Blinking my stinging eyes, I turned to find a young man with spectacles and thinning hair at my elbow. “Yes, I suppose I am.”

“Name’s Hollis. Very glad to meet you.” He jerked his head in a forceful nod, as if I’d said something he agreed with. “It’s good to have another influential Raverran backer. It gives me hope. If even Raverrans can be outraged at what the Empire has done to us, we have a chance to accomplish something.”

“Oh, I’m not …” I swallowed. “… not the only one in Raverra with sympathy for Ardence.” Admitting I didn’t back Ardence against the Serene City was perhaps not the most politic choice at the moment, especially to gain more information. And I wanted to know what he meant by another Raverran backer. “Who else have you met?”

“Of Raverrans who support our cause? You’re the first, actually.” He pushed his spectacles up, as if to examine me better. “I’ve heard Gabril talking about our Raverran ally, but I’ve never met them. You know how he is. ‘Our friend in the River Palace,’ ‘our patron in Raverra.’ He likes his mysteries.” He smiled, inviting me to share his affectionate disdain. “He even has nicknames for them. ‘The Owl,’ ‘the Fox,’ that sort of thing. The only one he’ll call by name is Prince Ruven.”

The patron in Raverra could well have been Baron Leodra, which didn’t bode well for Gabril’s innocence. The friend in the River Palace worried me; it sounded more like Duke Astor or someone in his circle than merely a member of the Council of Lords.

I forced a laugh. “How dramatic. Do you think the mystery is genuine, or is he trying to make his connections seem more important than they are?”

“Oh, they’re real. They’ve given us good information, and they’ve arranged to make sure there were no guards or soldiers in the area when we post our declarations and the like. And Prince Ruven has been quite generous financially to those of us in need of a loan.” Hollis shrugged. “Besides, Gabril is the duke’s cousin. Of course he has connections in the River Palace.”

I dropped my voice. “What about the incident with the Falconers?” Hopefully that was vague enough he could take it either as the kidnapping or the attack on poor Lemi. “Did his connections help with that?”

Hollis blinked in apparent confusion a moment, then frowned. “You mean the, ah, recent altercation? That was a surprise, wasn’t it?” He shook his head. “Gabril won’t disavow it or claim credit. I’ve pressed him on it, but he’s been rather evasive. Frankly, I’m worried some of our number may be escalating matters too far.”