"Yes sir."

Cado told Fa'tad, "This man Rose has played me for a fool, as he played othersfor me in my service." Who did Rose serve? Neither Sullo nor Fa'tad, for sure.

The Living seemed just remotely possible, though no one in the movement wouldhave authorized him to give up some of the information he had turned over.

A free agent? Absurd. It offended any sense of the natural order. No one mancould have the arrogance to believe he could step between Herod and the Livingand play them against one another for his own purposes.

Speaking of which. What might they be? On the information available Rose'spurposes were completely shadowed. The man could not be after wealth. He'dnever taken much in the way of pay. Just enough for a man to get by. The powerto stand in the middle and exasperate everyone? That did not seem sufficientlysinister.

Bruda was back.

"Are they off?"

Bruda nodded.

Then let's see how our guests can help us. Let's all drag chairs or cushionsover and chat. Colonel bel-Abek, would you translate for Governor Sullo? We'lldo this in Qushmarrahan. Informally."

People moved into position. The "guests" looked troubled. Cado spoke directlyto the Qushmarrahan family when he shifted to their language. "Our purposehere is to unravel this child-stealing business. I hope we can come up withsome valuable clues by pooling what we know. Your motive for participatingwill be the restoration of your son. Likewise, Colonel bel-Abek. Then, too, you might find you're grateful for the help given the old woman."

Sullo's witch had worked some sort of quiet miracle. The pain lines had fledRaheb's face and she was sleeping peacefully.

"We from Government House will begin. I'll go first. Colonel Bruda willfollow, then Colonel bel-Abek. I'll then ask our Dartar friends to reiteratewhat they know, then we'll pass on to you. Some little detail somewhere, hopefully, will give us the beginning we need to make before we can take thefirst step toward understanding what's going on. If we know that, we'llprobably know what we have to do about it. Colonel Bruda, would you ask Taligato send in food and drink? We're going to be here a long time. Tell him tohave those corpses removed and searched, too. They're a distraction."

Cado waited a moment, then started. He held nothing back, even when it had noapparent bearing on the subject at hand.

Despite what was being discussed Aaron could not concentrate. His mind keptstraying to what to say when it came his turn to talk. Or he worried aboutmaybe missing work tomorrow. His employers were not understanding aboutabsences.

He was trying to hide the unbearable now behind fear of the future.

Even so, what the Herodians said was interesting. And so open you could nothelp wondering what they would do with him after they had divulged so manysecrets in his presence.

The Dartars talked, too, even including Fa'tad al-Akla, who did not have muchto contribute except the name of a child-stealer who had been killed in theAstan.

"A Dartar outcast?" General Cado asked.

"Yes. A man of no honor, disavowed by his own father."

"And the one tonight was Qushmarrahan?" General Cado spoke to Colonel Bruda, who was receiving reports from his agents as things went along.

"Yes. A known villain. Reasonably competent. Independent. Very quiet the pastsix months, apparently. Till this. He was identified by the prisoner, who alsotold us where he lived. A search turned up a cache of antique gold and nothingelse. There was nothing useful on the body. The prisoner knows nothing else.

He was hired for the one job."

Aaron glanced at the prisoner. The man was numb, sitting there waiting to beexecuted.

"We'll deal with him later. So these child-stealers are very careful aboutgiving anything away, are well paid, and were known criminals before becominginvolved. Except Rose, who does not fit the pattern. He's been our agent forfive years and the Dartar testimony would suggest he was an occasional visitorto the place in Char Street we now believe to have housed General Hanno bel- Karba and his chief of staff, Colonel Sisu bel-Sidek. We seem to haveconflicting possibilities if we look for a connection between the Living andthe crimes. Mr. Habid, would you tell us your story?"

Aaron jumped. The inevitable had come and still he was not ready. He sat therelike a lump, tongue-tied.

Laella took it for some benighted, romantic, patriotic refusal to betrayQushmarrah and the Living. "Aaron! You tell them what they want to know! Youdon't owe the Living anything!" She glanced at her mother.

He did so, wondering how he could have acted so positively and violently justa few hours ago, when he'd never committed such a violence in his life, andnow he could not open his mouth.

He forced himself to croak, "I owe Herod. And so do you."

"Damn what happened six years ago! This is about tonight! This is about ourson! The Herodians will pay for their crimes when they walk through theFlame."

He opened his mouth.

"And you tell all of it. Hear?"

The slight sneer on Naszifs face galvanized him.

He started clear back at the Seven Towers. Each time his story touched uponNaszif he spoke with the utmost contempt. Once he invoked a Dartar proverb,

"Beware the man who betrays your enemy unto you, for he will betray you untoyour enemy," but the bolt missed its mark entirely and fell among scowlingDartars. He went on through Colonel Bruda's arrival in his home.

Laella beamed at him, sort of.

General Cado frowned. "That's an interesting story. As an oral journal. But itsheds very little light on our problem." He was pensive for a moment. "ColonelBruda will read you a list of names. Interrupt if you recognize any of them.

You and your wife, too, Colonel bel-Abek. Colonel Bruda?"

Bruda read a long list.

Only Reyha interrupted. She mistook one of the women's names for someone sheknew who had the same name.

"I was afraid of that," General Cado said. "Let me ask you this, Mr. Habid. Doyou personally know anyone besides Colonel bel-Abek who has lost a child?"

Aaron shook his head.

"Do you, Colonel bel-Abek?"

"Only Mr. Habid, sir."

"I thought so. So. We have no obvious common denominator." He spoke directlyto Aaron. "Those were the names of parents who have lost children over thepast three months. There is nothing to tie them together. They come from avariety of classes and trades. They live all over the city. None have everserved the Herodian name. Only two have ever been suspected of dealing withthe Living. None were at the Seven Towers though most bore arms during theconflict. Our man Rose is the only male Qushmarrahan I know who claims hedidn't, which makes me doubt his veracity. You and your wife, and Colonel bel- Abek and his wife, are the only parents we can find with ties of any kind, however strained. That would seem to argue that the children themselves areindeed what the thing is all about. But we can't see that they have anythingin common, either."

Aaron felt General Cado was looking at him as though he expected him to havethe answer. All he could do was shrug.

A silence set in. Laella finally broke it. "They were born the same day."

"What?" General Cado asked.

"Arif and Zouki. They were born the same day. They have that in common."

Laella did not look up at the Herodian. "That's reaching for it. But ... Whenwere they born?" "The last day of the fighting. The seventh day of the Moon ofRipening. Malach in the calendar of the Old Gods. I don't know what yourpeople call it."

"We use a different calendar. What do you think, Colonel Bruda?"

Bruda was leafing through his documents. "I only have two dates of birth. Theydidn't seem much use at the time. But. One is down as seventh Malach, theother as the seventh day of the Moon of Ripening. Both children six years old.