by Sharon Lee
“If I were so foolish as to put myself in his way,” Mr. Ignat’ murmured.
I laughed.
“In other news, the wild gate was his; he used it to enter the Changing Land. He’d originally thought to use it as his escape route, too, but then I went and closed it. And he hadn’t anticipated the problems connected with figuring out which prisoner was who. Also…”
I sighed.
“Also, they—Aesgyr and Jaron—they didn’t go back to Varoth.” I turned to look at Mr. Ignat’. He met my eyes with a smile.
“They went to Daknowyth. Aesgyr intends to place Jaron under the protection of the Opal of Dawn.”
“A splendid tactician,” Mr. Ignat’ said, with clear approval.
“If he can keep the jailbreak quiet,” I said. “He’s only good for so long as the guys holding his leash believe that Jaron’s still fastened to the other end.”
“Ah.”
“I’d been wondering,” I said. “If I should call the Wise. All of their prisoners gone; they’re not going to like that. When they get around to noticing. But now I’m thinking that the Wise aren’t wholly above little things like politics and extortion.”
“It might be so; they’re wise, not infallible.”
I nodded, looking out over the water. There were a couple of kayaks out, just beyond the breaker line, paddling up-coast, toward Surfside.
“Not infallible,” I said, nodding. “And it’s really none of my business what they do in their spare time. When it becomes my business is when they use the land of which I’m Guardian, and the business that’s been in our family for years—to do their dirty work. We didn’t ask to be the jailers for the Six Worlds. And I reject the proposition that we have to sully our honor and endanger our people on the whim of the Wise.”
There was a small silence. The guys in the kayaks were making good time; at this rate, assuming they were following the coast, they’d be in Cape Elizabeth in time for a late lunch.
“Will you be calling the Wise, then, Katie, and giving them your decision?” Mr. Ignat’ sounded only politely interested.
I turned my head and smiled at him.
“No. And I won’t be telling them that the prisoners are gone, either.” And I won’t spoil Aesgyr surprise, I added silently. He’d trusted me with his secret; he’d trusted me, so I gathered from his information, to be a woman of honor.
Well. At least I was a woman who knew how to keep her mouth shut.
“The Wise,” I told Mr. Ignat’ out loud, “can go fish.”
Mr. Ignat’ laughed, and wrapped me in a downright exuberant hug.
“Excellent!” he said. “Oh, excellent, Pirate Kate!”