Morning breezes tugged at their wings, and sunlight turned the jagged mountain peaks around them a warm gold. To the left, a group of seven- and eight-year-old children were doing warm-up exercises, their training wings giving their jumping jacks a little extra lift. Taya thought of Ariq and grinned.
'I've got deliveries all over Secundus,' Cassi said, buttoning her bag closed again and hooking it to her belt. 'How about you?'
Taya glanced back down at the addresses once more.
'Some back-and-forth on Tertius. Shouldn't take too long.'
'Lunch?'
'Maybe. But if I'm not here by half-past, I probably got caught up in other business.'
'Business like a handsome decatur?' Cassi teased. Taya laughed.
'I'm not planning on it, but who knows?'
Their names were called. Cassi waved. 'Fly safely!'
'You, too!'
Flying in autumn and winter was a chilly endeavor, but the blanket of smoke and soot that hung over Ondinium always thinned out in the cooler weather. The air over Tertius was never entirely clear, but today Taya could see the rest of the city as she wove between towers and factory smokestacks, delivering messages. Once she flew over the street where Cristof's shop was located. She circled, but its door was closed. She flew on.
By nine she'd finished her deliveries. In theory she was supposed to head back up to the dispatch office to pick up another bag, but instead she flew to the metal wares markets in Secundus and landed on Cascade Street, locking her wings upright.
Pins’ shop was easy to find, but its door had been sealed shut with black wax and a lictor's printed ‘no trespassing’ order.
She stared, feeling a chill that had nothing to do with the autumn morning. Then she turned.
A heavyset man across the street was wiping the soot off his window and watching her in its reflection. He nodded when he saw her looking at him. He had the same black circle castemark as her father, marking him as a craftsman.
'If you've a message to deliver, you'll have to take it to the lictors,' he called out.
'Is that Pins’ shop?' She crossed the street.
'Yup. Her daughter found her dead this morning, didn't she? Came in to open up and started screaming.' The man leaned against his doorframe. 'I sent my boy off to the lictors as soon as I figured out what was going on. Murdered, that's what they say.'
Taya folded her arms over her chest, the chill returning.
'When?'
'Last night. Guess I would've been the last one to have seen her, then.' He sounded proud of the fact. 'She waved good night when I locked up around six. Must've been working late. I waved back and went inside. She was killed sometime after that.'
She hated to ask, but she had to know.
'How did she die?'
'Strangled. With something thin, that's what the lictors said. I overheard ‘em when I was giving my statement, didn't I?'
Taya thought of the men who'd mentioned Pins’ name the night before. They'd been strong, rough-looking types. She didn't have any trouble imagining one of them strangling a woman.
But that would mean that Cristof was involved in murder. Maybe not directly, but…
Had he come to his cousin's party to give himself an alibi?
'So, if you've any message for her, you've got to take it to the lictor's station on Teague,' the craftsman pointed out again.
'All right. Thank you.' Taya turned and began walking toward Teague Street, her shoulders hunched.
Now she didn't just have a suspicion. Now she had a chain of coincidence. Cristof had gotten something from Pins, Taya had overheard Pins’ name, and Pins had been murdered. To stop her from talking to Taya?
She rubbed her gloved hands over her cheeks, reviewing her options. By rights she should go straight to the lictors to tell them what she'd heard. Lt. Amcathra would listen to her.
But if she talked to Amcathra, he'd go to Cristof for answers, and the ripples from that inquiry would inevitably reach Alister. Taya grimaced. If his brother were a murderer, Alister was going to be involved one way or the other. But if she told him first, he'd have a chance to control the damage to his family name.
Besides , she rationalized, he's a decatur. He outranks the lictors.
She found an open side street, spread her wings, and began to run.
'Come in!'
Taya opened the door. Alister sat at the table in the center of the room, his repaired clock and a stack of books shoved to one side as he pored over a stack of papers. His exalted's mask was propped against a leg of the table.
He smiled when he saw her and pushed his chair back.
'As I predicted, my swan has become a hawk again. Good morning, Taya. Have you come to me with a pair of wings, so we can go skydancing together?'
'I have news,' she said, ignoring his teasing. 'Pins was murdered last night.'
He stopped, his smile fading. Taya took another step inside, then remembered herself and bowed, palm on forehead. They weren't at a party anymore. This was business.
'You went to visit her? After I told you she was dangerous?'
'I had to. I know you didn't want me to, but I had to know how she was involved.' Taya looked up at him. 'She's dead. Somebody killed her last night.'
Alister sat back down.
'Tell me everything you know.'
Taya filled him in on the neighboring shopkeeper's gossip. Alister shook his head, his green eyes dark with concern. When he looked like that, serious instead of dazzling, she could see a closer resemblance between him and his brother. Both of them were intense, focused people. The difference was that Alister used his intensity to charm, while his brother used it to repel.
'So,' she finished, 'I decided to tell you. You said the Council had been keeping its eyes on her.'
'Yes. We suspected her of being in alliance with the Torn Cards. You know what the Cards believe in, don't you?'
'They're anti-Engine terrorists. They think programs are infringing on our freedoms.'
'Yes.' He looked down at the papers in front of him. 'I have read the report on the wireferry accident. A torn copper punch card was found jammed in a weld. That's their sign.'
'Do you think they were after the decatur, or your cousin?'
'Caster, almost certainly. It was just an accident that Viera and Ariq were in the car instead of him.'
'But why would the Torn Cards hate him?'
Alister sighed.
'There is an important vote coming up soon. Caster was initially against it, but he changed his mind. And he has a great deal of influence over other decaturs. Perhaps the Torn Cards learned about it.'
'What kind of vote?'
'I don't know if I can tell you.'
Taya bit her lip, reminded again of the difference between their castes. Alister looked up at her, and his expression softened.
'I apologize. It's just that this has been a controversial topic. It's an experimental program, and we don't want the newspapers getting wind of it until we have had a chance to give it a trial run. That is, assuming it gets approved by Council.'
'Is it one of those thinking programs you were talking about?'
