He'd heard screaming. The smoking pit, the bones. 'I saw enough.'
'And how do you know it was I that put the iglithbi in your brandy? Did it ever occur to you that Jedron did himself? One of his little tests?'
Silverdun had to admit that Than was convincing. But wasn't this exactly what a clever liar would say?
'Tell me what happened to this Ironfoot, then. The one I saw. The one whose bones you collected from that pit.'
'Why don't you ask Jedron that question?' said Ilian. 'If that doesn't convince you of his madness, I don't know what will.'
This conversation was beginning to unnerve Silverdun. He liked to know what he was dealing with.
Silverdun looked down and realized he was still holding the tankard containing Ilian's water. 'You're a fairly good liar,' he told Ilian. 'But I've been a nobleman long enough to see through even the best liar.'
'Not the best liar,' said Ilian. 'For Jedron is the best of them all.'
Than leaned close. 'Soon his paranoia will turn toward you, Silverdun. When the old madman tries to murder you in your sleep, don't say I didn't warn you, you idiot.'
Without thinking, Silverdun hurled the tankard between the bars with all his strength, catching Than on the temple. Ilian's knees buckled, and he fell to the floor.
Silverdun stormed out of the room and up the stairs to the top of the tower, where he found Jedron sitting at his desk, with a glass of brandy in his hands.
'Dammit, Jedron,' Silverdun barked. 'I want you to tell me what the hell is really going on around here.'
Jedron made no response. He had fallen asleep at his desk. In all the time he'd been at Whitemount, he'd never seen Jedron unconscious.
'Jedron!' Silverdun called. The old man stirred and sat up, fixing a dark gaze on him.
'Get out,' he said. When Silverdun began to protest, Jedron hurled the glass of brandy at him. This time, however, Silverdun managed to duck.
After leaving Jedron's room, Silverdun left the tower and returned to the stone steps he'd discovered on the night Than had drugged and beaten him. It was sunny and breezy out, and in the light of day the stair seemed far less ominous. There was no railing, he saw, and he wondered that he had made it to the bottom that night without killing himself.
The sea was loud at the base of the steps, where the stone expanse overlooked the water. The stone table was still there, as was the pit. Silverdun peered down into the pit. It was about four feet deep, and empty save for a layer of caked ash. It was scorched on the bottom and the sides.
He jumped in, and his boots sank into the muddy ash. He knelt and took some of the stuff in his hands. It was thick, like clay. The inside of the pit smelled damp and somehow cruel, a malevolent acridity.
Something white glinted in the sun, and Silverdun stepped carefully toward it. Half buried in the sodden ash was a tiny white object. Silverdun picked it up and held it up to the light. It was a bone, a small one. A toe or a finger bone, perhaps. Apparently Silverdun had seen exactly what he thought he'd seen.
Silverdun brushed off the bone and slid it into his pocket. The last evidence of Ironfoot's existence. Whoever he was. Something was going on here, something that neither Than nor Jedron would admit, and Silverdun was going to find out what it was.
When he returned to the tower, he found Jedron in the main room, oiling the crossbows. When Silverdun entered, Jedron carefully returned the weapon he'd been cleaning to its peg on the wall and boxed Silverdun's ears. 'Where in the queen's hallowed hole have you been?'
'Looking for answers,' said Silverdun. 'I had a very interesting conversation with Ilian earlier.'
'Did you,' said Jedron, a statement more than a question. 'And what, pray tell, did my erstwhile servant have to say for himself?'
'He told me to ask you what happened on the night I was drugged. The night I saw Ironfoot killed.'
Jedron laughed. 'Ironfoot killed, eh? Than is trying to confuse you; can't you see that? It's the oldest trick; divide your enemies and have them do your fighting for you.'
'Then tell me what happened that night.' Silverdun held up the bone he'd discovered earlier. 'Tell me why I found this in that pit!'
Jedron slapped the thing out of Silverdun's hands. 'That does not concern you!' He shoved Silverdun against the wall, hard.
'There is a conspiracy at hand, boy,' said Jedron. 'There are dark forces
