Finally he reached the docks on the Ragmarket side, slid underneath, and waded through the shallows to where the dock met the shore. There he huddled between the pilings, shaking, teeth chattering.

The noise of the search faded as the Guard spread its net wider and wider. Until finally Han couldn’t hear it at all. Still, he waited for dark before he slipped out from under the dock and waded to shore.

C H A P T E R  N I N E

EYES AND EARS

The day after the fire on the mountain, Raisa spent all morning with her language tutor, trying to wrap her tongue around soft southern vowels. Tamric was a sloppy language, given to imprecision and double meanings. Made for politics. Raisa much preferred the hard focus of Valespeech, or the subtle nuances of the clan tongue.

As they were finishing, the queen’s messenger brought a request that Raisa join her mother for midday in her suite. This was unusual enough that Raisa wondered what kind of trouble she was in.

When the privy chamberlain ushered Raisa into her mother’s rooms, she found a table set for two. Her mother was seated by the fire, her pale hair loose, a glittering silk shawl draped around her shoulders. The queen always seemed to be cold. She suffered like a delicate flatland flower transplanted into an inhospitable climate. By contrast, Raisa felt like a tough alpine lichen, dark and stubborn and low to the ground.

Raisa bobbed a curtsy, looking around as she did so. “Mama? Is it just us?”

Marianna patted the seat beside her. “Yes, sweetheart, it seems as though we’ve scarcely had a chance to talk since you returned from Demonai.”

Praise the Maker, Raisa thought. Lately it seemed she never had the chance to be alone with her mother. Lord Bayar was always around. This was her chance to speak to the queen about the issue of the mercenaries. Maybe she could even persuade her mother to intervene and order Captain Byrne to assign Amon to Raisa’s personal guard.

Raisa sat down next to her mother, and Marianna poured tea from a thick jug on the table.

“Are you quite all right after that dreadful scare up on Hanalea?” the queen asked. “I had trouble sleeping last night. Shall I ask Lord Vega to come attend you?” Harriman Vega was the court physician.

“I’m fine, Mother,” Raisa said. “A few bumps and bruises is all.”

“Thanks to the Bayars,” Marianna said. “We are so fortunate in our High Wizard, and young Micah seems to have inherited Lord Bayar’s talent, don’t you think? And his good looks,” she added, laughing girlishly.

“They are impressive, those Bayars.” Raisa took a long sip of tea, recalling her encounter with Micah in the corridor, and wondering when and whether to bring it up.