“Slightly,” Thero replied. “Some fifty years old, a very wealthy, influential man with the huge summer estate you’re going to, a hunting lodge in the mountains, and a villa in Silvermoon Street. He was a favorite of Queen Idrilain. His great-aunt on his father’s side married one of the lesser sons of Idrilain’s grandmother, so there’s a tenuous blood connection. He was a friend of the old queen, and rumored to have been one of Phoria’s suitors, years back.”

Alec raised an eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t know him.”

“He hosted half the court last winter for a hunt at his lodge, and several of us wizards were brought along, as well.”

“At Klia’s request?” asked Seregil with a knowing grin.

Thero colored a little but didn’t rise to the bait. Seregil and Alec were probably the only people in Rhíminee who knew that Thero had fallen in love with Princess Klia while he’d been her personal wizard during their time in Aurënen. It was a hopeless match, to be sure, but Thero had gone so far as to offer to go with her to war as her field wizard. Queen Phoria had instead assigned her half sister one of her own choosing. Seregil suspected that Thero’s feelings were reciprocated, but the wizard wasn’t telling.

“It was a grand affair,” Thero went on. “The queen was there, with Korathan and Princess Elani.”

“And Klia.”

“Yes, and Princess Klia!” Thero snapped as his ears went red. “So, this job of yours?”

Seregil relented. “This Reltheus is a bit of a rascal. There are certain letters a former mistress wants back before her wedding day that the duke is loath to return. Naturally, the unfortunate lady called on the Rhíminee Cat.”

This summer had been a fine time to reestablish the Cat’s reputation. All it took was a word in the right ear—and gold and a message in the right hand—to engage the services of the shady, faceless nightrunner for hire. For years, the nobles of Rhíminee had employed the Cat to carry out their intrigues, thefts, and deliveries, little realizing that their money was lining the pockets of one of their own—now two of their own, since Alec’s arrival five years earlier. Seregil even let it be known that he’d used the Cat’s services, just for show. It wasn’t that he needed the money; it was the zest of the risk, and Alec craved it as much as he did.

“We have it on good authority that the duke will be away from his villa at Cirna,” Alec told him. “His young wife is here in the city, in the final weeks of her first pregnancy.”

“He’s not a man you want to be on the wrong side of,” Thero warned. “Do be careful.”

“Aren’t we always?” asked Seregil.