Cascet of souls

“One can at least look, don’t you think? You seemed quite charmed by him.”

She rolled her eyes at that, reminding him very much of Illia Cavish. “Mama is charmed. I’m polite.”

“Then Captain Danos has little to worry about?”

She blushed prettily as she went back to sorting her cards. “I suppose it’s common knowledge that I-like him?”

“I’m afraid so.” Alec chuckled, glad that she seemed at ease talking about it with him. “You met hunting, or so I heard.”

“On dear Duke Reltheus’s estate near Tyborn Mountain. We out-rode the hounds and speared a boar together.” She lifted her chin proudly as she exclaimed softly, “He doesn’t treat me like a child. And he’s a wonderful archer, nearly as good as you are. And he’s a poet and an artist! He sends me poems, and the most amusing letters with funny little drawings in the margins.”

“He sounds like quite the suitor.”

She blushed again. “Yes, he is.”

“I certainly look forward to meeting him when he returns to the city. Only a few more months to wait, eh?”

“You make it sound like tomorrow. Have you ever had to wait for Lord Seregil?”

“A few times, yes-” In cages and cells, sometimes. “Though not as long as you have for Danos. But you must think him worth the wait, if you haven’t encouraged any other suitors. There must be others.”

“Oh, yes. Mostly Mama’s choices, and some I’ve met at balls and salons.” She looked up with a secret smile. “But none I like so much as Danos.”

Knowing what he did, the girlish confidence almost broke Alec’s heart.

After a few games Seregil excused himself and went to one of the diamond-paned terrace doors, pretending to look out over the rain-soaked garden as he studied the crowd behind him reflected in the glass. Across the room Alec had been pressed to sing, accompanied by one of the ladies.

The handsome commander was talking with Elani again, but the watchful Reltheus was nowhere to be seen. The door at the back of the room stood slightly ajar. It was an easy matter to wander over to the bookshelves and have a peek.

A paneled corridor lay beyond, and then the princess’s private rooms behind another ornate door. Several other doors let onto the corridor-the rooms of the princess’s ladies and workrooms of various functionaries, no doubt.

Seregil heard men talking in low voices, one of them recognizable as Reltheus. He waited until no one was looking and slipped through the door into the corridor.

The voices were coming from a half-open doorway on the left. Seregil crept silently closer, until he could peer through the crack between the door and frame.

As he’d guessed, Reltheus was speaking with a middle-aged scribe, recognizable in his silver-trimmed green robe. As Seregil watched, the man handed Reltheus a packet, which the duke tucked away into the front of his coat. Money changed hands.

Caught you! thought Seregil, amazed as the brazenness of it. Their business seemed to be concluded and Seregil quickly retreated to the salon. By the time Reltheus appeared, Seregil was halfway across the room, thumbing through a book on the life of Queen Idrilain the First. He watched Reltheus from the corner of his eye as the duke went to Elani and began some animated conversation. No one seemed to have taken any notice of Seregil’s brief absence, or Reltheus’s. Perhaps it was not unusual for guests to move freely about here. Seregil wandered slowly back to the door, which was still ajar, and glanced in. There was no sign of the other man.

It was too risky to go exploring the back rooms, not knowing what servants there might be lurking about, including the scribe. You couldn’t always get away with saying you were looking for the toilet-especially here.

So he made small talk with the other guests and kept a surreptitious eye on Reltheus, but the duke’s conduct was above suspicion.

Seregil and Alec were taking their leave late that afternoon when Reltheus caught Seregil by the sleeve. Seregil’s heart skipped a beat, wondering if he’d been seen spying after all. Instead Reltheus said, “What would you and Alec say to a bit of gambling at the Three Dragons?”

“I haven’t been there in years.” Seregil gave him a self-deprecating smile. “That establishment is a bit above our station.”

“You’ll be my guests, of course.”

“Then we’d be delighted.”

“Excellent. General Sarien is coming along as well. Will you join me in my carriage?”

“You’re most kind.”

“Very good! If you’ll wait a moment, I will make my farewells to the ladies.”

“You’re looking pleased with yourself,” Alec noted as they waited for Reltheus and the general in the corridor.

“Tell you later,” Seregil replied, nodding slightly in the direction of the watchful footmen. “By the way, I hope you didn’t mind me accepting Reltheus’s invitation on your behalf.”

“Of course not. You know the Three Dragons?”

“I’ve been there a few times. You’ll need plenty of money if you want to gamble. That’s not why I accepted, though.” He lowered his voice. “With any luck, I can finagle us another invitation back to his house afterward.” He wanted a look at the letter Reltheus had gotten from the scribe.

Alec leveled an accusing finger at him and whispered, “I’m not getting drunk again!”

Seregil grinned, making no promises. “And did you and Elani have an interesting conversation?”

“We did. She more or less admitted that her heart is set on Danos. According to her, he’s not only handsome, but a poet and an excellent archer. And he makes her laugh.”

“Good marriages have been made on less. What about the attentive young officer today?”

“Apparently her mother thinks highly of him, and keeps throwing him and others in the princess’s way. It didn’t sound like anything more than that.” Alec shook his head. “It’s going to ruin Danos’s chances, isn’t it, if his father’s arrested?”

“I expect so.”

Alec cast a sad look back in the direction of Elani’s chambers. “If she really does love him, that will break her heart.”

“It’s duty first for royalty, Alec. So long as she makes a respectable marriage and produces a girl baby or two, she can take a second consort when she likes, or lovers. Even Danos.”

“It’s not the same, though, is it?”

“No, tali, it’s not,” Seregil said, taking his hand. Alec hadn’t been much older than Elani was now when he’d fallen in love with Seregil, and Seregil with him. If they’d been separated by circumstance? He shook off the dark thought. “But we didn’t make this mess; Reltheus did.”

CHAPTER 26. Lord Seregil Distinguishes Himself

“MY lord, it’s said that there is no way to cheat at bakshi, so I can only assume you are using magic,” Duke Foris growled that evening as Seregil slapped down one of his carnelian pieces and captured the duke’s spear.

The Three Dragons gambling house stood a few doors down from the Drake and was even more opulent, attracting a clientele made up of higher-ranking nobles. Young Selin had been invited, as well, and several other nobles Seregil knew only slightly; General Sarien was also there in the crowd that had gathered to watch the battle being played out between Seregil and Foris. Seregil’s reputation was well known up and down the Street of Lights, as was that of Foris, a young rake with a reputation of his own-one that had gotten the man banned from several of the brothels here in the Street, including Eirual’s, as it happened. Seregil was enjoying besting the man very much.

“No magic, Your Grace, just Illior’s luck,” Alec drawled, leaning on the back of Seregil’s chair.