The panicked marquis entrusted his loyal cousin, Urek, to take care of the body, along with a few guards who conveniently disappeared not long after. The ever-ambitious Urek took advantage of the opportunity to bury the body in a secret location clad in the nightgown she had worn when she disappeared, along with the marquis’s dagger. With the abundance of evidence preserved in the grave, any mage worth his talent would be able to point a finger at the marquis.

Such was Urek’s hold over his illustrious cousin. A common maid might have been overlooked, but the daughter of another marquis would be a major scandal with deadly consequences. The former guildmaster was not as clever as he thought, however, and one of the northern fortress’s strikers discovered the marquis’s secret. Rezkin knew the location of the body.

Finally slipping over the estate wall and across the small, private courtyard, Rezkin hid himself behind a decorative topiary that flanked a waist-high sectional wall. He had a perfect view of the servants’ entrance where the wagon containing Urek’s body would be dropped. Since it was close to noon, his shadow fell beneath him and the young warrior was careful to ensure he was downwind of the entrance since the marquis was known to keep his hunting dogs with him most of the time. The man seemed to have an obsession with the animals, even going so far as to invite them to share his bed. Rezkin pondered the possibility that it was a ploy to keep his wife from the bed so he could enjoy his extramarital pleasures. The marchioness kept to her own chambers, but that might have been due to her understandable hatred of her husband.

About a quarter of a mark later, a bell chimed from the back gate. A liveried servant came scurrying out the back door from the kitchen. The servant pulled the gate open slightly and engaged in a brief conversation with whoever stood on the other side. A few moments later, the servant drew the gate wide and then turned and ran quickly into the house. An average sized man hidden deep within his cowl drove the cart into the courtyard. He leapt from the driver’s seat and ran from the courtyard, disappearing back into the anonymity of the city beyond.

Shouts and a thundering crash could be heard through the open windows somewhere above. A moment later, two dogs streamed from the back entrance and ran straight for the corpse-laden cart. The marquis followed not far behind with several of his retainers hurrying after him adorned with panic-stricken faces.