Blind Seer cast along the ground, growling to himself in annoyance at all the muddling scents, apparently unaware of the grumbling of those who were forced to detour around him. Firekeeper, hanging back in order to avoid being asked to control "her dog," watched with amusement.
"I am not certain" the wolf said at last, padding over to her, "but that gate seems most likely. What did Bee Biter tell us it was called?"
"The Petitioner's Gate," Firekeeper replied promptly. "For those who wish to grovel to the Ones. Yes, that makes sense. Wait here, sweet hunter, and guard my back. It occurs to me that in our worry for Citrine we have come to our enemy's hunting grounds while there is yet daylight. If Melina has watchers like Peace she will know of our interest."
"What of it?" the wolf said. "Melina would wonder more if we didn't hunt."
Firekeeper crossed to the Petitioner's Gate. There were two lines and both were short. She had been to market frequently enough to know that she was supposed to wait her turn, but it made her feel like the tiniest of pups to do so. By the time she reached the head of the line she was irritable enough to wrestle three times her weight in bears.
A round-faced man in blue-black robes blinked at her, looking her up and down with that supercilious expression that the New Kelvinese managed with such ease.
"Yes?" he said in New Kelvinese.
Already short-tempered from her wait, Firekeeper couldn't manage the right phrases in New Kelvinese and decided to try Pellish.
"I am looking for a boy who come here earlier today. Maybe," she held a hand toward the sky, "when the sun was some fingers younger."
The man blinked, but her guess had been correct. Those who guarded this gate spoke other languages than their own. How else could they deal with those petitioners who might not be New Kelvinese? And how else could they keep looking so superior?
"A boy," the clerk said, his accent quite heavy. "This tall?"
He held his hand to Citrine's height.
Firekeeper nodded.
"Wearing a headband?" the man continued.
Firekeeper nodded.
The man paused, seemed to consider.
"No such boy was here."
The stress on the word "boy" was unmistakable.
Firekeeper nodded.
"A girl, yes?"
The man frowned, considered, made a gesture with one hand.
Firekeeper studied him, remembered some of Derian's stories about how he had gotten some good deal, thought the man might want to be paid for his information. She, of course, carried no money, disdaining it. Strong wolves took what they wanted.
"If this we speak of is the girl I think," she said, "her mother would be so very angry at what you just try."
The man jerked back his hand as if burnt.
"Then there was no boy and no girl either," he said haughtily and pulled back into his booth.
Firekeeper wanted to shake him, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. She'd learned what she wanted and without giving the clerk anything but another story to sellùand that was unavoidable. Her feet suddenly light, she crossed to where the blue-eyed wolf waited.
"Citrine was here" she said. "And the man know she was girl not boy and who her mother is."
"A good end to a bad trail" Blind Seer said, wagging his tail once in satisfaction.
"Good in that we know," Firekeeper said, beginning to walk more rapidly, "bad, I think, in what we now know Citrine has done."
However, nothing Firekeeper could do would change what had happened. Dutifully recalling her promise to Wendee, she slapped Blind Seer on the shoulder and darted through the crowd at a run, disregarding anything but the need to report to the others.
Chapter XXVII
DARLING," said Melina, fixing Toriovico with her brilliant gaze, "how nice of you to come so quickly."
The Healed One stared at her blankly, wondering what she was talking about. He hadn't seen her since that morning over breakfast.
She had been late coming in the night before, but he had very carefully neglected to mention this fact in obedience to orders she had given him after she had slipped between the sheets, orders that took for granted that his will was still enslaved to hers.
Had he forgotten some other command? Panic touched Torio's soul. It was so very important that she not realize that he was free of her. Columi might know the truth, but could an old man be trusted to act independently, especially when his own life would be at risk?
But apparently he had not forgotten, for Melina was looking at him with puzzlement to match his own.
"Didn't you get my note? I sent messengers around to your studio and to your office as well."
Toriovico hid his relief in a brilliant smile. Then he crossed to her, caressing her silk-clad shoulder affectionatelyùan act that not only demonstrated his continuing devotion, but took him out from under the direct gaze of those enchanting eyes.
"No, my dear, I did not," he said. "I was at the cobbler's having slippers fit for the coming festival. The last pair pinched my toes dreadfully and didn't give nearly enough support to my instep and ankle. Don't you remember? I mentioned it at breakfast."
Melina had been very distracted at breakfast, breaking shell into her soft egg, and scolding Tipi for some minor infraction.
"I remember now," she said, all apologetic sweetness. "Now you are here like an answer to a wish."
He kissed her lightly on the top of her head.
"I came hoping to find you," he said.
Or rather hoping to find where you've been, he corrected mentally.
"Then we both have had our wishes granted," she replied, and her tones were so affectionate that Toriovico nearly forgot everything he had learned these past few days.
Then Melina drew him to a seat on a long couch and pulled his feet into her lap. Rubbing his tired arches with strong fingers that had rapidly picked up the trick of what felt best, she said rather hesitantly for her:
"Torio, I have something important to tell you."
He tried to remain casual, the perfect servant to whom his mistress's least wish is law.
"Yes, darling?"
"Torio, yesterday afternoon a visitor arrived for me."
"Oh?"
"Yes, darling. Someone from Hawk Haven."
Torio frowned.
"Can't they leave you alone?" he asked, doing his best to sound indignant on her behalf. "Haven't they troubled you enough? You belong to me and to New Kelvin now."
Melina sighed, a deep, wistful sound that would have torn his heart if he hadn't believed it as false as his own indignation. Lots of problems would be solved if Hawk Haven desired to reclaim their wandering noblewoman. But such a request would have come to him or to Apherosùor would it?
"I thought you might feel that way, Torio," Melina said plaintively. "I know you always have my best interests at heart."
"I do," he said fervently. "Always, darling."
Melina paused and for a moment Toriovico thought he might have overdone his adoration. Then she went on:
"This is a visitor I welcomed, once I adjusted to the shock. It was a member of my family."
Torio thought quickly. Melina had left several brothers behind, one of whom was a reigning duke, another who was a soldier. Or did she mean one of her children? He felt an unexpected flash of jealousy as he thought of the five children she had borne to another man.
Easy, Torio, he counseled himself. She still has claws in you, even if they're not as deep.
Still, he thought that jealousy was probably an appropriate reaction, for she had not as much as mentioned her Hawk Haven family for a long time now.
"Go on," he said stiffly, making as if to draw his feet back from her caress.
Melina held his feet and massaged with even more enthusiasm. Torio felt his mind slipping into patterns of relaxation and fought against them. With sudden insight Toriovico realized that she could use more than her eyes to work her charm. Anything that relaxed the subject so his will could be re
ached unguarded was a tool.
One of his hands was hidden from her view by the couch. Now Torio drove his nails into his palm, seeking to distract himself from her soothing touch. His mind cleared sufficiently for him to listen with true alertness as Melina went on.
"You know I left my little ones behind when I came here," she said.
"Yes," Torio agreed. "Three girls and a youth."
He didn't include the Crown Princess Sapphire in his count, for her mother denied the young woman's existence unless she was very angry.
"The youngest of these girls was quite small," Melina said, "only nine."
"Citrine," he said automatically, his tones rather flat.
He had a nagging feeling that there was something he should remember about Citrine, but the information belonged to the days when Melina had clouded his mind and he could not remember.
"Yes, little Citrine," Melina said. "She's been cruelly treated since I went away and finally she ran away. She made her way to Dragon's Breath and yesterday came trembling to the Petitioner's Gate."
From the slow, wonderfully relaxing circles that Melina was kneading into his instep, Toriovico felt pretty certain that he was to accept this explanation with asking any of the questions that had sprung so readily to mind. Run away? How had she managed that? And how had she managed to make her way this deep into New Kelvin without arousing suspicion? How had she even known of the Petitioner's Gate? Why had they had no forewarning?
He suspected that Melina knew the answer to all these questions. Even so, he didn't ask, just smiled lazily and thrust his foot a little deeper into her hand.
"You said you welcomed her," he said. "How nice for the poor child. You did say she had been cruelly treated, didn't you?"
"That's right," Melina acceded. "The child is troubled in mind as well as body. She needs me, and I need her."
"Oh?" Toriovico tried to sound affronted, but not too much so.
"Yes, darling," Melina lifted his foot and kissed it. "You are wonderful and all my new friends are marvelous, but there are times I long to hear my own tongue, to trade gossip with someone who knows the people of Hawk Haven as more than names."
"We could buy you a slave or something," he said with thoughtful seriousness. "One who speaks the tongue."
Then he grinned at her with boyish playfulness.
"But that's not what you want. Is it darling? You want your own little girl."
"Torio," she said passionately. "I do. No one else will do so well. You and she would get along so well."
"Then you must have her," Torio said firmly, thinking And maybe Citrine's presence will slow you down in whatever scheme you're working. "I admit that I have missed the sound of girlish laughter. You do remember that I have six sisters, don't you? Since they've all grown old enough to take up positions as ritual directors in various parts of the country, I have felt quite bereft."
Torio knew that the custom of splitting up the siblings of the Healed One was an old one, dating back to the First Healed One's need to do something with his superfluous daughters. It had been one of his many ways of assuring that continuity of rule remained with his direct heirs. True, distance did make it easier for factions to form undetected, but the need to conduct incredibly complex ritualsùrituals that were believed to help maintain the kingdom's borders safe from invasionùkept the exiled siblings very busy.
He thought it a shame that his own very intelligent and creative sisters should be wasted this way, but it was the law.
Melina hugged his feet to her breast with what seemed genuine joy.
"Then you don't mind?"
"Mind?" Torio repeated. "I want whatever will make my darling wife happy. Citrine cannot be my heirùshe is not male, nor is she of our blood. Therefore, no one should be threatened by her living with us as your companion."
"Thank you, Torio," Melina said. "I am very glad that you accept her."
Torio fought back an urge to say something flippant. He had a feeling that he had just succeeded in some rather difficult test. Maybe Melina had believed that his charm would break under the strain of accepting this invader to their cozy intimacy. He had a vague sense that she had drawn him in by lavishing affection on himùand making him feel that their bond was exclusive. Certainly even the strongest charm might weaken under the strain of admitting her need for another.
I must be very careful, he thought. She will be watching me, checking for any sign that my resentment is weakening her control.
Swinging his feet from Melina's lap, Torio sprang up.
"You said you had written for me to come to you," he said jovially. "Now that I have your news, where's the little girl? Isn't it time I met her?"
Melina beamed up at him and for a moment he once again had to struggle not to lose himself in the warm embrace of her gaze.
"Yes, darling," she said. "I will have Tipi bring Citrine to us. The two of you mean so much to me. I can't wait for you to meet."
For a moment, Torio caught something cool and calculating in the blue pools of her eyes, something so cold that it thrust him out and into himself again. Then Melina smiled and were it not for memory, he could believe her a happy mother, about to introduce her new husband to her youngest child.
ELISE INSISTED Derian ride with her when she returned to the Hawk Haven embassy, for she no longer felt confident about her safety out on the streets.
On her previous return from the embassy, sitting at ease in the litter, reviewing what she had discussed with Ambassador Redbriar, Elise hadn't immediately noticed anything out of the ordinary. Then one of the litter bearers had stumbled.
"Someone tried to trip me!" the man had called back in response to Elise's startled cry.
Thinking this a weak excuse, Elise had begun to watch the crowds, remembering Edlin's concern when they made their first call on the ambassadorùhad that only been two days before?ùand seeing now that the situation had grown far worse.
She might not have Peace's gift for seeing deeply into other's actions, but even so she became aware of the angry glares that were turned on her, the clenched fists, mouths pursed as if to spit. Yet few acted as aggressively as had the unknown who had sought to overturn her litter. Most turned away, and Elise thought she saw fear mingled with the anger.
Attending more closely now, more than once Elise heard "Consolor" muttered, with the suffix that meant "kin" or "family" attached to it. So the anger was not directed toward Elise personally, but to her as one of Melina's people.
By the time Elise reached the door of Hasamemorri's house, she had realized that all the sullen and hate-filled faces seemed to belong to people of the lower, serving classes. The sodality members who passed, often carried in litters of their own, looked upon her with either curiosity or indifference, as did the obviously prosperous.
What was it the servants feared? What was it that made them so angry? How was it their masters seemed comparatively ignorant? Elise might dread Melina's strange powers, but she did not believe the woman could have worked her trance induction on all of the upper classes. Something moreùmaybe simple ignoranceùmust explain it.
Ambassador Redbriar's informants, the majority of whom were disaffected politicians from within the Dragon Speaker's court, had reported nothing that might account for this surge of almost uncontrollable anger, nor was Ambassador Redbriar particularly helpful regarding what might be done for Edlin.
"He is a lord," Violet Redbriar said, "and that is good, except that his title and positionùand his father's well-known ambitious natureùwill make it seem more likely, rather than less, that Lord Kestrel was spying.
"And to make matters worse," Violet continued, draining her goblet of white wine, "from what you say, Edlin Norwood was spying. This deeply restricts what we can do. However, I shall put some feelers out, and send you word when I know something. Don't come to call too often. Feeling against us has become very strong. We had a window broken by a well-thrown rock and one of our footmen was assaulted when he went to the
market."
Indeed, Elise's hired litter bearersùwho had been promised a substantial payment if they remained to take her homeùwere waiting very nervously when Elise came to take her leave. Ambassador Redbriar had offered guards, but Elise had not thought there would be any troubleùand had nearly been very wrong.
Yet this late afternoon, despite the ambassador's warning, Elise and Derian were returning. Citrine's disappearance and her probable destination were matters too sensitive to trust to a note that might be read by any number of people beforeùor afterùit reached the ambassador.
Elise had insisted on waiting a full day's span before going to the embassy. Citrine might not have gone into Thendulla Lypella, no matter what Firekeeper reported. Or she might not have found the welcome she desired. It hardly made sense to raise a fuss if the girl was soon to reappear on their doorstep.
And it would be dreadfully embarrassing.
However, by the next morning, Elise was as eager as any of them to seek what assistance Ambassador Redbriar might offer. Bee Biter had reported that Citrine had been seen walking in one of the sheltered gardens that were lavishly spread between the Earth Spires. Her companions had been her mother and the Healed One and she had strolled hand in hand between them.
That the girl looked well and content was no comfort to Eliseùor to any of Citrine's friends. Many of Melina's victims looked quite happy and placidùRuby and Opal were fine examples of thisùbut this was the stillness of a frozen will, not true tranquility of spirit.
Ambassador Redbriar received them in her study, but it was clear that she was not pleased to see Elise again so soon. Had Derian not worn his counselor's ring rather prominently, he might have found himself relegated to the kitchens.
Violet was too much a diplomat to turn away people who might rise to positions of influence. She offered them refreshments, filled her own glass with white wine from a carafe set in a bed of crushed ice, and listened to Elise's account.
She frowned when Elise completed her tale.
"And what is it you want me to do? You seem to know where the girl is, and that she is happy and safe."
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