air and you look like you could do with some, as well. Come take a turn in the garden with me.”
Seregil wavered to his feet, still playing half inebriated, and took Reltheus’s arm. “Just the thing!”
The rain had stopped and a light fog had risen from the harbor, pleasant against the skin.
“I must say, it’s been a delight getting to know you, my friend,” Reltheus said warmly, patting the hand on his arm. “For all your reputation, I believe there’s more to you than you let on.”
Seregil schooled his expression to a tipsy grin, wondering if Reltheus meant to slit his throat here in the darkness. “I hardly think so. As I’ve often said, most of what you hear about me is true.”
“But I’ve heard a great deal, and not all of it scandalous. You were an important envoy in Aurenen, it’s said, threading the complicated politics of that country.”
Seregil relaxed slightly. “I was glad to be useful to Skala. I love my adopted homeland very much.”
“And you wouldn’t see it come to harm.”
“Of course not.”
“Then I may have a way for you to forestall that.”
Seregil stopped in the light of a garden lantern and looked up at him. “Me? How?”
“Oh, just a little thing,” Reltheus assured him. “As it happens, I have reason to believe that your friend Duke Malthus may be one of those wanting to put Klia on the throne in Elani’s place. I fear he might even be planning to assassinate Phoria and the girl. And I think our friend General Sarien may be in on the plot, as well.”
Seregil gave him a horrified look. “That can’t be!”
“I do hope for their sakes that I’m wrong, but I’m trying to find out for certain before I go to the vicegerent. And I think you can help me in that. You socialize with Malthus frequently. Has he ever said anything to you that would make you think he’s unsympathetic to Elani as heir?”
“Never! Do you think it’s really possible?”
“Yes, I do. If you could keep your ears open, even sound him out a bit, it would be a great service to Skala, the queen,
and Elani, of course. I couldn’t bear to see that girl come to harm.”
“I’ll certainly pay attention to see if Malthus says anything about it, but he is a friend, and I don’t want to get him into any trouble.”
“But you wouldn’t want anyone to think you were colluding with him, either, would you?” Reltheus asked mildly.
Now the gloves were coming off. “Why do you think anyone would think that?” Seregil asked in alarm that was not entirely feigned. If Reltheus turned on him and Alec, he certainly had sway at court.
Reltheus patted his arm again. “I’m sure you’ll prove your loyalty to Skala, Seregil. If you do hear anything compromising, it would be best if you brought it directly to me.”
“Not Prince Korathan?”
Seregil caught a fleeting look of exasperation in the other man’s eyes. Reltheus was quite the dissembler. “No, I think it will be better if you come to me.”
“Very well. I’m sure you know best,” Seregil replied.
They went back inside to find that Alec had arrived.
“And how is your distressed friend?” asked Reltheus, pouring wine for him.
“He’ll live,” Alec said with a smile, catching Seregil’s eye. “Got himself into a bit of trouble in a rough neighborhood. He’s gone home now.”
He and Seregil stayed long enough for Alec to have a few games, and it was closer to dawn than midnight when they finally took their leave. The wind had come up, swirling the thickening mist and blowing out street lanterns. Even here in the Noble Quarter, the lamplighters had turned in for the
night. It was the sort of night footpads crept into the finer streets, looking for an easy mark in the darkness.
“Atre’s all right?” asked Seregil.
“Minor knife wound from a girl cutpurse he tried to help, according to him. Brader came and fetched him.”
“How did he know where Atre was?”
“I didn’t think to ask,” Alec admitted. “Atre must have sent a messenger.”
“No matter, I suppose, so long as he isn’t mortally wounded.”
“Speaking of mortally wounded, I found a man with the sleeping death on the way back. I took him to a temple, and there were more.”
“Up here? How many?”
“Five in all. Tonight it was a god-touched young man, and-two little boys.”
A small but clear stab of heartache slipped along his bond to Seregil. He reined in close beside Alec. “Is it because they’re mostly children, tali?”
“Yes.” It was a hoarse whisper, and Seregil felt that tingle of pain again. Alec had always been good with children. Having Sebrahn for so short a time and then losing him had left a deeper wound than Alec would admit. Though he wouldn’t talk about it, every so often something would bring the sadness to the surface. It happened less often now, but the pain was still just as deep.
“It’s not just that,” Alec added softly. “I was nearly that poor once, and played in the streets when my father left me behind in towns sometimes.”
“At least he came back. You had someone who cared about you.” It had been a long time since Alec had mentioned his father, and although the man had sounded like a hard-bitten sort, Alec had clearly loved him and felt loved in return. At times he showed a bit of the man’s reticence, too, Seregil reflected.
“This disease doesn’t just strike children,” he pointed out. “There was that prostitute we found, and your fellow tonight.”
“That’s true,” Alec said grudgingly. “But the drysian said
the bawd had been to her with various maladies. She might have been ill. It makes sense for a disease to take the weakest.”
“The poor don’t get as much food, especially this summer. They’re not as healthy to begin with, and they die younger.”
Alec frowned. “If Korathan quarantines them, it will just make it worse.”
“But keep it from spreading and killing even more, as it appears it already is. These things run their course, like a fever or a wildfire. Did you get a good look at them?”
“Not a thorough one, but I asked about wounds and marks, tattoos and the like. There was nothing.”
“Well done.”
Alec was quiet for a moment. “The drysian told me there are a lot more sick ones at the temple down in Grampus Street. She said there are more falling sick in the Lower City all the time. That’s where she thought the ones she had came from. The man I found certainly looked like someone who could have been from the stews down there. I think he was a gate runner, from the smell of him.”
“We already have our hands full, Alec.”
“If it’s spreading up here, wouldn’t Valerius want to know?”
Seregil sighed. “We’ll go to him early tomorrow, and see if he knows anything about all this. Let him have a look at them. Illior knows there’s nothing we can do to help them.”
They rode on in silence for a few minutes. “The Skulpin seems a strange sort of place for anyone who loves luxury as much as our actor friend, don’t you think?” said Seregil.
“You think he was lying about why he was there?”
“I don’t know. It could just be a place he frequented when he and his friends lived there.”
“I’m surprised he had the energy to go, after a performance.”
“The Crane is dark tonight.”
“It is?” Alec frowned at something.
“What is it?”
“He had a little cosmetic on his face.”
