Karna grinned at the sight of his friend. Duryodhan had been his benefactor, friend, philosopher and guide; all one could have wished for in a Prince. Respect for him came with ease. People called him gruff and brittle, but he was a fair man, and to Karna that mattered most. ‘How long have I been out?’

‘Three nights.’

‘Three!’ Karna jerked up, realizing immediately it was the wrong call.

‘Aye, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.’

Karna sighed, unable to appreciate the humour in his state. ‘Where…where am I?’

‘You’re safe, though I daresay not very comfortable. Karna, I know you said you should not go on that ship, but I’m not sure I quite grasped the gravity of your meaning.’

‘What happened?’

‘I thought I would ask you that,’ Duryodhan responded wryly. ‘It appears your body was dehydrated before your adventures even began.’

‘Aye…I…’ Karna remembered Kala’s red hair between his legs, her heaving body on his, his grunting body on hers, sweat-laden, bite-ridden hours… He shook the image off. ‘I forgot to drink water.’

‘I was told you jumped off a ship on a mare, into a raging sea.’

‘Did I now?’ Karna smiled weakly.

‘And that you swam the beast for leagues to reach the shore, bitten by leeches and other creatures the healer doesn’t know the names of.’

‘Tough waters here.’

‘That you were then set upon by assassins, severely beaten, stabbed, poisoned, and nearly slain, as you ran through the streets wounded and exhausted.’

‘Sounds vaguely familiar.’

‘You have my sympathies. You simply collapsed, my friend. The body has a way of revoking permission to continue if you abuse it,’ Duryodhan said with a trace of smile. ‘As you are wont to do.’

‘You’re enjoying this, aren’t you, my Prince?’

‘It has its moments.’

‘I don’t suppose the people believe I am innocent of the murder of Prakar Mardin?’

‘Afraid not. But that is the least of their concerns. Seems that your ship was carrying a plague. Or so the dock guards claim. They burned it.’

‘Burned it? Plague! That’s impossible. I wouldn’t be…’

‘I know. There is something fishy here.’

Murder. Kala. It all came back in a sickening rush. ‘There was a wench, Prince,’ Karna attempted to sit up, without marked success. ‘She…she is the key to it all. She…’

‘He should rest, love,’ said a voice from the darkness. The sound of it singed his veins. A woman half-sauntered half-swayed boldly into the light. Karna’s eyes were drawn to the handsome stripes of red on her breeches, the gold lace lining the lapels of her jacket, criss-crossed by brass buckles. She wore knee-length boots, crafted from creamy soft leather, the broad tops clipped down with azure buttons embossed with brass swans. He would have recognized her full lips, high cheekbones and shadowy wind-chafed skin anywhere, though her long red hair was gone. She wore her black hair cut short, the ends resting softly on her neck. This was clearly a woman of high birth, not the cleaning woman who had seduced him.