It was unmannerly, but I did it anyway. I enfolded her in my arms and held her tightly for a moment. “He loved you so,” I said, and my voice choked on the words I spoke for my lost king.

She rested her forehead on my shoulder. “I know that,” she said quietly. “That love sustains me still. Sometimes I think I can almost feel him still, at my shoulder, offering counsel when times are difficult. May Nighteyes be with you as Verity is with me.”

I held Verity’s woman for a long moment. Things could have been so different. Yet her wish was a good wish, and healing. I released her with a sigh, and the Queen and the serving man parted to their daily tasks.

Chapter VI

OBLITERATION

. . . and it is almost certain that the Chalcedeans could have defeated the Bingtown Traders and claimed their territory for their own if only they could have maintained a solid blockade of Bingtown Bay.

Two magics hampered them in this regard, and magic it most certainly was, despite any who would dispute it, for the Bingtown Traders are merchants and not fighters, as all know. The first magic was that the Bingtown Traders possess Liveships, trading vessels that, by some arcane practice involving the sacrifice of three children or elderly family members, are brought to sentient life. Not only can the figureheads of these vessels move and speak, but also they are possessed of prodigious strength, enabling them to crush lesser vessels if once they grip them. Some of them are able to spit fire for a distance equal to three of their vessel’s lengths.

The second magic is as likely to be disputed by the ignorant as the first, but as this traveler witnessed it, I defy those who call this a lie. A dragon, cunningly crafted of blue and silver gemstones and activated by a marvelous combination of magic and . . . [passage obscured by damage to parchment] was hastily created by the Bingtown artisans for the defense of their harbor. This creature, named Tinnitgliat by her creators, rose from the smoking wreckage that the Chalcedeans had made of the Bingtown warehouse district and drove the enemy vessels from the harbor.

— WINFRODA’S “ MY ADVENTURES AS A WORLD TRAVELER”

I threaded my way back through the maze of corridors and emerged once more into my cell. I paused to peer into the darkness before entering it. Once within, I secured the secret door behind me. I then paused, standing perfectly still in the darkness. Through the closed door that led to the Fool’s apartment, voices reached me.

“Well, as I’ve no idea when he rose and left, nor why, I’ve no idea when he will return. It seemed such a charming concept at first, to have a strong and able man-at-arms, capable of not only defending me from street ruffians but also serving as my valet and seeing to my other needs as well. But he has proven most unreliable at daily tasks. Look at this! I’ve had to snatch a passing page from the corridor and have him tell a kitchen boy to bring up my breakfast. And it isn’t what I would have chosen at all! I’m tempted to let Badgerlock go entirely, except that with my ankle as it is, it is no time for me to be without a sturdy servant. Well. Perhaps I shall have to accept his limitations and acquire a page or two to see to my daily tasks. Look at the layer of dust on that mantel! Shameful. I can scarcely invite visitors to my chambers with them looking like this. It is almost fortunate that the pain in my ankle makes me tend toward solitary occupations just now.”

I froze where I was. I longed to know to whom he was speaking and why that person sought me, but I could scarcely make an entrance if Lord Golden had already insisted I was not here.

“Very well. May I leave a message for your man then, Lord Golden?”

The voice was Laurel’s and the irritation level in it was unmasked. She had seen too much of us when she had accompanied us on our journey to be deceived by our charade. She would never again believe us to be merely master and man. We had bungled our roles too often. Yet I also understood why Lord Golden insisted on resuming the masquerade. To do otherwise would have eventually completely unraveled our deception of the court.

“Certainly. Or you would be welcome to return this evening, if you wish to take the chance that he may have recalled his duties and wandered home.”

If he had intended that to mollify her, it failed. “A message will suffice, I am sure. In passing through the stable, I noticed something about his horse that made me concerned for her. If he will meet me there at noon today, I will point it out to him.”

“And if he does not return by noon . . . by Sa, how I detest this! That I should have to act as a secretary to my own serving man!”

“Lord Golden.” Her quiet voice cut through his dramatics. “My concern is a grave one. See that he meets me then, or arranges to speak to me about my concern. Good day.”