“I haven’t investigated all the rooms,” Dorrin said. “Every one I found had multiple traps … there were chests in the bedrooms my uncle and his brother used.”

“But those, you said, were guarded by blood magery,” Seklis said. “My lords, it is very late, and Duke Verrakai knows of peril in this house. It is my recommendation that she wait until morning—full daylight—to transport those things to the palace, and do it herself, with her own escort. We are not taking them from her; she has offered them. And by then, perhaps, she will have found a suitable container, though the sack would do.”

Duke Mahieran chewed his lip. “Gird knows I don’t want to wake any evil here tonight, if a box that wants to bite my fingers is not already evil.”

“I think it is not, my lord Duke,” Dorrin said. “Opinionated, but not evil.”

“And I agree,” Seklis said. “I sensed no evil in those things. Though I am not a paladin, I am usually alert to evil.”

They left, then, with cordial farewells spoken outside in the street, where a few people still strolled past. “Do not worry,” the prince said, loud enough to be heard by anyone listening, “about the upkeep of the house while you are here. I will tell the Seneschal and he will speak to our banker. We will meet again tomorrow.”

Dorrin bowed. “You honor me, Lord Prince, and tomorrow I will be at your gates before midday.”

They rode off in a clatter of hooves. Dorrin dismissed her escort to the stable, all but Eddes, who came with her into the house and barred the door. With him, she checked the windows on the lower floors, the kitchen entrance, the gate to the stableyard. Then she gathered the rest of her escort together in the main hall. They yawned almost in chorus; her jaw ached with fighting back her own yawns.

“None of us will get much sleep tonight, but we can make it up tomorrow,” she said. She wished for a reliable junior captain or sergeant to share watches with, but what she had was what she had. “Jori, you’re the stableyard guard. That’s post one. There’s the gate, the windows in the stable itself, the stable roof. Here in the city, thieves might come any of those ways. Eddes, post two, front door. If someone sounding official demands entry, tell me, but do not open it. Inder, post three, scullery door, same rules.” If anyone came to the scullery door, it would mean Jori had failed his duty or been killed. She didn’t mention that. “Gani, post four, the cellar door. They should be spelled shut, but we take no chances. Perin, post five, upstairs between the main stairs down and the stairs to the third floor. Now: there’s a great glass in this house; your watch will last as long as the sand runs one way. Post one—that’s you, Eddes, this watch—will check the glass and turn it when it runs out and ring the bell. Every time the bell rings and the glass turns, you will move to the next numbered post, starting with Perin … Perin to post four, the cellar door, and when he comes, Gani, you to post three, and so on. Do not move until your replacement comes, and if he does not come, raise a shout. If there’s an alarm, do not cluster together like frightened chicks to a hen … wait for my orders. Clear?”