As soon as the door was closed, he leaned against it with a hiss of pain. He wasn’t quite sure why he’d sent Dorin away like that except for the underlying dislike he had for the man. He took a deep breath, knowing that if he didn’t get to the bed now, he was going to be sleeping on the floor. He set a course and unbuckled his belts as he went, letting them fall behind him. Kicking off his boots was agony but he managed it, then lay back on the bed with a sigh of relief.

“May I come in?” asked Kordira through the door.

“Yes,” Seregil rasped.

Vhadä opened the door for her, and she came in with two mugs of tea. “I thought you could use this,” she said, taking the chair by the bed and passing him a mug. “And no poison, I promise,” she added with a wry smile.

“Isn’t that what a poisoner would say?” asked Seregil. The tea was just what he did need and he sipped it gratefully. “Do you think Zella is telling the truth?”

“Why in the world would she lie?”

“That’s what I’m wondering.”

“I don’t think she’s clear enough in her mind to lie. May I check your dressings?”

“Later, thank you.”

A knock came at the door and a young ’faie man with dark, short-cropped hair stepped in. “You sent for me, my lord?”

Seregil let the title pass. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

“I arrived after you and Baron Alec left for Menosi, my lord. My name’s Syrel. You took in my brother, Anri the weaver.”

“Ah yes. So, tell me about finding Zella.”

“I was riding to Deep Harbor to fetch some friends of mine back to Mirror Moon. I was coming down off the bridge when I noticed her lying on the riverbank below.”

“She was on the far side of the bridge?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Go on.”

“I went down to her and found she was alive. I got her up on my horse and brought her back, then Steward Dorin sent me for the doctor.”

“Did Zella say anything when you found her?”

“No, not a word. She was unconscious.”

“And what was her appearance? Was she bloody? Were her clothes torn?”

“She had bruises on her face, and she was muddy from where she lay in the mud and reeds, but that’s all. Oh, and she was missing a shoe.”

“Has that been found?”

Syrel looked surprised. “No one thought to look, I guess.”

“Did anyone look for signs of what had happened?”

Syrel shook his head.

Seregil suppressed a growl of annoyance. Two days lost for tracking. He’d be lucky to find any useful signs. “Thank you. You may go.” He managed a smile. “Oh, and welcome to Mirror Moon.”