'The very same,' said Paet. 'It's the scandal of the day at court, and there's already pressure on the secretary to resign.'
Silverdun glanced down the article. 'A murder. Are we to investigate it?'
Paet grimaced. 'Oh, no. We already know who the murderer is.'
'Who?' asked Ironfoot.
'Our own Sela,' said Paet. 'Everess put her up to it.'
There was a silence in the office.
'Why?' Ironfoot finally said. 'Is it within our purview to do such a thing?'
Pact shrugged. 'One of the benefits of being a Shadow is that we have no official purview. Though I imagine if this were traced back to the foreign minister, he'd soon find himself looking for another job, if not another head.'
'What's his explanation?' asked Silverdun.
'That's what I intend to find out.'
The next morning, Silverdun was awoken by the sound of someone ringing the bell at the front door. It was just barely sunrise outside, and he'd had no more than four hours' sleep.
A moment later, his valet Olou strode into his room without knocking, as was his wont.
'Knocking,' Silverdun said, 'is a civilized practice. In every corner of the realm, Olou.'
Olou shrugged. 'I may be your valet, sir, but I'm also an officer in the Foreign Ministry. And as far as the ministry is concerned, this is my house, and you're the invalid uncle that I attend to.'
'I knew there had to be a catch,' said Silverdun. He rose and began dressing, inspecting the clothing that Olou had laid out for him. 'Nice outfit,' he said.
'I do my best,' said Olou.
'Who's knocking at my door-forgive me, your door-so hellishly early in the morning?'
'Abbot Estiane from the Temple Aba-Nylae.'
'What does he want?'
'It wasn't my place to ask, sir.'
Silverdun finished dressing and left the room with a sneer at Olou. By the time he found himself in the sitting room of his apartments, he was in a better mood, and he greeted Estiane with a smile that Estiane did not return.
'What's wrong, Estiane? Did they finally discover your cache of liquor?'
'I am going to speak this morning with Lord Everess,' said Estiane. 'Depending on the outcome of this conversation, I may ask you to reconsider your choice of employment.'
'Says the man who practically pushed me into it.'
'A situation has arisen,' said Estiane, 'that has made me question that decision.'
'Trust me; I've questioned it plenty for both of us.'
'For what reasons?' asked Estiane. The abbot's eyes were red; he appeared as though he'd been crying.
'I'm not sure if I can say,' said Silverdun.
'Ahh,' said Estiane, folding his hands in his lap. 'Secrecy. You have indeed entered a world of shadows, Perrin.'
'This is the way of things,' said Silverdun. 'I knew that before I joined up with Everess, and I've had it confirmed more than once since.'
'We will speak more of this later. 1 just wanted to let you know.'
'Abbot,' said Silverdun, 'what is the extent of Aba's forgiveness? Just out of curiosity.'
Estiane sighed. 'The Scripture says it is infinite, child. Let us hope for both of our sakes that the Scriptures do not exaggerate.'
Lord Everess's office was spacious and homey, dressed with antiques and old religious artifacts: an Arcadian censer from the Ram cycle; a Chthonic candelabra with twelve candles of different hues, each representing both a god and a Gift; a bronze statue of a Nymaen god, who was a grossly fat man with his hand held up in benediction. Everess himself held no particular religious
