He nodded his head, the smile dying. “I suppose I should have remembered that Ward was the only person I ever met who could beat me at chess . . . Speaking of which, we have a game to finish.”

Tisala stood up and sat on one end of the bench. Kellen scooted back until his back was against the wall.

He’d carved a chessboard on the bench with a sharp rock, and from a bag he’d hidden on his person he withdrew finely carved jade and jasper chess pieces. He set them up quickly, remembering the moves that they’d made the last time she’d been there months ago. Rosem had told her that Kellen played chess with a lot of the people who visited him, remembering each game as he did hers. It gave him a hobby, kept him sane.

They had time for three moves each before Kellen stored the pieces back in his bag.

“I enjoy playing with an opponent as good as I,” he said pensively. “There aren’t many who play as well as you.”

“My father taught me,” she reminded him.

“Yesterday, Rosem said you were here looking for Ward,” he said.

“Yes, sire.”

“No one I know here has been able to find out where they have him. But there’s something going on in the mage’s section. Jade Eyes has been here every day, and the archmage as well.”

“I thought that’s where he might be. His wizard can’t find him.”

“Ward is mageborn,” said Kellen. “I remember that Ward could find things that were lost.” He stared at the empty board on the bench for a moment. “I’ll see if we can’t get you into the new section in the next few days. What do you intend to do when you find him?”

“His wizard thinks he can get Ward out if I can find him.”

“He’ll lose Hurog,” said Kellen softly. “If you are not very careful, Lord Duraugh and Beckram will lose their lives over this. I can’t afford to lose Hurog—I’ve been counting on their support.”

“If you tell me so, sire, I will tell them that I could not discover where he is.” She knew as she said it that she lied—she’d never lied to Kellen before. “If Jakoven holds Ward, Duraugh will support any party that opposes him.”

Kellen thought of it for a bit but shook his head. “You can’t cage an eagle for long without destroying it. Get Ward out. I’ll think about how to use this; it will give me something to do. Go ahead and see what you can do to get Ward out. I’ll tell Rosem to give you what aid we can.” He gave a nod of his head in dismissal and she bowed and finished mopping the floor while he lay back down on his bench and turned his back to her again.