“I suppose I must,” Seregil said with a shrug.
“You can’t be serious!” Reltheus murmured, raising a surprised eyebrow.
“It’s a matter of honor,” Seregil said firmly.
“But how will we know it?” the general asked. “A charm could be anything. Is there a wizard here?”
“Here’s one!” someone at the back of the crowd shouted.
Old Reneus, one of the senior Orëska wizards, was none too pleased to be pressed into service for such a menial task, but with some cajoling and a fresh cup of wine he finally consented.
“Now you’ve done it,” Alec muttered as Seregil handed him his sword belt and pulled off his boots and socks.
The wizard took each one with evident distaste and quickly handed them back. “No magic here.”
“Better than a duel,” Seregil whispered back, then climbed onto his chair so everyone had a good view of him. “Really, Foris, you’re throwing your money away.” He slipped off his coat and dropped it into Alec’s waiting arms. The wizard took it and searched through the pockets. Seregil pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside with a flourish.
“There, you see? Nothing,” said Seregil, turning for the crowd to inspect his bare torso.
Foris smirked up at him. “There are still places to hide something. Keep going.”
“Perhaps he has it hanging from his cock!” one wag suggested loudly.
“I’d like to see that,” the woman who’d placed the first bet concurred. “Come on now, Lord Seregil. Out with it!”
One thing Seregil had never managed to master was blushing at will, but he made a good job of looking comically outraged. “You’re not serious? Really now, Your Grace, I’ve left those days behind me.”
“A wager is a wager, my lord, unless you’d rather settle this on the plain?” said Foris.
“I’m afraid he’s within his rights, my lord,” Sarien reminded him with an avid look in his eye. Seregil made a mental note to find out what sort of brothels the man frequented, if any.
Dueling was not allowed inside the city, but a blind eye was turned on whatever went on outside its walls, and killing someone in a formal duel there was not considered murder. It had been some time since Seregil had fought for his honor.
“Very well, then.” He unlaced his leather trousers and pushed them and his linen down with a graceful flourish. The crowd exploded in applause and laughter. Those closest to Alec slapped him on the back. Seregil climbed off the chair and stood grinning, hands on hips, as his trousers were inspected, then took them back and dressed as carefully as if he were in front of his looking glass at home, smoothing out every wrinkle. Money changed hands around him; it was clear that public sentiment was on his side, for whatever reason.
“Bravely done, young man!” General Sarien said, clapping Seregil on the shoulder before wandering off in the direction of the wine servers.
Taking his place again, Seregil raised his chin and grinned across the gaming table at his opponent. “Shall we continue, Your Grace?”
More applause erupted at the duke’s expense.
Caught, Foris had no choice but to finish—and lose—the game. With gritted teeth he paid off the wagers, swept his
stones back into their fancy embroidered bag, and strode off with all the dignity he could muster.
Seregil looked around at his admirers. “Next?”
The woman who’d championed the wager took the chair Foris had vacated and poured her stones into the polished tray in front of her. They were made of blue opal, and she held one up, showing him Illior’s crescent inlaid in silver on the back of it. “The Lightbringer will have to decide between us, my lord, for I’ve been known to have the Immortal’s favor, as well. Or would you like to inspect my clothing for charms first?”
“A tempting offer, Marquise, but your honor is above reproach.”
“You’re very gallant, Lord Seregil, but now I’m disappointed,” she said with a teasing smile. “Well, you had your chance. Shall we play?”
They were still arranging their stones for the first round when a young page made his way through the crowd and whispered something to Alec. He, in turn, leaned down and whispered in Seregil’s ear, “Kepi’s outside.”
“Nothing too serious, I hope?” said Reltheus.
“A messenger,” Seregil told him. “Alec, be a dear and deal with him, would you?”
“I promised Palmani I’d make an early night of it, and it’s nearly midnight,” Reltheus noted after half a dozen rounds.
“Oh, I’d rather hoped we could get in a few more games together,” Seregil told him.
“Come to the house, then, you and Alec, when you’ve finished your business. I believe I might have another bakshi game or two in me.”
“In that case, I hope you have a few coins left in your purse. Just let me go see where Alec has gotten to, and I’ll meet you at the house.”
He found Alec and Kepi on the pavement near the entrance to the gambling house, under the watchful eye of the doorman, who clearly disapproved of such an unsightly character in the Street.
Seregil hustled them both quickly out of sight into the shadows beyond the reach of the street lanterns.
“What is it?” Seregil demanded.
“It’s Atre,” Alec told him. “He’s gone and gotten himself stabbed.”
“That actor fellow’s a friend of yours, ain’t he?” asked Kepi, looking pleased with himself.
“How in the world did you know that?”
Kepi just winked and grinned.
“Bilairy’s Balls! What happened?” asked Seregil.
“Don’t know the particulars, only that he’s over in Brass Alley, back of the Skulpin. I just heard of it and I come straight up to tell you.”
“The Skulpin? What was he doing there?” The gambling house was in the unfashionable—and at this hour, dangerous—area near Atre’s old theater and catered mostly to locals. There were plenty of cutpurses, bawds, and footpads about at this time of night, ready to relieve the unwary of their winnings.
“Is he alive?” asked Alec.
“He was when my friend heard about it. I went to your house and they told me you was here. I come straight on.”
“Good lad. We’ll deal with it.” Seregil took half a dozen coppers from his purse and gave them to the boy. Kepi made him another ill-formed bow and took off at a run, darting between horses and carriages. He was soon out of sight among the evening crowd.
“Damnation!” Seregil scrubbed a hand back through his hair. He needed to find out what the scribe had given Reltheus, but he could hardly abandon the actor in such circumstances.
“I’ll see to Atre,” Alec told him. “You go with Reltheus and make some excuse for me.”
“All right. As soon as you’re finished, come to his house, or send word to me there if you won’t be coming.”
They walked in silence to the nearby stable to collect Alec’s horse. A groom led Windrunner out. As Alec went to mount, Seregil caught him by the arm and brushed his lips over Alec’s. “Take care, talí.”
Alec gave him a knowing look. “You know I will. And you.” He swung up into the saddle and rode out into the
throng. Trying to ignore the knot of tension in his belly, Seregil went back inside to find Reltheus.
Alec road to Brass Alley at a gallop and found the actor alive and groaning on a couch in a poorly lit back room of the gambling den. He was dressed uncharacteristically plainly without a jewel on him—an apparent attempt to fit in with his surroundings. Or perhaps he’d been robbed.
A small crowd of ne’er-do-wells and doxies were peering in from the doorway, but parted for Alec at the sight of his fine clothes and sword.
A drysian was with Atre, tending to a wound on his belly. The actor was white-faced and looked frightened, but at least he was conscious.
“What happened?” Alec asked, kneeling down beside him and taking the man’s hand.
“Oh, my lord!” Atre gasped, clinging to Alec’s hand with both of his, which were sticky with blood. “How did you know?”
“Never mind that. What in Bilairy’s name happened to you?” A few patches of stage cosmetics near his hairline stood out against his milk-pale skin, Alec noted absently. He must have been in a hurry to come here.
“It didn’t happen in my establishment, my lord,” a round-faced man in dusty velvet told him. “This is an honest house.”
Alec doubted that.
“It was a girl, on the street,” Atre told him. “She said she was hurt, and when I tried to help her—look what she did!”
“It’s not as bad as all that,” the drysian scoffed as he bandaged the wound.
“And took your purse, I suppose,” said Alec. It was a common ploy among the girl cutpurses. “What are you doing alone in a place like this?”
“Oh, you know—” Atre was too pale to blush but he looked rather ashamed of himself.
“Got tired of the pampered nobles and came back here, looking for a bit of rougher fun?” Brader growled as he
strode into the room and stood over Atre. Apparently he’d gotten word, as well.
The actor looked away, saying nothing.
“This is no place for the likes of you,” the drysian scolded. “Stay with your fashionable friends and find your fun there. I have better things to do than patch up you silly thrill seekers.”
“I will, Brother. By the Maker, I will!” Atre mumbled, then looked up imploringly at Alec. “Please, my lord, don’t leave me here.”
“Of course not,” Alec assured him, then turned to the master of the house. “Is it possible to hire a carriage at this hour?”
“No need,” said Brader. “I brought the cart.”
The drysian finished with the bandage and straightened up. “There, that should hold your guts in well enough. See that you keep the wound clean and it should be healed in a week or so, if a bit sore.”
“I have to be onstage tomorrow!”
“That’s why you have an understudy,” Brader muttered, handing the healer some silver.
The drysian nodded to them and took his leave.
“Oh, Calieus will be pleased!” Atre groaned. “He hangs over me like a carrion crow, just waiting for something like this to happen.”
Alec chuckled. “It’s his job, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. Good night, my lord.” Brader lifted Atre in his arms as if he weighed no more than a child. Alec followed them outside and watched Brader place the wounded man on some folded blankets in the back of the cart.
“Really, I think a carriage would be more comfortable,” said Alec. “I’ll happily pay.”
“No need, my lord,” Brader said gruffly. It was clear that he was angry with his friend and perhaps meant to deny him the comfort of better transport. Or that’s what Alec thought until Brader added, “With respect, we take care of our own.”
He climbed in and snapped the reins over the grey mare’s back.
That was a bit rude!
Alec thought as the cart rattled away.
I might as well have stayed with Seregil
.
He was on his way back to the duke’s house, riding past a narrow side lane, when he noticed a hand on the ground at the mouth of it, just visible in the faint light of a nearby street lantern. Reining in, he got down and hurried over to see if someone was hurt. A young, poorly dressed man lay facedown in the dirt. Checking quickly for signs of footpads, Alec rolled him over. His eyes were open, but not fixed in death. It was another of the mysterious sleepers. The man was young, with the disreputable appearance of a footpad and the odor of a gate runner. From the looks of him, he’d been lying there for a day or more. All the same, Alec felt guilty at the thought of leaving him to die in the street like a sick dog.
With some effort, he slung the man over Windrunner’s saddle and led the horse to a nearby Dalnan temple. It was late, but temples didn’t close, at least not a Dalnan one. It would only take a moment.
A young, brown-robed girl answered the bell and helped him carry the stricken man in.
“What have you brought me, young man?” asked the old priestess in charge.
“One stricken with the sleeping death, Sister.”
“Ah, another. Bring him into the sick room.”
“Another? You’ve seen more here in the Upper City?”
“Only a few.”
There were two younger boys and a man with the flattened features and slanted eyes of the god-touched laid out on clean pallets.
Leaving the drysian and her helpers to take care of the man, Alec bent over the boys. “This one’s gone,” he said softly, resting his hand on the chest of the smaller boy.
The drysian went to the child and pressed a finger to his wrist, then nodded sadly. “Astellus carry him gently. This one lasted longer than most, from what we’ve heard. Who knows about others left to die unnoticed in some hovel or tenement?”
“How many others have you seen here, besides these?”
“Two others. I think they must have made their way up from the harbor.”
“Sister, when these stricken ones come to you, do you inspect them closely?”
“We do, my lord, looking for any kind of wound.”
“And you find nothing?”
“Nothing unusual, just the occasional bruises or cuts, but not on all.”
He thought a moment, trying to decide what Seregil would ask if he were here. “No markings?”
“What sort of markings?”
“Any kind. Guild marks, tattoos, brands.”
“No, my lord, nothing like that.”
“Are there more of these sick people at any of the other temples in the Upper City?” asked Alec, still kneeling by the dead boy.
“No, but as I said, with us being so close to the Harbor Way, it’s us who finds them. The main temple down in Grampus Street is where most of them are being taken, as there’s more found on that side of Trade Street.”
Only a few streets separated Trade from some of the lowest stews in Rhíminee. He took out his gambling winnings and gave them to her. “Thank you, Sister, and Maker’s Mercy.”
Her eyes widened at the weight of the purse. “Maker’s Mercy to you, too, kind sir.”
The whole household was awake when Brader arrived with the cart.
“What happened?” Merina demanded in alarm, following behind him as Brader carried Atre to his room.
“A foolish accident on my part,” Atre gasped. He made no objection as she helped him out of his clothes and into his ornate bed. “I found myself missing some of our former haunts—”
Merina exchanged a doubtful look with her husband. “More fool you, then. What would we do without you?”