:You’ll never pull it off: Kantor said critically as he stowed these last purchases away, hanging them up, rather than putting them in the chest, as even with all of the old guises taken out and left with a note to get rid of them, there was no more room in that chest. :You’d need a wig. And how would you hide that face of yours?:

:I’ve seen plenty of ugly women in this city,: he objected.

:I’m sure you have, but none that looked as if they’d been through a fire, then fought in a dozen taverns and a war,: Kantor argued. :And you don’t act like a woman; you don’t know how to act like a woman. If you need to find out something only a woman can, then get a woman to do it. Myste would probably fit those skirts.:

:But—: he started to argue—then stopped. Myste would fit those skirts. And she was a native of Haven. And she’d come into the Heraldic Circle as an adult, which meant that she was used to being a civilian, acting like a civilian, and she had all the knowledge that an ordinary citizen of Haven had. He wouldn’t want to take her down into the area around Exile’s Gate, but—

:But she’d go if you asked her to. Think about it anyway. There’s Herald Keren, too. She’d go, and she’d fit in anywhere that was rough, including around Exile’s Gate. Good gods, some of the clientele of those fishers’ taverns in the ports of Evendim would frighten the whey out of the loungers in the Broken Arms!: Kantor sounded very sure of himself, but Alberich saw no reason to doubt that he was right. Keren was a tear-away of the first order, and back in the day, if the Sunsguard had permitted women to take up arms, he’d have had no objection to her in his cavalry unit. She made a fearless bodyguard for Selenay.

:I’d have to find a way to persuade Ylsa to stay away, though. The two of them together would be a dead giveaway to anyone who knows anything about the Heralds.:

:Pointing that out ought to be enough to persuade Ylsa,: Kantor replied with a hint of humor. :Wild they might be, stupid, they aren’t.:

Well. Two excellent ideas in one morning, one from his own mind, and one from Kantor!

:And didn’t I tell you, back when we first came here, that you and I were a good match?: Kantor asked smugly.

:So you did. And you were correct. So very correct that I don’t even mind hearing you say ‘I told you so.’ :

Kantor’s only reply was a sort of mental snicker.