Page 107

Deni snorted and then leaned back against a wall. “So what’s the plan?”

“The original plan was to turn public sentiment away from the Kassian to the Rising Wave, but with the army here, I’ll have to be careful with that. It might be dangerous for the people I spell.” She didn’t want innocent people punished.

She could be subtle about it, though. She would have to think about how to do it.

“Let’s find out what’s happening, first. We need people who are in a position to know. Not gossip but actual facts.”

“Like an official?”

She nodded at Oscar, then saw he was looking in the direction of a large building across the square with ornate doors. A woman stood in front of them, dressed in what looked like a ceremonial robe.

That did look official.

Ava began walking toward her.

“What’s our job?” Deni kept pace with her.

“Watch the crowd for me. Look out for anyone who looks too interested in me.”

They’d melted away by the time she was nearing the steps up to the door, and Ava saw the official was agitated, clasping and unclasping her hands.

It seemed likely that she was waiting for someone, and Ava needed her undivided attention, so she walked past, wandering through the pedestrians and continually looping back.

Finally a bell chimed the hour and the woman seemed to steel herself. She walked down the steps to the right and turned sharply into the narrow space between the town hall and the building beside it.

Ava followed her.

The woman had come to a stop a little way down from the entrance to the alleyway, and Ava made a snap decision when the woman looked at her with wild eyes.

She kept walking, giving the woman a friendly nod as she passed.

She casually drew out her scarf and looped it around her neck, then stopped and turned. She wanted to walk back, get closer to the woman, but every scrape of her boot on the stone flagging seemed to echo in the narrow space. Then she lost the opportunity completely, because the woman was finally joined by someone new; a woman in a dark cloak, her face obscured.

They didn’t appear happy to see each other.

The newcomer looked down the length of the alley and gestured, and the woman in the official robe followed the direction of her hand and shrugged.

Maybe she’d seen Ava come in and was asking where she’d gone.

Then she pulled back her hood and stared directly at Ava for a long moment.

Ava tried to draw in breath without making any noise, but it sounded too loud to her ears.

Haslia.

Haslia was here in Bartolo.

Doing strange deals in alleyways.

When Ava forced herself to get over the shock, Haslia seemed to have relaxed. Her expression as she spoke to the official was sneering. The conversation was so quiet, Ava couldn’t hear a word of it.

Haslia finally became impatient, gesturing with her hand.

Reluctantly, the official lifted both hands behind her neck and Ava realized she was unclasping a necklace.

She held the necklace out and Haslia drew something wrapped in cloth from her pocket and threaded it onto the chain without touching it.

With a shudder, the official put the necklace back on. As soon as she did, Haslia turned and walked back the way she’d come, into the square.