Arvin shook his head. 'Nothing so exciting as that,' he lied. 'A thief tried to grab my coin pouch. He cut me.'
Rillis nodded sympathetically. 'Good thing he wasn't aiming lower,' he said, drawing a hand across his throat.
Arvin nodded gravely. He stepped closer and opened his hand just enough to reveal the two coins. 'There's another woman I'm also looking for. A yuan-ti who serves House Extaminos, named Zelia. She has red hair, green scales, and a blue forked tongue. Have you seen her?'
Rillis arched an eyebrow. 'One gorgeous woman isn't enough?' He started to laugh but faltered when he saw the glower in Arvin's eye. 'The red-headed yuan-ti is here,' he said quickly. 'She's a guest of the ambassador.'
Arvin glanced up at the residence. 'Is she here now?'
Rillis rubbed his finger and thumb together. Arvin passed him the coins.
'Yes.'
'Which room is she in?'
'Second floor. At the back. The second to last suite on the right.' Rillis gave Arvin a tentative glance, his expression a mixture of greed and fear. 'Do you… need me to get you inside?'
'That won't be necessary,' Arvin answered. Rillis looked relieved.
Arvin took two more coins from his pouch and passed them to Rillis. 'If Karrell does show up and asks for Zelia,' he instructed, 'tell her that Zelia's not here. That she's somewhere else.'
Rillis grinned as he took the coins. 'Consider it done. But I'm only on duty until dawn. The ambassador has finally risen from his dream sleep, and he's in a hurry to leave; I'll be part of the escort accompanying him to the morning riverboat.'
'Will Zelia be going with him?' Arvin asked. 'Or will she be staying on at the residence?'
Rillis shrugged. 'That's up to the new ambassador. He'll decide which slaves and militia-and which house guests-he wants to stay on.'
'Thanks,' Arvin said. 'You've been a big help.'
He walked down the street, turned a corner, and circled around the block to the street at the rear of the ambassador's residence. He walked the length of the building, glancing up at the residence only when the two militiamen who were standing out back weren't watching. The last two windows of the second floor were dark, but light glowed through the next two; that must have been Zelia's suite. The curtains on one of the windows had been drawn but not quite all the way; a slight gap remained. It was impossible, however, to see inside from this angle.
The militiamen watched Arvin as he walked the length of the block but lost interest in him as he turned the corner. Making his way to the rear of the building that was directly behind the ambassador's residence, he walked up a short flight of stairs to one of its doors. Pretending to be fitting a key into the lock, he glanced up and down the street. No one was watching. Then he activated the magic within his bracelet and climbed the wall.
Arvin swung himself up onto the roof. Crawling to the far side through patches of wet snow, he stared across the street at the window that had caught his attention a moment ago. Through the gap in its curtains he spotted Zelia. She was seated in a chair that had its side to the window. She was leaning forward in hungry anticipation, her forked tongue flickering through a smile that sent shivers through him. She'd smiled at Arvin in just the same way when she gloatingly told him about the seed she'd planted in his mind. She leaned forward more, gesturing at someone who sat opposite her.
A sudden dread filled him. Who was Zelia talking to?
He crawled farther along the rooftop, ignoring the discomfort of the slush that had soaked through his pants and shirt. No matter what angle he viewed the window from, however, he couldn't see the second person. Working his way back to his original position-a spot directly opposite the window-he sent his awareness into his third eye. He was taking an enormous chance by manifesting a power-if Zelia detected his psionics, he would give himself away-but he had to know if Karrell was inside.
As the energy stored in his third eye uncoiled, a thread of silver light spun out into the night, toward the window. It penetrated the glass and touched the curtain inside, weaving its way into the fabric. Then, one tiny tug at a time, it began to pull.
Slowly, the curtain eased back. After each tug, Arvin waited for several heartbeats, terrified that Zelia might hear the soft slide of the curtain on its rod or notice the gradually widening gap between the curtains. She didn't.
Finally, Arvin got a glimpse of the person she was talking to. It wasn't Karrell.
It was Naneth.
Arvin blinked in surprise. He'd expected Naneth to come to Ormpetarr in an attempt to recapture Glisena, but he'd also expected her to show up at the palace. He did not expect her to be here, inside the ambassador's home.
He had to find out what was going on.
With all that remained of the energy in his muladhara, he manifested one last power. Sparkles of light streamed out of the center of his forehead then curled around his head. With them came a heightened awareness. The lighted windows in the ambassador's residence became a babble of overlapping sounds; the lights elsewhere in the city, a distant hum. Even the stars in the night sky emitted a faint, crackling hiss.
Those, however, weren't the sounds Arvin was interested in.
He curled both of his hands into loose fists then held both of them up to his left eye, forming a tube. Through it, he peered at Zelia's window with his other eye shut. The waves of noise that had been pouring into his mind were stopped down to a trickle; now he 'saw' only the sounds emanating from Zelia's room. He had to shift, slightly, to screen out the light from the hearth, which filled his mind with a sharp crackle. The fire had been well stoked; like all yuan-ti, Zelia liked her rooms at basking temperature. At last he managed to narrow his field of view to include just Zelia and Naneth. As he did, their voices sprang into focus.
'… to be done tonight,' the midwife said.
'Why?' Zelia asked.
'Because Foesmasher has summoned his clerics,' Naneth said urgently. 'He's convinced them to do his dirty work. This time, the child will be killed.'
Zelia arched an eyebrow. 'Surely he wouldn't slay his own grandchild?'
Naneth snorted. 'He doesn't have the same respect for life that Lady Dediana does. To him, the child is just a serpent. I've heard it said that he refers to it as `the demon.'' She shook her head in a parody of sadness, sending a ripple through her double chin.
Zelia lounged in her chair, her expression confident. 'I'll get the girl out.'
'How?' Naneth asked. 'Glisena's chamber is warded against serpents.'
Zelia smiled. 'There are ways of getting around wards.'
Naneth leaned forward, pudgy hands on her knees. 'Just so long as you can do it. Remove her from the palace, and I'll teleport her to Hlondeth.'
'Directly to the House Extaminos compound?' Zelia asked.
Naneth nodded. 'Yes. Tell your mistress the girl will be delivered, as promised.'
Arvin waited, tense with anticipation.
'I'll contact you as soon as I have her,' Zelia promised.
'This needs to be done sooner, rather than later,' Naneth urged. 'As swiftly as you can.'
'Swift as a striking serpent,' Zelia agreed with a hiss of laughter. She leaned forward as she spoke, playing with a strand of her long red hair. It parted, revealing a finger-long chunk of crystal that hung from a silver hoop in her ear. Judging by its faint glow, it was a crystal capacitor or power stone-which was strange, since Zelia had always before scorned the use of psionic 'crutches.'
Something must have made Naneth nervous; the midwife raised a hand to her temple to wipe sweat from her forehead.
Zelia settled back into her chair, staring at Naneth through slit eyes. Her tongue flickered out of her mouth, as if she were savoring the midwife's discomfort.
Naneth wiped her temple, glanced in the direction of the hearth, and moved her chair a little farther from it. Arvin gave a mental nod; he felt the same discomfort in the yuan-ti's overheated rooms.
