“Mosca Mye.” As soon as the words were out of Mosca’s mouth she remembered that she was a fugitive from justice. But how could she refuse to answer this snow queen? Giving a false name was unthinkable. Nobody ever lied about their name. Names were what you were. “And . . . you’re Lady Tamarind. The sister of the Duke. The Duke of Mandelion.”

“I am. What would you say if I told you that even the sister of the Duke has powerful enemies? Dangerous enemies.”

Mosca remembered the conversation in the Halberd.

“Locksmiths!” she breathed excitedly. Lady Tamarind’s fingertip paused in its stroking of the stoat’s forehead. Mosca hurried on, “Heard the bargemen talking at the Halberd. Yestereve, when they thought I was drowsed. ’Bout how the Locksmiths wanted to take over Mandelion . . . like they did Scurrey . . . but how you’d never let ’em. Who are the Locksmiths?”

“Probably the most feared guild in the Realm,” said Lady Tamarind, after a hesitation. “Once they only made locks and strongboxes, but all the guilds have grown stronger and more powerful since the days when there was a king. Tell me, child, have you ever heard of the Thief Takers?”

“Yeah.” The Thief Takers had been mentioned in many of the Hangman’s Histories. “They’re the ones what you call in to catch thieves when the constables can’t find ’em, aren’t they?”

“That is only a part of the truth. Listen well, girl. The Thief Takers are no better than the villains they seize. All Thief Takers answer to the Locksmiths, and their real task is to make sure that there are no criminals at large . . . except those that work for the Locksmiths themselves. The Locksmiths run the criminal underworld in four major cities, and are a rising force in the others. Do you understand now why I say I have dangerous enemies?”

Mosca’s jaw fell open.

“If you are to work for me, you must speak of it to nobody, and we can never be seen together.”

Mosca nodded.

“Good. The Locksmiths are on the rise, and if I cannot stop them, Mandelion will be theirs. I must know if others mean to act against the Locksmiths. The Stationers, in particular.” Tamarind leaned forward and dropped her whisper, so that it was scarcely more than a tingle on the eardrum. “I cannot be seen to be plotting, but I must know their plans.”

“You want me to spy on the Stationers?” Mosca sanded her lips with a dry tongue tip.