Yes
. It was an amazing performance. A
great
performance.’ She showed good-natured annoyance. ‘Oh, Kinsel, sometimes
I…If you don’t believe me, listen to
them
.’ The clamour from the audience still hadn’t died down. She smiled warmly. ‘Now get out there and bow some more.’
He kissed her cheek and went back on.
One person in the cheering crowd took no notice of his reappearance. Standing near the front, Serrah was watching two men as they elbowed towards the stage. They were dressed almost identically in blacks and greys, and they were armed with matching swords. But it wasn’t only that. It was something about their bearing and the way they moved. It was the set of their faces, and their darting, alert eyes. She had an instinct about them, and had learned to trust her instincts.
The men reached the stage and made for a gap at its side that led to the tent at the rear. There were guards at the entrance, but after a few words they stood aside. The men went in.
Serrah began pushing through the crowd to follow them.
Backstage, things were even more chaotic than before the concert. Musicians, choristers and the rest had been joined by hangers-on, well-wishers and VIPs with their entourages.
Kinsel loosened his collar and dabbed at the perspiration on his forehead. Tanalvah had one eye on the children, whose excitement was beginning to shade into boredom.
‘You know,’ Kinsel ruminated, ‘I just might do this again.’
‘Good. I thought you’d enjoy it once it was over.’
He laughed. ‘I think you’re getting to know me too well, my love.’
An assistant approached. ‘Master Rukanis, sir? As you instructed, we’re letting through some of the people who want to meet you. Could you do it now?’
‘I’d love to. Want to come along, Tan?’
She shook her head. ‘No, I’ll stay here with these two. They’re getting a little cranky.’ Teg and Lirrin turned butter-wouldn’t-melt, angelic faces up to her.
Kinsel went off with the assistant. ‘It would have been nice to meet as many people as want to meet me,’ he lamented.
‘You’d be here for the rest of the week,’ the helper replied.
‘I know. But you’ve picked a representative group?’
‘As good a mix as we could find.’
At the far end of the tent, where there were two openings to the outside, a line of forty or fifty audience members was snaking in. They were as diverse as promised. Youths, elderly couples, middle-aged patrons of music, street beggars, parents with babes in arms. As soon as they saw Rukanis they started cheering.
Guards kept them in check as he stepped forward, smiling, to shake hands and converse. Scraps of parchment and glamoured graph-sticks were thrust at him. He signed his name in silver, gold and crimson, and wrote inscriptions for the excited, chattering group. Adolescent girls giggled as he autographed the backs of their hands. People tugged at his sleeves. Babies were lifted to have their cheeks pecked.
Two unsmiling men in dark clothing moved towards him through the crowd.
Tanalvah no more than half watched this from her elevated position at the back of the stage. Her attention was on the children.
‘When are we going home?’ Lirrin yawned. Her heavy-eyed young brother, propped against her, was beyond even grumbling.
‘Not long,’ Tanalvah promised, ruffling the girl’s hair. ‘Just as soon as Kinsel gets back.’
Serrah strode up to them.
‘Serrah! I’m so glad you came back. I wanted to say I’m sorry for-’
‘Don’t worry about that.’ She was scanning the lively scene inside the tent. ‘I think we might have a problem.’
At the look on Serrah’s face Tanalvah instinctively drew the children to her. ‘What is it? Is it Kinsel? Has something happened?’
‘It’s just a hunch.’ She looked down and saw Kinsel signing autographs and talking with admirers. ‘Those two.’ She pointed. ‘The ones dressed alike.’
‘In the black and grey? What about them?’
‘It could be nothing.’
‘If Kinsel’s in danger, he needs me.’
‘
No
. Stay where you are.’ Serrah’s tone forbade argument.
‘Is something bad going to happen to Kinsel?’ Lirrin piped up, sensing the adults’ alarm.
‘No, darling,’ Tanalvah assured her, almost calmly, ‘it’s all right.’ To Serrah she mouthed,
‘Isn’t it?’
Serrah didn’t answer.
They watched.
Kinsel finished signing his name for somebody and handed back the paper.
‘Kinsel Rukanis.’ It wasn’t a question, more a flat statement.
He looked up. Two men, clad darkly, stared at him. Their faces were sober. ‘Yes,’ he replied tentatively.
‘You’re going to do exactly what we tell you,’ one of them said. He spoke softly, but his manner was professional, and threatening.
‘Who are you?’
‘We have the authority of the state. That’s all you need to know.’
‘And we’re not here alone,’ the other man added.
‘Am I being arrested?’
‘You’re to be taken into custody, yes.’
‘On what charge?’
‘This isn’t a debate,’ the first man informed him coldly. ‘Our orders are to take you quietly, if possible. But it makes no difference to us. If you want to be difficult, an awful lot
of people here are going to get hurt. It’s your choice.’
Kinsel didn’t doubt he meant it. ‘I understand.’
‘Good. Now you’re going to tell your minders that you have to leave. Don’t make a meal of it. Then we’re going out of here with no fuss. Got that?’
‘Yes.’ He wanted to ask to see Tanalvah and the children, but knew that would be a mistake.
‘Just do as we say,’ the second man told him, ‘and no blood need be shed.’
On the stage, Kutch and Disgleirio joined the women.
‘Have you-’ Quinn began.
‘Yes,’ Serrah said, ‘we see them.’
Tanalvah was growing more distraught. ‘They’re taking him away. Do something!’
‘It isn’t just those two,’ Serrah pointed out. ‘There are others down there.’
At least a dozen similarly dressed men had made their way into the tent.
‘And no doubt they’ll be plenty more about the place,’ Disgleirio reckoned.
‘They can’t do this,’ Tanalvah protested, her eyes welling.
‘They’re government,’ Serrah said, ‘they can do what they damn well please.’
‘Do you think they’re after all of us?’ Kutch wondered, looking troubled.
‘They only seem interested in Kinsel,’ Quinn replied. ‘If this was some kind of general raid we’d know it by now.’
‘Why are you standing here
talking
