'If she dies, I swear you will too.
'You don't really think either of us will see tomorrow's dawn, do you? Ivarl shook his head and raised a hand in farewell before going back into his study.
Edeard snarled in frustration, and slammed his hand down on the rail.
'You're the Waterwalker, aren't you?
'Huh? He turned round to see Kristabel standing underneath a pergola entwined with a thick emerald vine. First impression, which he always felt dishonoured by, was big wild hair and stick insect legs. Equally shaming was the accompanying thought. She's nothing like as pretty as Macsen made out.
Kristabel was tall with a long thin face that with her current mood made her appear incredibly melancholic. A slender body was wrapped in a loose white cotton nightdress. Like her father, she'd been crying. Her hair, which was actually gold-brown like her sister's, was threaded with lighter streaks. She'd been rubbing it or raking her hands through it, twining it into stringy strands which stuck out badly.
Edeard remembered his manners and bowed. 'Yes, Mistress, that's me.
'Mistress! She smiled, which turned into a grimace as she fought back tears. 'I'm mistress of nothing. Our family is a giant curse, a joke. How could the Lady allow this to happen?
'Please don't give up hope. I will do everything I can to ensure your sister's return.
'Everything you can. And what's that? She winced. 'I'm sorry. She's my sister. I love her so much. Why didn't they take me? Why?
'I don't know. Edeard desperately wanted to put his arms round her, to offer some comfort. She was younger than him by a year or so, he decided. And her pain, swirling out of an unshielded mind, was humbling.
'If you talk to them, she said. 'The beasts who did this, offer them me instead. I want to take her place. Please. They can do whatever they like to me, I don't care. I just want my Mirnatha home. Tell them that. Make them understand. I'm more valuable anyway, I'm the first daughter. I will be Mistress of this district.
'Your task, Mistress Kristabel, is to stay here and be strong for your father. He let conviction fill his voice. 'I will bring your sister back to you.
'Words, that's all. Promises, I have heard the like a thousand times from the lips of Masters. They are worth nothing.
'Let me try. I am not a Master. Do not give up hope yet. Please.
She wrung her hands together in anguish. 'Do you really think there is hope?
'Always, he told her gravely.
'Are you going to deliver the ransom?
'If that is what's needed, then yes.
'I overheard our family guards. They say it's a trap.
'It is.
'You don't even know Mirnatha.
'I don't have to.
'You really are a good man, aren't you? Is that why the gangs hate you so much?
'I expect so.
She straightened up, smoothing her nightdress, then gave him a questing glance. 'Did you really turn down Ranalee?
He bowed again. 'Yes, Mistress.
'Don't call me that. She smiled bravely, then darted forward.
Edeard felt her lips upon his cheek. He was too surprised to pull back.
'The Lady bless you, Waterwalker. She turned and scurried away down the hortus.
He walked back into Mirnatha's nursery with his thoughts in complete turmoil.
'What's the matter with you? Dinlay asked.
'Why are they doing this? Edeard asked, gazing round the room. He'd never actually seen so much pink in one place before.
'To screw you over, Boyd said.
'It was a rhetorical question. They want me out in Owestorn because they think if I'm all by myself they can kill me, right?
'It's what I'd do, Macsen said, ignoring the exasperated glare Kanseen gave him. 'They'll have a small army out there. Even if we're only ten minutes away, it'll all be over by the time we can reach you. They'll probably pick us off as well for good measure.
'But that turns us into martyrs like he said. That gives our cause strength. Possibly even enough strength to carry tomorrow's vote.
'Who said? Dinlay queried.
'That's not so good then, Macsen admitted. 'Mirnatha won't be coming back either.
'That way you get the blame, Boyd said. 'With no surviving witnesses they'll arrange it to seem like you tried something reckless. The city will believe you're responsible for her death; after all you had the ransom money. No criminal in their right mind would jeopardise that much coinage, especially after such a well executed kidnap.
'And the exclusion warrants end along with us, Edeard concluded. 'Clever.
'So what do we do? Kanseen asked.
Edeard turned to the small wooden bed, exquisitely crafted to resemble a swan, picturing a small sleeping child curled up daintily under the mauve sheets. 'Find her.
'Yeah, Macsen said. 'That would be good. Word of the kidnap is already spreading through the city. People are getting upset, you can sense that. Everyone is going to be looking for her; it's a double sacrilege on this day. The gangs will have no sympathy on this. She'll be hidden deep, that's if she's even still alive.
'She's alive, Edeard said, taking a slow step towards the bed. 'They need her until midnight. That's how they control me.
'Snatch Ivarl, Dinlay said excitedly. 'Fight fire with fire, they'll never expect that. They'll have to exchange her for him.
Macsen gave Dinlay an astonished look. 'Well I certainly never expected to hear that from your lips. I'm impressed; it has the advantage of complete surprise. Edeard?
'No. Anyway, Ivarl had no part in this.
'How do you know that? Boyd asked.
'He just told me. Edeard stroked the bed's canopy, still trying to imagine Mirnatha.
'He told you— the rest of the squad were giving each other amazed glances.
'Yes. Do me a favour, guard the doors, stop anyone from coming in here. I need to be alone for a while.
'Okay, Macsen said reasonably. 'Do you want to tell us why?
'I want to remember, Edeard said.
They were good. They didn't question him further. They had strong doubts, he could tell that, but they went out and stood beside the doors, and started talking among themselves.
Edeard pressed himself to the wall behind the bed, and slipped his farsight into the unyielding substance of which the mansion was fabricated. 'I need to know, he told it. 'I need to see what you remember.
Down at the very threshold of perception, attuned with the city's slumbering thoughts, images shimmered like the recollections of a dream. People moved inside the nursery. Himself and the squad. He followed the memory back. Julan was in the room, shouting in fury. Kristabel, crying as you would at a funeral. Further back, the frantic guards and nurses. Beyond that, the nurse coming in to find no sign of Mirnatha. And then there she was in the dead of night, a delightful little girl clutching her Huffy bear as she slept, untroubled by dreams.
Edeard slowed his quest through the stream of memory, and moved forward again. It was long after midnight when the figure materialized in the near-lightless nursery. A man wrapped in a dark coat, dissolving his concealment to stand above the bed. Edeard didn't know him, but the features were vaguely familiar; if pressed he would say the kidnapper was related to Tannarl — one of Ranalee's army of cousins, perhaps. And his cloak was expensive, as were the boots. This was no ordinary gang lieutenant. The man took a pad of cloth from his pocket, and splashed some liquid on it from a small brown bottle. The pad was pressed hard over Mirnatha's face. She struggled briefly. Edeard clenched his fists, wanting to pound the kidnapper, to make him suffer before he died.
A deeply unconscious Mirnatha was lifted from her bed. The fluffy bear was dropped to the floor. And the man's concealment enveloped both of them. A second later, the door opened and shut as if by its own accord.
'Oh Lady, Edeard exclaimed in dismay. No matter how many times he immersed himself in the memory, the mansion couldn't see the kidnapper inside his concealment. He held the moment the kidnapper lifted the child from her bed, seeing it as plain as if he were standing right beside them.