, may I ask you to spare my guards? They are innocent in this.”

Dhulyn sat up straight, hands on her knees. She had rarely seen a man look as troubled as the Steward of Walls looked at that moment. The little muscles around his eyes and mouth were sharp with tension. As if he’d spent much time in thought before coming to her. But his request was sincere. That, Dhulyn was sure of. She had been right to approve of him when they had met at the gate. That he did not ask for himself, only for his men, showed his heart moved him in the right way. Dhulyn found she was glad of this. And that gladness surprised her, a little.

“Why should I do this thing, Steward of Walls?”

“I will set you free with my own hand, and give my word that my guards know nothing of your captivity,” he said.

“Someone must know.”

This closed his eyes, as a look of pain shot across his face. “None of my people, Wolfshead. I cannot speak for the Kir’s personal guard.”

“You have named the Kir,” she said, leaning forward.

“My oaths are not to the Kir,” he replied. “But to House Tenebro. That House is more than the Kir or even the Tenebroso herself. Like me, my people do not belong to the Kir, but to House Tenebro. They are innocent in this,” he repeated.

Again, he did not ask for himself. “Blade oath, Steward of Walls?”

“Blade oath, Dhulyn Wolfshead.”

A long moment passed. “I believe you,” she said finally. He bowed to her, but made no move to leave.

“I will leave the door open,” he said. “May I ask you to wait until the middle of the third watch?”

“What of this?” Dhulyn Wolfshead uncrossed her legs; as she lowered her bare feet to the floor, a heavy chain rang against the metal of the bed frame. Karlyn felt his stomach clench. He did not have the keys to that manacle.