cypress trees beyond a slow bend in the Avi. He scurried off the road and into a field of long-beans, crouching down in the thick leaves. It was good he’d done so, since the horse and rider soon appeared: it was Onczio Bayard, looking awkward and uncomfortable atop a draft horse, his eyes focused on the road in front of him. He let his onczio plod along the avenue until he vanished around the next turn.
Let Onczio Bayard look all he wanted in Certendi, then. Nico would cut around to the south through the farm fields and find the Avi a’Certendi where it emerged from the village.
He walked on, moving between the fields. Perhaps a turn of the glass later, maybe more, he found what he assumed was the Avi a’Certendi-a well-rutted dirt road, mostly clear of grass and weeds. He trudged on, munching on the bread and stopping to get a drink occasionally from one of the numerous creeks that were flowing toward the A’Sele.
By late afternoon, his feet were aching and sore, with blisters erupting wherever his skin touched his boots. The bottoms of his feet were bruised from the stones he’d stepped on. He shuffled more than walked, more tired than he’d ever been in his life and wishing he had another loaf of bread. But he was finally walking among the clustered houses around Nessantico’s River Market. He was home and now he could find Talis. Clutching the roll of clothes tightly, he scanned the market for Uly, the seller who knew Talis. But the space where Uly’s stall had been set up a few weeks ago was vacant, the cloth awning gone and a few half-broken tables the only remnant. Nico limped over to the old woman selling peppers and corn next to the space, grimacing and wanting nothing more than to sit down and rest. “Do you know where Uly is?” he asked wearily, and the woman shrugged. She waved her hand at a fly that landed on her nose.
“Can’t say. Man’s been gone for a hand of days now. Good riddance, too-just laughed when the Calls came and people said their prayers. And those horrible scars.”
“Where did he go?”
“Do I look like his matarh?” She glared at him. “Go away. You’re keeping away my customers.”
Nico looked up and down the market; there were only a few people there and none were near the stall. “I really need to know,” he told her.
She sniffed and ignored him, arranging the peppers in their boxes and shooing away flies. “Please,” Nico said. “I have to talk to him.”
Silence. She moved a pepper from the top of the box to the bottom.
Nico could feel himself getting angry and frustrated. It felt chilly inside, like the evening breeze. “Hey!” Nico hollered at her.
She scowled at him. “Go away or I’ll call for the utilino, you little pest, and tell him you were trying to steal my produce. Go on! Away with you!” She waved at him as if he were one of the flies.
The irritation rose higher in him, and his throat felt like it did when he had one of the spicy-hot dishes Talis sometimes made. There were words that wanted to come out, and his hands made motions on their own. The old woman stared at him as if he were having some kind of fit, her eyes widening as if fascinated. The words came boiling out and Nico made a grasping motion with his hands. The woman suddenly clutched at her throat with a choking cry. She seemed to be trying to draw in a breath, her face turning redder, as Nico tightened his fists. “Stop!” He could barely make out the word, but Nico let his fist relax and the woman nearly fell, taking a deep, loud breath.
“Tell me!” Nico said, and she stared at him with fear in her eyes, her hands up as if to ward off a fist.
“I hear he might be over at Oldtown Market now-” the old woman said, all in a rush. “That’s what I heard, anyway, and…”
But Nico was already moving away, no longer listening.
He was trembling, and he felt far more tired now than he had a moment ago. He was scared as well. Talis would be mad, and so would Matarh. You could have hurt her. He wouldn’t do that again, he told himself. He wouldn’t let that happen. He didn’t dare. The cold anger frightened him too much.
He felt like sleeping, but he couldn’t. It took him until Third Call to find the Avia’Parete, half-lost in the cluster of small, twisting lanes around the market and moving slowly on his aching feet. He stopped there, leaning against a building, to bow his head and say the evening prayer to Cenzi with the crowds near the Pontica Kralji. He sat down…
… and lifted his head with a start, realizing that he’d fallen asleep. Across the bridge, he could see the light- teni just beginning to light the famous city lamps in front of the Grande Palais-a scene that would be happening simultaneously all along the great length of the Avi. With a sigh, Nico pushed himself up and plunged back into the crowds, heading northward into the depths of Oldtown, looking for a familiar side street, one that might lead him home.
He didn’t know how he would find Talis in the huge city, but right now all Nico wanted was to rest his aching, exhausted feet somewhere familiar, to fall asleep somewhere safe. He could go to Oldtown Market tomorrow and see if Uly was there. He limped toward home-their old house. It was the only place he could think of to go.
The trip seemed to take forever. He had to sit and rest three times, almost crying from the pain in his feet, forcing himself to keep his eyes open so he didn’t fall asleep again, and each time it was harder to force himself to stand up again. He wanted to rip the boots from his feet, but he was afraid of what he might see if he did that. But at last he walked down the lane where Talis had been attacked by the Numetodo man, and turned the corner that led toward his house. He began to see buildings and faces that were familiar. He was nearly there.
“Nico!”
He heard the voice calling his name and he turned. A woman waved at him and hurried over toward him, but she was no one he recognized. Her face was lined and tired-looking, as if she were as exhausted as he was, and she seemed older than the fall of hair around her shoulders.
“Who are you?”
“My name’s Varina,” she told him. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“Did Talis…?” he began, then stopped, biting his lower lip. Talis wouldn’t want him talking to someone he didn’t know.
“Talis?” the woman said. Her chin lifted. “Ah, yes. Talis.” She crouched down in front of him. He thought she had kind eyes, eyes that again seemed younger than the lined face. Her fingers lightly stroked his cheek-the way Matarh sometimes did. The gesture made him want to cry. “You were limping badly just now. You look terribly tired, Nico, and look, you’re covered with dust.” Concern creased the lines of her forehead as she tilted her head to the side. “Are you hungry?”
He nodded. “Yes,” he said simply.
She hugged him tightly, and he relaxed into her arms. “Come with me, Nico,” she said, rising to her feet again. “I’ll get us a carriage, and we’ll get you some food and let you rest. Then we’ll see if we can find Talis for you, eh?” She held out her hand to him.
He took the offered hand, and she closed her fingers around his. Together, they walked back toward the Avi a’Parete.
Allesandra ca’Vorl
Elissa ca’Karina…
Allesandra kept hearing the name, every time she spoke to her son in recent days. “Elissa said the most intriguing thing yesterday.. .” or “I was out riding with Elissa…”
Today it was: “I want you to contact Elissa’s parents, Matarh.”
Allesandra looked at Pauli, who was reading reports from the palais in Malacki near the fire in their apartments; the servants had yet to bring in their breakfast. He seemed unsurprised by the announcement-she wondered whether Jan had spoken to him first. “You’ve known the woman for a little more than a week,” Allesandra said, “and she’s significantly older than you. I have to wonder why her family hadn’t made arrangements for a marriage for her years ago. We don’t know enough about her, Jan. Certainly not enough to be opening negotiations with her family.”
Jan had begun shaking his head at her first objection; Pauli appeared to be stifling a laugh. “What does any of that matter, Matarh? I enjoy her company, and I’m not asking to marry her tomorrow. I want you to make the
