Midwinter

"Fine," said Mauritane. "Just know that if there is any deception, my blade will find you first."

Edi whistled. "You must trust, sire. Without trust, where are we?"

Edi led them out of the city through a wide-open aqueduct, a stone channel that began at the city's central cistern and meandered through the city, elevated on arched pilings, then cut through the city wall and into the farmland beyond. The horses splashed in knee-high frigid water, scared of the echoes that reverberated in the curved space.

A pair of guards stationed by the aqueduct's egress from the city paid them no attention as they passed through the opening in the wall, only nodding at Edi as he rode by. The high stone channel angled downward from the wall until it came even with the ground on a gradual slope. Here, high juniper bushes surrounded the aqueduct, and Mauritane could just make out farms beyond them, empty fields lying useless beneath a blanket of snow.

At a break in the shrubbery, Edi nudged his horse up the slope of the canal and through the juniper branches, motioning for them to follow him. They emerged onto a narrow path that skirted the fence line of the farmland, where the snow was broken by several sets of fresh tracks.

"Morning patrol," said Edi, shrugging. "They're friends of mine. It's not a problem."

The path followed the aqueduct for several miles, broken by irrigation canals that extended from the main canal and ran beneath wooden bridges. The horses' hooves made thick, hollow sounds on the wood. Otherwise, the fields were silent.

Mauritane allowed the others to pull ahead, nodding to Silverdun to hang back with him.

"Silverdun," he said. "Let's talk for a moment."

"Do you still need convincing? Shall I show you a birthmark?"

Mauritane cracked a smile. "No, I believe you. Now that I look at you, I see that you are not so changed as I'd thought. The eyes are the same. I trust eyes."

They rode in silence for a moment.

"What then?" said Silverdun.

"In thinking of our mission a few things trouble me. Things I've been pondering for days on my own. I need a fresh perspective." He sighed. "In the past, I could always count on wise counsel from Honeywell."

Silverdun nodded. "I'll do my best in his absence."

"There is a crucial question of the Queen's motive in all this," Mauritane began. "Her Majesty is often mysterious, but there is usually a method to her. I'm trying to imagine what circumstances could lead to Purane-Es's appearance at Crete Sulace, and I can think of nothing."

"Men have given their careers in pursuit of understanding the Queen's mind on far simpler matters."

"Yes, but our lives may depend on it. You know as well as I the risk that we're taking."

Silverdun ruminated. "I can offer two possibilities. One is misdirection. There is someone the Queen wishes to confound, and our mission is simply a way to divert attention away from something else."

"Perhaps. But what?"

"No way of knowing. But if that is the case, any further speculation is futile."

"A rather elaborate sleight of hand," said Mauritane. "Even for our Queen. Let's proceed on the assumption that it is not the case. What is the other possibility?"

"She's hiding something from a noble in the Seelie Court."

"Whom?"

Silverdun shrugged. "Perhaps Purane-Es himself. His father is influential at court and she may fear him knowing too much of it. Otherwise she'd send Purane-Es or one of the other lackeys in the Guard to do the job. And they all talk."

"Yes, when I was Captain, stopping rumors among my commanders took more of my time than the Unseelie."

"And there's yet a third possibility."

"Mab?"

Silverdun nodded. "She has spies at court. Someone once told me that at any given time easily a third of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting are Unseelie operatives."

"That's only a rumor," said Mauritane. "Remember, it was not that long ago that protecting Her Majesty was my occupation. And I was very good at my job."

"And you can attest that there were no Unseelie spies at court?"

Mauritane scowled. "Next question. The Queen asked for me by name. What do you think that might mean?"

"I've considered that," said Silverdun. "And a thought suggests itself, but not one I think you'll enjoy hearing."

"And that is?"

"She knows you're the only one loyal enough to do the job even knowing that success is probably suicide."

"The thought crossed my mind as well."

"And?"

"It does no good to think such things."

Silverdun leaned toward him. "You'd better start thinking such things, Mauritane. Your life may well depend on it."

"There's something else," said Mauritane, changing the subject. "Do you remember the night before we left Crere Sulace, when I left you and went to the South Tower?"

"Yes," said Silverdun. "I was wondering if you would ever bring it up."

A frown touched Mauritane's lips. "The tower has been turned to excess. There were strange things there."

"I remember you heard something."

"Yes, a girl's voice. You couldn't hear it and neither could anyone else. That makes me think what I saw there was meant for me to see."

"What was it?"

"It was Crere Sulace, as it was when its prince still ruled there. But still Midwinter outside. I met the Prince, spoke with him. He was as surprised to find me there as I was."

"Fascinating. It was as though you'd been spellturned yourself. Back into the past."

"Yes. And to a very specific time. I was not alone in my arrival. A company of the Queen's Men was there to abduct the Prince's daughter. I helped them do it."

"The Prince's daughter? Was her name Laura, perchance?"

Mauritane looked at Silverdun. "You know of her?"

"Yes, I remember something of it from a history class. Crete Sulace mounted a brief insurrection against the crown during the Unseelie Wars. He claimed that the Queen had kidnapped his daughter."

"Your history is better than mine. What happened?"

"No one believed him. He was arrested and tried as a collaborator with the Unseelie. It was Her Majesty's idea to turn the castle into a prison. For years he was its only inmate."

"And they say he wanders the halls even now."

Silverdun chuckled. "Apparently, they're correct."

"I can't help but think that my participation in these events is somehow related to our errand. If so, it's the only information I have that Purane-Es does not, and that is valuable."

"You say you helped the Queen's Men. Did you give your name?"

"No. I gave the name of one of my ancestors. Bersoen. The lieutenant of the company promised me a medal."

"I see," said Silverdun. "When we arrive in Sylvan it may be of some interest to consult the Histories and determine if that medal was delivered."

"So you think there's a connection to our mission?"

Silverdun scoffed. "Mauritane, if you knew the Queen as well as you claim to, you'd know that the question doesn't need to be asked."

Edi brought them to a halt before a patrol of four city guardsmen.

"These gentlemen will each require twenty," he said.

Mauritane grumbled but paid the men from the rapidly dwindling proceeds of the previous evening's mestina.

"You'd better pray that they are the last patrol we encounter," said Mauritane, once they'd ridden on. "Because I'm running out of silver and patience both."

Edi looked around him and, realizing that he was now alone with them, chose to say nothing.

Raieve squinted at Silverdun. "That Faella certainly took care of you," she said. "What on earth did you do to her?"

"Does it matter?" said Silverdun.

"I'm curious." Raieve suppressed her wicked grin.

"She wanted me to leave Estacana with her and become a mestine. She thought we could work as a duet." Silverdun made a face, looking away.