behind her flowed through it like water. If Falk had been looking closely, he would have seen a
… distortion, a ripple in the air, moving from the chair where Mother Northwind had been toward the door.
But Lord Falk was too busy not getting killed. By the time he flung poor Pilea across the room, Mother Northwind was past him. She was at the door when he released that killing blast. And she was in the hallway before he realized she had vanished.
By the time he came to the doorway himself and strode away, bellowing, she was across the hall, and going down the servants’ stairs. She could feel herself weakening. She had barely enough strength to hold the illusion until she had reached the hallway at the bottom of the stairs that ran the length of the Palace, the kitchens to her left and doors leading to other servants’ stairs up to other parts of the Palace on her right. Then she had to let the magic go, staggering as she did so, collapsing onto a hard wooden bench.
For the first time, she felt afraid. Falk should have died in her room. But with him still alive, every square inch inside the Lesser Barrier would be turned upside down until she was found.
She had one trump card, though, literally up her sleeve, in a pocket where she carried another of the enchanted devices Verdsmitt had created to cut a hole through the Lesser Barrier. She had never expected to use it for herself, keeping it on her person only in case she needed to bring someone into the Palace grounds surreptitiously, but now it offered her only chance of escape.
She needed to get to the Lesser Barrier without being seen. How that would be accomplished needed some thought. She heaved herself up. She couldn’t stay there, outside the kitchens. Sooner or later a servant would come by-probably sooner; and she could not count all of them as allies.
But some she could.
She had taken note long before of the location of the living quarters of those who personally served her. She got to her feet and, weary beyond belief and sorely missing her cane, made her slow way along the corridor that led to the room belonging to a maid named Malia, who would help her escape the Palace grounds… and, just maybe, help her salvage her Plan.
Besides, Mother Northwind thought, Malia deserves to hear the truth of what happened to her sister Pilea…
… well, as much of the truth as will serve.
The news that Lord Falk had apparently killed Mother Northwind raced through the Palace hard on the heels of the wall-shaking blast itself. Verdsmitt overheard it from servants talking in the hall outside his rooms, and felt a deep sense of shock, as though the blast that had taken Mother Northwind’s life had ripped his own from its foundation.
But an instant later came a feeling of complete freedom. Mother Northwind was dead. Her Plan had died with her. He no longer needed to kill the King on cue. He could kill the King whenever he felt like it …
… and he felt like it now.
Verdsmitt went to his battered old valise, kindly delivered to his room at Falk’s orders after his “conversion” to Falk’s cause, and tore open the lining. There, sewn in place, was a small leather pouch with something heavy in it. He ripped the pouch free, then opened its mouth and upended the contents into his palm. A ring glittered in the blue magelight, snakes of yellow-and-white gold twining round each other, each with the other’s tail in its mouth. Ruby eyes glittered in the head of the yellow snake, emeralds in the head of the white.
Kravon had given Verdsmitt the ring as a token of undying affection, just two weeks before the Keys had come to Kravon and everything had changed. Six months later Verdsmitt had been denounced, “committed suicide,” and vanished into his new life. But he had never thrown away the ring. And now… now it was his passport to the King’s presence.
For the first time since he had come to the Palace, Verdsmitt stepped out into the hallway and headed toward the block of rooms at the Palace’s rear: the quarters of the King.
Falk found Brich before he found Captain Fedric, and found out why when Brich, who had been searching for Falk even before the blast, said, before Falk could say anything, “Lord Falk, Prince Karl is gone again. And he’s taken Brenna with him.”
Falk, who had been on the verge of ordering a search for Mother Northwind, momentarily forgot all about her. “Gone? How?”
Brich swallowed, and glanced around. They were just inside the main entrance of the Palace, where more stairs swept up to the central rotunda whose domed roof suggested the shape of the dome that capped the Palace’s center, though in fact there were several more floors above it-including the Spellchamber where Tagaza had been struck down.
It was a highly public space, and there were people even now rushing through it in both directions, the blast in the east wing having had much the same effect on the Palace as a boot kicking over an anthill. “Perhaps we should-”
“Perhaps you should answer my question,” Falk snarled. He was far beyond caring what anyone else in the Palace heard or thought. “Were they both kidnapped? Did they ride across the bridge to the gate and some soon- to-beheadless idiot let them out? Tell me!”
Brich kept his own voice low, but complied. “They took a boat to the marshy place on the far side of the lake where we found the boats after Karl’s first disappearance,” he said. “They were seen, and guards went to investigate, but the light was failing. When they finally caught up with the boat… Karl and Brenna were gone.”
“Then who was in the boat?” Falk said, but he already knew.
“Teran,” Brich confirmed. “Karl’s bodyguard.”
“And Karl and Brenna?”
“Teran claimed they were hiding elsewhere on the grounds. But a search found their footprints… outside the Barrier.”
“ What? ”
“They were very clear,” Brich said. “Karl and Brenna went through the Barrier as though it weren’t there, then ran into New Cabora.”
Falk took a deep breath, pushing his fury and frustration and disbelief down, down, deep inside, until it was like fire hidden beneath a layer of ice. Now he could think. “Very well,” he said. “There are two things we must do, Brich, and both are vital. One: I want the Palace and the Grounds searched for any sign of Mother Northwind.”
Brich blinked. “My lord?”
“The blast you heard was my attempt to kill her,” Falk said harshly. “Seconds after one of her ensorcelled servants attempted to kill me. I was near the door and did not see her leave, but nevertheless, I saw no sign that I succeeded in killing her. Search the rubble first for her body. If it is not found, then search every room of the Palace, every bush on the grounds. I do not believe she can pass through the Lesser Barrier-although from what you’ve just told me I can’t be certain even of that.
“Second. We must find Karl and Brenna. They would not have been wearing winter clothing-”
“No, they were not,” Brich confirmed. “Brenna’s coat was in the boat, and she lost her boots in the mud. Wherever she is, she has no shoes.”
“Then they cannot remain in the streets. They must find shelter. Begin a house-by-house search of New Cabora, starting with the streets closest to where they escaped. Use every available man. No doors are to be left unopened, no attics unsearched, no basements unplumbed. Any resistance is to be eliminated with overwhelming force. Is that clear?”
“Perfectly, Lord Falk.”
“When Karl and Brenna are found, they are not to be harmed. Bring them to me.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Next.” This time Falk did take a moment to look around him, but no one had been foolish enough to stay anywhere close enough that they might be accused of overhearing. “The tragedy in the King’s bedchamber
… we have someone investigating?”
“Of course, my lord.”
“Sathana?”
“Our best man,” Brich said.
Falk nodded. “Tell him he is to personally guard the King, every night. Tell him that very shortly I will return north to complete my interrupted survey of the Cauldron. Tell him that I will check in with him every night by
