“Yes,” said Perry, sounding regretful. “I’m afraid you did. What are you planning to do with these names? Are you hoping to sue them for dishonest business practices? You could, but it might be tricky. You would have to prove both that they knew the rock detritus contained zilfium and that they knew Queen Bitterblue didn’t know.”

Giddon considered Hava, who looked back at him with an uncertain expression. How much should they trust this man? “It surprised us,” he said carefully, “when our men drowned in the Brumal Sea. Mikka and Brek. Maybe you knew them?”

It was plain from Perry’s sudden bright eyes that he had. “They were my friends,” he said. “We foreigners get to know each other. In fact, we were together often. Mikka had an adventurous spirit; he’d talk Brek and me into overnight hikes, which I suffered through tolerably, I suppose. Then I would convince him to do something civilized, like try a new restaurant.”

“I’m sorry,” said Giddon.

“It has been a heartbreaking year for boat travel,” said Perry, touching his sleeve to his eyes. “But what do you mean? Surprised, how?”

“Was there anything unusual about the shipwreck?”

“Unusual?” said Perry. “The seas here aren’t like our seas at home. I understand ships often run into trouble. But”—and here he shifted in his seat, his confusion deepening—“do you mean foul play?”

For a moment, Giddon was silent. Perry touched his sleeve again to his eyes, anxious and unhappy. He wore gold rings on every finger, like every Lienid Giddon had ever known. Giddon had a vision suddenly of Bitterblue’s hands, glimmering with gold, on the floor of the Brumal Sea.

“Why would you think such a thing?” said Perry.

“Because Katu Cavenda apparently thought it,” said Giddon. “Do you know Katu?”

“I do. But Katu has gone traveling,” said Perry, a tone of protest in his voice, as if Katu’s absence could make the rest of it untrue.

“Do you know where he went?” said Giddon.

“Only rumors,” said Perry. “Kamassar, Borza.”

“We’re worried about Katu as well.”

“For what reason?” said Perry, in a voice of growing alarm. “Giddon, what are you saying? What’s going on?”

When Giddon glanced at Hava again, she shrugged, then said, “We may as well tell him. He’ll connect the dots himself even if we don’t.” She turned to Perry. “We think someone drowned Mikka and Brek,” she said. “Because they’d found out that Monsea had zilfium and that people were cheating Bitterblue out of it. We think they were silenced so the queen would never know.”

“Oh, no,” said Perry, straightening in his chair, speaking with certainty. “They would never have been killed for that.”

“We had word that before they died, there was something they wanted to tell Bitterblue about zilfium,” said Hava.