“I am here to present you with a choice,” Rezkin said. “By all accounts, you are a good man, Ruald—nothing like your father. Once your father is dead, you may, in good faith, approach Marquis DeWinter with that letter and provide him closure for his daughter’s disappearance. You may offer reparations for your father’s actions on your family’s behalf, and hopefully, such forthright actions will enable you to uphold the honor of your house. Or … you may burn that letter, and the secret of Lilly’s death will stay between you, me, the captain of your house guard, and anyone else he may have told. Assuming all parties keep their peace, your family’s honor will still be preserved. This does not guarantee that someone will not blackmail you.”

“And you? You are here as some deliverer of justice? Would you not kill me, as well, for trying to keep such a secret?” Ruald inquired, not even sure why he would ask such a thing. Of course he had to tell Lilly’s family, but he had to know what this strange intruder intended.

“Do not mistake me. In this matter, I am no deliverer of justice. Your father made the mistake of threatening me, and I cannot allow such a threat to exist. You have heard something about the thieves’ guild wars?” Rezkin asked.

Taken aback by the sudden non sequitur, his mouth worked silently for a second, his brain trying to catch up through his roiling emotions. He was almost angry with the man for changing the subject. “What? Yes, I suppose so.” The young lord suddenly reached up and pulled at his hair in frustration. “That is what my father wanted of me tonight! He wanted me to go into the Dead District and purchase a whore! As if I would do such a thing! He thought I could get information out of her about the Raven—the fellow who has been taking over the thieves’ guilds and lining the banks of the Straei with bodies.”

“I am actually surprised he would choose you for such an endeavor,” Rezkin remarked.

Ruald took a large gulp of the dark liquid and grimaced. “He said I need to learn how to lead a house, and that means leading its dark side as well as the light. He wants me to be like him. But, I didn’t know …” he said as his words trailed off, and he stared blankly at the letter in his grip.

Without looking up, he said in an empty voice, “You are he, are you not? The Raven?”

Rezkin inclined his head in the affirmative and said, “I am.”