“It’s hard to explain. Look, there are certain people that the family never, ever crosses. Not under any circumstances, or for any reason. Most of them are people who are connected with the family in one way or another.”
That made sense; an honorable thief wouldn’t rob his kin, even distantly connected kin. Eleret nodded.
“There are one or two people who’ve done favors for someone in the family at one time or another, and a few we don’t bother out of professional courtesy. And there are some families we don’t bother with because of things that go back centuries. The Kyel-Semruds, for instance.” He shook his head admiringly. “I think we wouldn’t bother them even if it weren’t for the tradition. They’re the trickiest bunch I’ve ever heard of. Outside of us, I mean.”
Eleret frowned. “I thought the Kyel-Semruds were Kith Alunel noblemen.”
“Those are the ones. You wouldn’t believe some of the things they’ve done.” Karvonen smiled reminiscently at the corner of the ceiling, then glanced at Eleret and cleared his throat. “Yes. Well. Cilhar are the only people who are on the list as a group—not one family at a time, but the whole blasted country at once. The ban on stealing from them goes back almost as far as the one on the Kyel-Semruds; they both date from before the Wars of Binding, anyway. And there’s an aid-in-distress clause. So you see my difficulty. When Grandfather finds out I bungled a snag on a wizard, he might be willing to pass it off as stupidity. But when he finds out I put the twist on a wizard with a Cilhar bodyguard—”
“You’ve got it backwards again,” Eleret said absently. She found Karvonen’s explanation almost as disturbing as the information he had given her about Gorchastrin. “Daner was supposed to be guarding me.”
“What?” Karvonen’s face went completely blank. “Why would a Cilhar need a bodyguard?”
“Wizards.” Eleret tapped her fingers absently against the hilt of her dagger, thinking of Jonystra. “I don’t suppose—”
A knock at the door interrupted her, and as she broke off, Karvonen stood up in an economical movement. “Beg pardon, Freelady,” he said in a voice just above a whisper, “but as I said earlier, I’d rather not be seen. Though I’m sure the residents are charming people.” Bowing, he stepped back into the shadows, and a moment later Eleret had to squint to see him, even though she knew exactly where he was.
The knock came again. “Eleret?” said Daner’s muffled voice. “Wake up; I want to talk to you.”
SEVENTEEN
ELERET GLANCED ONCE MORE at the dark corner where Karvonen stood, all but invisible, then put a hand to the door. “What have you found out?” she asked, swinging it partway open. “Has Mobrellan turned up?”
“Mobrellan?” Daner’s eyebrows flew up in surprise; then he smiled. “Oh, yes, the Luck-seer’s porter. He’s long gone. We think he had help from one of the servants.” He pushed the door wide and stepped past Eleret, then paced over to the window and looked out, his shoulders stiff with tension.
Quietly, Eleret eased away from the door, to a spot from which she could watch both Daner and Karvonen’s shadowy corner without being obvious about it. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to protect Karvonen from Daner or Daner from Karvonen, but she hoped suddenly and profoundly that she would not have to do either. If Karvonen had told her the truth—and, apart from an ingrained distrust of thieves, she had no real reason to think he hadn’t—he had done her a service of considerable proportions. Whatever his motives, she owed it to him to respect his wish to avoid discovery. Her debt did not extend, however, to letting him pitch a knife into Daner’s back. She raised her left hand to the quick-throw position and held it there, hoping Karvonen had enough knowledge of Cilhar customs to recognize the gesture.
Daner hadn’t moved or spoken. “Well, what is it?” Eleret said at last.
“The Luck-seer’s talking.”
“Already? That healer of yours must be very good.”
“Of course she’s good,” Daner said impatiently. “She works for the Vallaniri.” He turned, frowning into the middle distance. “I wish we knew as much about that wretched Luck-seer.”
“Daner, you’re not making any sense. What’s happened?”
“I told you, the Luck-seer’s been talking. Not much, of course, not with injuries like hers, but enough so we could figure out what she was after.”
“Which was?” With an effort of will, she kept herself from looking directly at Karvonen’s corner, but the knowledge of his presence was a continuing distraction.
“You.”
Eleret made an irritated noise. “We already knew that. Either stop being mysterious and let out what you know, or go away so I can get some sleep. Your father was right; it’s been a long day.”
“I’m sorry,” Daner said at once, but the smile that accompanied the words looked a little stiff at the corners. “I wasn’t thinking. Of course you’re tired, after all that’s happened.” He moved away from the window as he spoke.
“So tell me what Jonystra said.” Eleret shifted, drawing Daner’s eyes toward her and away from Karvonen’s corner.
As long as Daner was watching her, he was unlikely to notice the thief standing motionless in the shadows. Not too much, she cautioned herself. It would be ironic if, after all the fuss she’d made about it, she maneuvered Daner into blocking her throwing lines.
Daner hesitated. “It has to do with a ring,” he said at last.
“Yes, but what does it have to do with my ring? If you can’t make sense, I’ll go find your father. I’ll wager I can persuade him to give me a full report.”
“No, don’t,” Daner said quickly, stepping between Eleret and the door. “He can’t tell you anything more. He—we don’t know any more.”
“You got Jonystra to say that she wanted my ring, but you forgot to ask her why?” Eleret did not bother to hide her skepticism, though she could not imagine why Daner would lie.
“You saw how badly she was injured. We had a hard time getting as much information as we did.”
“None of which is new.” Eleret frowned. Daner was behaving very oddly. “Why are you here?”
“Now that we’re certain Jonystra was after your ring, we should make sure no one else gets a chance at it before we find out why.”
“What do you mean?” Eleret asked warily.
“There’s a strongbox built into the wall of my father’s study; it’s been spelled against every kind of interference anyone could think of. The ring will be much safer there than here.”
“I’m sure you think so.” Eleret had to struggle to keep her tone neutral, because she was not at all sure. Everyone else seemed to want the raven ring; perhaps Daner, too, had succumbed to its lure. The thought made her feel alone, as if a comrade she’d depended on had deserted her. Why? Daner wasn’t Cilhar. Before that morning, she hadn’t even known he existed.
“Come, don’t be foolish,” Daner said with a touch of impatience. “This is the best way, I promise to the land’s end. Give me the ring.” He held out his hand toward Eleret.
Behind him, Eleret saw the beginning of movement in the shadows. “Daner!” she shouted, and jerked a raven’s-foot free of the strap that held it against the padded shoulder of her vest. Daner whirled, raising his hands in an unfamiliar motion. Eleret’s arm whipped down, and in the moment of release, her wrist flicked infinitesimally to one side. An instant later, as Daner finished his gesture, the raven’s-foot struck his shoulder. Simultaneously, the raven ring stabbed Eleret’s forefinger.
As she pulled another raven’s-foot loose, Eleret’s mind caught up with her body. Something was wrong with Daner s reaction, his timing, his stance—that wasn’t Daner at all!
“Don’t move, you,” she said. “Karvonen? Can you get his dagger?”
The door swung open. “What dagger?” Daner’s voice said from the hall outside. “Eleret— Stars!”
A second Daner stepped through the open door, stopped short, and reached for his knife, his eyes wide with astonishment
. The set of his shoulders and the way he held his knife fit Eleret’s memories of the fight in the alley. Eleret smiled slightly, and kept her eyes on the false Daner and her raven’s-foot raised to throw. “Stay where you are, Daner,” she said to the newcomer. “I don’t want to get you mixed up. Karvonen! Hurry it up.”
“Small chance of that,” the false Daner said. He straightened, clutching his left shoulder, and bowed sardonically in Eleret’s direction. “Fare ill, Cilhar girl, until we meet again, and do believe I’ll try my best to make it so. Ilmora!”
Between one eyeblink and the next, he vanished. The candle flames bent briefly toward the empty space as Eleret stood frozen, staring. Then, weapon poised, Eleret advanced, while behind her Daner muttered rapidly.
“No good, he’s gone,” Daner said, sheathing his dagger. “Who—Eleret, look out!”
As Daner spoke, Karvonen half stumbled, half fell out of the shadows toward Eleret, his face twisted and his eyes wild. Both hands clutched at his throat; it looked as if he were trying to strangle himself, and more than half succeeding. Eleret slid her unused raven’s-foot back into place and took three quick steps forward. Her hands closed around Karvonen’s wrists and she threw all her strength into a quick push-pull. There was a moment’s resistance; then the opposition ended abruptly. Karvonen fell against her, choked, and began breathing in great gasps.
“It’s the thief!” Daner’s knife was back in his hand. “What in the Emperor’s name is he doing here?”
“He came to talk to me.” Eleret helped Karvonen over to the bed and let him drop to a seat on the edge of it. He was laboring for breath and unable to talk, but he responded with a wave and an exaggerated nod which Eleret interpreted as thanks.
“You can’t be sure of that,” Daner said. “He might have come to rob you. For all we know, he might be in league with that woman downstairs.”
Karvonen frowned and tried to say something, which set off a coughing fit.
“That’s not what he told me,” Eleret said, shaking her head at Karvonen.
“Told you?”
“He was here when I came up. We talked for a while before you—I mean, he—I mean, that other Daner came in.”
Without thinking, she glanced at the place where the false Daner had disappeared, and suppressed a shudder. “I thought shapeshifters were just a story.”
“They aren’t, more’s the pity,” Karvonen said. His voice sounded hoarse and he still breathed heavily, as if he had been running, but at least he wasn’t gasping for air like a drowning man. “And they’re worse than wizards. Shit a two-by-twenty-weight of iron through the bottom of a badly patched canoe. What have I gotten myself into?”
“A cell in the Emperor’s dungeon, if I have anything to say about it.” Daner glared at Karvonen and shifted his grip on his dagger. “What are you doing here, thief?”
“Sitting on the Freelady’s bed, getting my breath back, after we saved each other’s necks,” Karvonen answered. He took another deep breath, then looked up to meet Eleret’s eyes. “For my half of which I thank you most profoundly, Freelady. I owe you my life.”
Eleret blinked, surprised again by Karvonen’s familiarity with Cilhar customs. Daner frowned. “Saved each other’s necks? I saw Eleret save yours, but when did you do anything for her?”
“When I realized your shapeshifting double was a fake,” Karvonen said, then glanced doubtfully at Eleret. “At least—”
“I knew he wasn’t Daner when I saw him move to attack you,” Eleret said. “And not until then, so yes, you did something. But how did you know he wasn’t Daner?”
“His phrasing. ‘I promise to the land’s end’ is a Rathani saying, and it isn’t used often enough for most foreigners to pick it up on a casual visit to the city. Add to that the fact that the Vallaniri trade interests are mostly in the south and east, and the way he was urging you to give him that ring—”
“What?” Daner looked from Karvonen to Eleret with an expression of outrage. “And you were going to do it?”
“Of course not,” Eleret said. “Look, it’ll make more sense if you hear it in order.” She gave a quick summary of events, finishing, “Now you know what he told us. How much of it was true?”
“About Jonystra? Nothing.” Daner fingered his dagger as if he was not sure whether he wanted to keep it in hand, put it away, or throw it at someone. “She’s not capable of talking yet, and the healer said she wouldn’t be until tomorrow afternoon, at the earliest. Once he finished with her, he hauled me over the starboard yard and back; apparently when it comes to taking care of burns, I did almost everything wrong except put her to sleep.” He shook his head. “Why do healers always expect people to know as much about their business as they do?”
“They don’t.” Karvonen shrugged expressively. “They’re just like most people—they hate it when some amateur makes their job more difficult. As long as we’re explaining things, would someone mind telling me what this ring is that almost got me killed?”
“Yes, I mind,” Daner said. “Eleret, watch him for a minute while I call someone. As soon as he’s locked up, we can—”
“No.”
Both men looked at Eleret with surprise, Karvonen’s mingled with dawning delight, Daner’s with irritation. “He’s a thief and a sneak,” Daner said angrily. “You can’t trust him!”
“Maybe not, but I owe him something.” Eleret looked at Karvonen. “I won’t say that I owe you my life, but you’ve taken risks twice for me. Once to bring me your information, and once to let me know about the shapeshifter.”
Karvonen cocked his head to one side and studied her.
“You know, I have the melancholy feeling that neither one was really necessary.”
“There’s no telling now,” Eleret said. “In any case, I won’t help Daner lock you up. But I won’t help you get away, either. You’re on your own, thief.”
“Eleret, you can’t mean to say that you believe him! He’s an admitted thief—”
“And good at it,” Karvonen murmured. “Don’t forget to say ‘good at it.’”
“—and an intruder,” Daner continued determinedly. “The sea lords alone know how he got in here.”
“Well, I know, too,” Karvonen put in. “But I can’t say. Professional secret,” he added with relish.
“You don’t even know that he told you the truth—”
“And you don’t know that I didn’t,” Karvonen said smugly.
Daner glared at him. “Whatever his claims, you don’t owe him anything but a cell. Which is where I intend to put him as quickly as possible, whether you agree or not.”
“That’s called the watch in,” Karvonen said, shaking his head. “You’ll never get her to help now. Oh, and by the way, I didn’t make any claims. I acknowledged a debt. Another one,” he added in a gloomy tone. “Why these things always happen to me…”
“Go ahead, then,” Eleret said to Daner.
“I thought you’d see it my way,” Daner said with a triumphant glance at Karvonen. “I won’t be long; keep him here—”
“No.”
“What?”
“I won’t keep him here,” Eleret said calmly.
Daner transferred his glare from the thief to Eleret. “Why not?”
“Because she already said she wouldn’t help you lock me up,” Karvonen said, grinning broadly. “You don’t know much about Cilhar, or you wouldn’t have wasted your breath arguing. So what are you going to do now, my lordly Ciaronese friend? The minute you’re out that door, I’m gone. And believe me, once I am, you won’t catch me.”
“I won’t have to,” Daner snapped. “Because you’re not getting away, no matter what you think.”
“I got in here, didn’t I?”
“Stop it, both of you.” Eleret made her voice as commanding as she could, hoping that surprise would make them listen even if nothing else did. If they kept to the path they were traveling, there’d be blood on someone’s dagger before morning.
&n
bsp; “Eleret, can’t you see what he’s doing?” Daner said. “This is all some sort of trick. He’s probably after the ring too, just like everyone else.”
“I’m never like everyone else,” Karvonen objected, and paused. Then, too casually, he asked, “What ring?”
“This one,” Eleret said, holding out her right hand. She kept her fingers curled into a fist, just in case.
“Eleret, are you crazy?” Daner demanded as Karvonen studied the ring with an expression of casual interest. “What do you think he came here for?”
“I came to give her some information,” Karvonen said patiently. “I’ve told you that several times.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I do,” Eleret said, surprising herself as much as Daner. “But if you won’t take his word for it—”
“Take his word? He’s a thief!”
“But the City Guards said the Aurelicos were honorable ones,” Eleret said uncomfortably. She couldn’t bring herself to say aloud that she rather liked Karvonen. In the past, when she had needed to know whether to trust someone, she had relied on the knowledge and experience of her family and friends, as most Cilhar did. Here in Ciaron she had little to depend on but her own instincts, and she couldn’t hold those up to Daner as a reason to believe Karvonen.
“An honorable thief is a contradiction in terms.”
“Well, Karvonen seems pretty contradictory to me.”
Karvonen’s eyes widened; then he grinned and bounced to his feet. “A fairer compliment has never been paid me, Freelady,” he said in Cilhar, bowing with fluid grace.
“What was that he said?” Daner asked suspiciously.
“He thanked me,” Eleret told him, allowing some of her irritation to show. “Daner, do you intend to stand there all night? Because that’s what you’ll have to do, if you won’t trust at least one of us.”
“It’s not a matter of trust.”
At least he didn’t sound quite as determined as he had a moment earlier. “Then what is it a matter of?”
“Pride,” Karvonen suggested with an air of innocent interest.
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