Ragnarson nodded. „All right, Gales. I'll buy it. Go get somebody to clean up. Don't forget your sword."
Gales disappeared quickly. Varthlokkur joined Ragnar son, who asked, „What do you think?"
„Could be the truth. Fits the visible evidence."
„And he could be a glib liar. Maybe Callison followed him."
„Why?"
„Gales is acting peculiar lately. And the way he talked. Clear. Direct. Hardly wasting any words. Not your usual Gales. Like maybe he was too busy thinking fast to have time for his act."
„He was shielded."
„Aha! Maybe he and I should have a little chat in the dungeon."
„Callison was shielded too. I suspect all the Itaskians are. Only two or three would need it. ... If you only masked the traitors, they'd be marked men anyway."
„I'll keep an eye on him. Call it a hunch. He strikes a big wrong note. Inger's whole crowd seems offkey sometimes." The look he gave Varthlokkur half-dared the wizard to comment.
„You would be wise to take a closer look."
„What do you mean? I don't like the way you said that."
„I meant exactly what I said. Nothing more, nothing less. It's been said before. They're not your people. Their first loyalty lies elsewhere. Maybe one, ten, or a hundred came here to do something that isn't in your interest."
„You know something you're not saying?"
„No. Just pursuing a logical chain. Neither Gales nor Callison is the sort who could hire a Magden Norath."
„There's a depth to it... ."
„We've known that all along. The stumper is, who prof its?"
„Where's the sense? Take out Liakopulos, Abaca, and Gjerdrum. What happens? I promote somebody. The regi mental commanders are just as trustworthy."
„It'll come in time." Varthlokkur gazed toward the castle. „Can you run out of need for me for a while? My wife has needs too."
„Mine too, I guess." Bragi's thoughts drifted toward Lieneke Lane. „Later, then."
The wizard waited till the King had vanished among the plum trees. His eyes closed. The Unborn descended. Thorn Callison, stonecutter, got to his feet.
The wizard asked questions. Callison answered. The wizard departed the death-ground wearing the expression of a man who had seen a vision of darkness. He could no longer tell himself that his suspicions were the result of a hyperactive, black imagination.
15
Year 1016 AFE; Unpleasant Surprises
Ragnarson rolled out of bed gently, careful not to disturb Inger. He went to the window, stared out at mist-shrouded Vorgreberg.
He had come to Inger with the best of intentions, then had put her off, pleading wounds and weariness. She had accepted his claims. Yet the story would have been different had he been with Sherilee, he was sure.
There was something wrong between them. Something getting wronger. Sherilee was the latest symptom.
Why was it going bad? It had seemed so right when they met, during the war.
No, he told himself. You had your reservations when you sent your proposal. You had doubts and suspicions. You just weren't sure. She'd been good to you in your exile. You were vulnerable.
She's been trying, hasn't she?
Maybe she has mixed feelings too.
He couldn't shake a conviction that he was missing out. That there had to be something more to life. Would Sherilee give it to him? Probably not. Her best gift would be a last illusion of youth.
It couldn't last. He was twice her age. He was on the downhill side. It would catch up. But, gods! how alive he had felt that night. Inger hadn't done that for him, ever. Neither had Elana, despite all their years together, though he had loved her deeply and did still. Fiana... she had had the knack.
How much was emotion? How much physical? „Damn!" he growled. He could analyze forever and never unmask the whole problem. Some of the mental parts were quite clear. The physical... was it simply a matter of more approxi mate physical templating, where the needs of one pairing simply meshed better than another?
„Gods," he muttered. „This is Prataxis-thinking. Maybe that's why he never married. Maybe he analyzes too damned much."
The bed creaked. He didn't turn. Inger began kneading his shoulders. „What is it?"
He stared across the misty city. Morning birds winged above the carpet of wool. He watched a brace of blackbirds harass a crow who wanted nothing more than to pursue his corvine business. There I go, he thought. Only there's a whole flock after me, with half of them invisible.
„Brooding," he replied.
„Can I help?"
„I don't know. I have to find out the problem before I figure what to do about it. I feel kind of hemmed in, kind of guilty about maybe not caring enough about things, lonely, like I've wasted half my life, and maybe plain restless. Yesterday I scored a big coup. If it turns out, it could be one of the big dates in Kavelin's history. And I'm not excited. I don't feel any sense of accomplishment."
„Talk to Derel."
„I have. All he does is give me a scholarly explanation. That doesn't help."
„Maybe part of you doesn't believe you gained anything."
„What?"
„Maybe your heart knows something your head doesn't. Your intuition is spooky. How many times have I seen you guess right without any apparent evidence?"
That talent was contributing to his nervousness and indecision. He wanted desperately to still its dark whisper ing. He had ideas and suspicions even Derel had not heard. There are things in each man's life he tries to make untrue by virtue of concerted disbelief.
„Maybe that's my mother's witch blood."
„Maybe it's saying there's still something wrong."
„In Ravelin?" Stop pushing, woman. Don't make me face these thoughts. You might be sorry. „I don't need witch blood to know that. I'm bailing a goddamned sinking boat. Sharks are chomping holes in the bottom while the rats squabble among themselves. My friends may be more dangerous than my enemies. I've been too successful.
Kavelin isn't in any imminent peril. People are grinding their own axes. I'm halfway tempted to ride away. If I had somebody like Mocker or Haroun to go with, I'd be gone."
„Don't be silly. You can't. Too many people are depen dent on you."
„That's one of my worries. Another is I can't depend on anybody. Like the palace ... I feed people, clothe them, pay them, give them important work, and what's my re ward? One becomes an agent for Lord Hsung. Others try to kill Liakopulos, Abaca, and Gjerdrum. Your people. It just baffles me. I can't figure why they'd do it."
„What do you mean, my people?"
He told her about Gales and the stonecutter and the assassin who had died in the park.
„I'll talk to him," she said. „He's been with me since I was little. Sort of my personal bodyguard. He saved me from getting raped once."
„What?"
„I was fifteen. Pretty romantic. A band of brigands were hiding in the forest near our manor. My father told me not to go riding till they were hunted down. Being young and stupid, I naturally disobeyed. I went looking for them. I had the idea they would be romantic foresters. They turned out to be ... it was bad. Josiah nearly died of his wounds, but he got me out before they hurt me. I owe him... . He's embarrassed to be around me now because they had me unclothed before he saved me. He's a dear, sweet man, Bragi. He wouldn't do anything to hurt me."
„I never said he would. We're talking about what he might do to me. Or maybe not him. But somebody from Itaskia."
„I'll find out. I don't like it, but if you say it, it's true. You don't talk till you know." She continued rubbing his shoul ders. He began to relax. After a pause, she said, „This really bothers me. If we can't trust them, who can we trust?"