Hunting Page 17

  The Rhoi had moved on, and another stood before Kiri. And she smiled. Only a slight shift of expression, but with a genuine warmth that made her transcendent. If the attention of the garden had not already been fixed upon her, now it was entirely riveted as Thornaster, the shining wings of his hair gleaming in the sunlight, bowed over her hand. Together they were magnificent.

  Years of daily comparisons to Kiri had long ago prepared Ash for a moment such as this. While they'd been neighbours it hadn't bothered her at all, because Ash liked climbing and horses, and did not care that her braids were inadequate rat-tails, her skin sallow, her figure sturdy. Only in the last year of their friendship had Ash begun to recognise that there might be a day when Kiri's beauty would cost Ash dearly, and back then she had thought she could philosophically accept inevitable defeat.

  Today that comparison brought to her the discovery that Thornaster mattered. Mattered completely, so much more than Ash could ever have imagined. Inevitable defeat became a bitter dose to swallow. Caught in a trap built by lies, she looked down, seeking the very techniques Kiri had once tried to teach her, to relax knotted muscles, to smooth the betrayals of the heart from her face.

  The fact that Thornaster looked at Kiri with open admiration cost Ash Lenthard nothing. That Kiri broke her own rules to smile back at the Aremish Visel would only be useful ammunition for a gutter seruilis keen to tease his so-called master. Ash put pained discovery away behind a wall, and then eased her breath out, remembering that she was Ash Cat, and what mattered to her was finding Genevieve's killer.

  Straightening, she found Thornaster was glancing around, and, catching her eye, he gestured her closer.

  "There you are," the Visel said as Ash obediently presented herself. "Your exploits have become famous, stripling. Sera Arpesial has been cultivating me merely to gain an introduction to you."

  For a moment Ash thought Thornaster spoke truer words than he realised, but then Kiri's lips parted, just a fraction, and her grey eyes widened.

  "Sera Arpesial," Ash said, bowing hastily. When she lifted her head, all evidence of surprise was gone and Kiri nodded at her with bland courtesy.

  "I have been hearing reports of your valour from all sides," Kiri said, her voice a note deeper than Ash remembered. "You are fortunate in your friends, Ser Veirhoi."

  "I know that, Sera," Heran replied, halting by Ash's elbow.

  "Perhaps, if you permit, Ser Visel, your seruilis could take me about the further reaches of the garden? The chatter here is a little overwhelming."

  "Of course, Sera." Thornaster shifted so Kiri could transfer her hand from his arm to Ash's.

  How should Ash Lenthard, gutter seruilis, react to this? With a delighted grin, and a hint of a strut? No, with an echo of Carlyon's extreme correctness, supplemented by the focused care of someone carrying an overloaded tray: afraid of the slightest misstep.

  Kiri said vague and appropriate things until they finally reached a deserted pathway, then she fell silent, her step quickening as she led them to a small sunken garden, a secluded little nook. Here she stopped, spun Ash to face her, and raised a wondering hand.

  "It is you! Oh, Daere, I knew you weren't dead!"

  Pulled into sudden embrace, Ash's mixed emotions were swept aside by fond memory. "I should hope so," she said. "Given I've been tying ribbons all over this city every year so you'd know I was still around."

  "I'm so glad you did. That first night, with the fire, I thought – thought – Luin's Heart, Daere, what happened?"

  "Ash," Ash said, firmly. "Daere is dead, Kiri. I'm Ash. You must remember not to call me anything but Ash. Never Daere."

  Kiri searched her face, then nodded, and drew Ash down on the small stone bench that served as the focal point of the garden. "Very well then. Ash Lenthard. Tell me what happened, in detail: everything. Right now."

  Ash smiled, because Kiri had not changed in the slightest. But the answer was not easy to tell.

  "You remember the day we went to the Gods' Hall?"

  "I'm not likely to forget. The only time I saw That Man."

  "After that – well, we were never a wealthy family, and of a sudden there was a run of delays, thievery, breakages. Minor things, but all at once, until they added up to loans, and defaults, and Mother and Father shouting at each other behind closed doors. They were going to have to give up a lot of land. And then both of them one day wouldn't look me in the eye. Told me we had a guest for dinner, and to make sure I didn't go out.

  "Mother...Mother had never quite forgiven me for being a girl. And, if I had to be a girl, for not being you. She knew what Eward Carlyon was, had heard those rumours about his second wife's death, but I'd swear she genuinely thought I should in some part be pleased that Eward Carlyon had bought up all their debts and offered to exchange them for me. One of the richest Decsels in Montmoth, after all! And if I didn't go through with it, they would lose too much land to still qualify for a Viselry, would just be common smallholders."

  "My parents guessed some part of that. But I could hardly believe you'd go through with it."

  "I didn't." Ash shook her head in remembered disgust. "I told them in no uncertain term what they could do with the Viselry. And tried to leave. But Carlyon had brought two servants with him, men he owned body and soul, and... It must have looked ridiculous, that ceremony. Carlyon holding my hand, and his two men holding the rest of me, like a rolled-up carpet that kicked and writhed. I shouted 'no' whenever I was supposed to say 'yes', and swore and tried to bite them as my father bound my hand to Carlyon's..."

  She stopped, and let Kiri hold her, just for two deep breaths, then pushed it all away and managed a self-deprecating shrug. "I dream about that a lot. Fighting to get free. The whole of that farce. They were going to call that a marriage, and the problem was that Astenar didn't reject it. The marriage cord didn't turn black, despite the bond being made in the Sun's name. I–" Ash paused. "I wonder if that might be related to some of the things happening now? Father only invoked 'the Sun'. I've been resenting Astenar for years, because the truly wrong marriages are supposed to be rejected. I just assumed that Astenar wasn't paying attention, but maybe it was more complicated than that."

  "What do you mean?"

  "The recent deaths in Luinhall: there's a chance they're related to the old Sun. I've been thinking of this as a problem which only rose in the last year, but–"

  Ash tried to run through the implications of Eward Carlyon having some involvement with Karaelsur, but now was not the time to go into it.

  "Anyway," she said, focusing. "Carlyon and my father had papers to sign, so my mother had his men lock me in my room, which had the advantage of bars on the windows. I definitely regretted all the night excursions that led my parents to put them up, but I still had the chimney, and wasted no time hauling myself up to the old nursery. Thankfully the kitchen was on a separate stack. After that it was short work to climb down through the pantry window, sneak a leg of pork, and make a pyre for it out of my bed. I waited the fuss out on the roof – worried spitless that even a stone house might burn down if no one caught the fire in time. When it was quiet, I walked to the Commons and became Ash Lenthard."

  "But why didn't you come to me?" No reproach, but a shadow of old pain in Kiri's even voice. "You must have known my family would shelter you."

  "Would they? Your parents adore you, but they never really approved of me. And I was his wife, Kiri. So young that there'd be questions and scandal, yes, but with parental consent, no objection from Astenar, and witnesses who'd swear I'd agreed. Bought and paid for."

  "I could have hidden you in my room."

  "They would have found me within the day, especially when they discovered no human body in that bed. Father would have immediately thought of you and come looking."

  "But they didn't realise! No one searched. I went to your funeral, Dae– Ash."

  Ash shrugged. "Maybe it was for the sake of appearances. One leg of pork couldn't possibly be mistaken for a gi
rl of nearly thirteen, so staying anywhere near was too much risk. And...to be honest, I wouldn't have come back even if I thought it safe. I wanted things people kept telling me I shouldn't be interested in." She reached for her friend's hands, and examined their manicured softness, her own blunt and rough by contrast. "I'm sorry I left you behind, Kiri."

  "I'm not." Kiri laced her fingers through Ash's, and gave her the full force of her smile. "You were happy, and you made sure I knew you were alive. Though if we should part in future, I demand letters, not ribbons."

  "It's a promise."

  "Lenthard!"

  Carlyon. Ash jerked around in dismay, then gasped and hastily dropped Kiri's hands, bolting to her feet. At least ten people were crowded in the entrance to their hideaway, a group featuring the Rhoi, Heran, Thornaster and Carlyon. The first seruilis was the only one who wasn't gaping in disbelief and that because he was too busy frowning.

  "Yes, Ser?" Ash said, after a moment.

  "You are–!" Carlyon began, but Kiri interrupted, effortlessly resuming all her cool and gracious poise as she rose.

  "A wonderful storyteller," she said, firmly. "Ash has been telling me some tales of Jacian I had not heard before. I must compliment you on him, Visel Thornaster. He has a great skill with words."

  Thornaster, for once without a ready response, did not recover until Kiri reached the entryway. It was patently obvious that no one believed her explanation, though they were clearly having considerable difficulty with the alternative. Heran's expression was the best – he was staring from Ash to Kiri and back again with something akin to awe.

  Ash watched in silence as Kiri took Thornaster's arm and walked away, trailed by an incredulous crowd. Heran and Carlyon remained but Carlyon only said, "I will speak of this to you later, Lenthard," before leaving. Ash, lips twitching, cocked an eyebrow at the Veirhoi.

  "How?" Heran breathed.

  "I really was just telling her stories."

  "I don't believe you. You don't have to hold hands to tell stories. And the way she was looking at you!"

  "Mmm, yes. I get the feeling I'm about to develop a reputation for more than saving your life. This could be tiresome."

  "Tiresome? Tiresome?! You have Kiri Arpesial looking at you like that and you call it tiresome?!"

  "Definitely," Ash said, and amused herself by not giving Heran another word on the subject.

  Thornaster was a different matter. The Visel maintained a decidedly solemn expression for what little remained of the garden party, and didn't speak as they walked back to his apartment. Still raw from the discovery of unexpected feeling, Ash could not find the funny side of this. Surely he couldn't be genuinely annoyed by whatever he thought he'd seen? Was his admiration for Kiri that deep-seated?

  As Ash closed the main door behind her, Thornaster strode to one of the study windows and stood looking out. Ash stared at his back, unsure whether to shrug and head to her room, or to try to reassure him she was no rival.

  Then she caught the faint quiver of his shoulders.

  "Are – are you laughing?"

  Thornaster turned around, sat unsteadily on the corner of his desk, and let his silent amusement overtake him, covering his face with one hand and laughing in painful-looking spasms until what sounded suspiciously like a hiccup interrupted him. Dropping his hand, he took several gasping breaths.

  "Stripling," he managed at last, "the look on your face! Oh, and you put your hands behind your back! Like a child caught stealing sweets." He began to laugh again, until another hiccup brought him up short.

  Ash shook her head in amazement. "I thought you were annoyed."

  "Annoyed? When you so handily accomplished what I had been trying to do all afternoon?"

  This was beyond comprehension. At least, it was until Ash started thinking again. "Oh," she said. "The Rhoi."

  "The Rhoi," Thornaster repeated, inclining his head.

  "The only man there who wasn't making up to her. You were trying to make him jealous."

  "Well, at least make him react. Please, you incredible youth, tell me how you accomplished what I had begun to believe impossible? Does Sera Arpesial perhaps have a weakness for heroics?"

  "Don't you like her?" Ash asked, heading down the path more interesting to her. "How could you not like her?"

  Thornaster's brows lifted. "Ah, have you lost your heart then, lad?" he asked kindly. "I mean no insult to the Sera. Indeed, I find her quite breathtaking, and extremely perceptive. It's merely that I marked early on that there was something between her and Arun. He behaved nothing like himself, every time he encountered her, while she never met his eyes."

  "I thought you said Rhoi Arun had been romancing your Rhoi's daughter."

  "Ye-es. I don't pretend to know what's going on. And should probably not meddle." He swallowed another hiccup, and then looked her up and down. "However, no matter your heroics, I find it very hard to credit the idea that Sera Arpesial would conduct a liaison with you, stripling. What promise were you talking of?"

  "How much did you all hear?"

  "Just that."

  "Good. Obviously I was simply promising to tell Kiri more about my adventures." Ash shrugged. "Truth is I knew her when she was little, but don't go telling people that. How many did you get today for your meet-all-the-Luinsel project?"

  He started to say something, hiccupped again, and tched. "Pest. I haven't done this to myself for years. Where's the list?"

  Heading into his bedroom, she extracted a thin roll of papers concealed in his gear, and watched as he marked off another dozen names.

  "What do we do if you meet every Luinsel in Montmoth and still can't find someone with this taint?"

  "Then I'll visit every piece of unbound land in the city. And the law about smallholdings may pressure whoever is behind this into a response, so hold yourself alert for developments." He hiccupped, gave her a Look, and then sighed. "Not that I'm happy to be making such poor progress. Go entertain yourself, stripling, while I stand on my head or something to get this to stop."

  "Watching that would be entertainment," Ash said, but left him to it.

  Thornaster never mentioned Hawkmarten when considering plans of action. He was leaving that investigation strictly to Verel, and the trigle games continued as usual. If Hawkmarten had noticed any faint thread of constraint, he gave no sign.

  Lying down on her bed, Ash tried to think of a positive plan of action. She would wait a few days, then find a way to talk to Kiri uninterrupted. Both to recruit a useful ally in her hunt, and to ask about the Rhoi. To offer help, if it was wanted, though at this stage it was difficult to tell if that would be for reconciliation or a proper scorning of the unfaithful.

  Grimacing, Ash put aside the question of Kiri's heart, and closed her eyes to better contemplate a man who called himself Rion Thornaster. A descendent of Astenar and Luin, able to sense magic and heat things with a glance. And laugh himself into hiccups. 'Cousin' to the Rhoi of Aremal.

  Tentatively she began to turn over plans and schemes to convince this man that she was the only one for him. As an exercise it was highly amusing, but for now her hunt for Genevieve's killer took precedence.

  Besides, she was not quite certain she was brave enough to try.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Crisp and upright, her boots polished, her hair brushed to an orderly gloss, Ash stood against a wall, gazing at another wall. Carlyon was on her right with Heran beyond him, while Marriston was on her left: four of a long row of seruilisi uselessly standing about. In front of her was Thornaster, sitting at the Rhoi's left hand at the Rhoi's Banquet.

  Seruilisi at these occasions did much the same thing as she, Lauren and Heran did during the trigle games: very little. There were real servants to fill glasses and carry the food. Occasionally a seruilis was sent off to fetch something from their master's rooms, but otherwise they stood there lending their Luinsel prestige, and proving that they were able to act like seruilisi should. Ash thought it immensely tediou
s.

  Thornaster hadn't required Ash to stand attendance on meals before, so she couldn't be sure how many courses were usual, and whether there were always acrobats. How cruel to have acrobats, but expect her to pretend she wasn't watching them. Every time she leaned to better see through the gap left by the empty seat in front of Marriston, Lauren Carlyon's disapproval became almost tangible. She was already in his bad books for failing to behave with proper restraint at the garden party.

  This was an informal banquet, which meant the Rhoi could seat his friends on either side of him. Lauren Carlyon's older brother, Eman, was on Hawkmarten's right. Ash tried not to look at him too often, because at fifty-odd years and greying, he resembled his father more distinctly than Lauren. Especially in the firm, almost harsh set of his mouth. There were rumours that Eman took after his father in more than looks, but then there were rumours that Lauren had shot the Veirhoi.

  To her left Marriston shuffled in place, and Ash almost felt sorry for him, standing behind an empty chair. He had been sent ahead of his master, Decsel Enderhay, and half the meal had already gone by. Enderhay was said to be strongly opposed to the smallholdings law, and his absence began to amount to a deliberate insult to the Rhoi. There were other empty seats, even on the horseshoe of the high table, and Ash had noticed more than one less than friendly glance thrown in Thornaster's direction.

  Would the poison, if and when it came, be for her Aremish Visel?

  Since she could not think of any food-related precautions more effective than those the Rhoi's Guard had already put in place, Ash instead took advantage of a pause between performances to scan for Kiri among the throng. A mere Visel's daughter would be seated among the rows of tables on the far side of the room. Ash tried to see without obviously craning her head.