Page 398

He advanced, and bowed yet again as he presented the cylinder to her.

The wax it had been dipped in appeared undisturbed.

But nothing would have prevented him from reading the missive, and then re-dipping the container.

Useless to worry. She flicked the wax away from the cylinder, unscrewed it, and coaxed the tiny roll of parchment into her fingers.

With a calmness she did not feel, she seated herself at the desk and leaned close to the lamp as she unrolled the message.

The words were brief, and in their brevity, a torment.

There had been a major earthquake. The Satrap and his Companion were lost, perhaps killed in the collapse.

She read it again, and yet again, willing there to be more information there.

Was there any hope he had survived? What did it mean to her ambitions if the Satrap were dead?

On the heels of that, she wondered if this message were a deception, for reasons too intricate to unravel? She stared at the crawling letters.

‘Drink this. You look as if you need it.’

It was brandy in a small glass. She had not even noticed Roed taking the bottle down or pouring, but she accepted it gratefully.

She sipped it and felt its heat steady her.

She did not challenge him as he picked up the tiny missive and read it.

Without looking at him, she managed to ask, ‘Will others know this?’

Roed seated himself insolently on the corner of the desk. ‘There are many Traders in this city that keep close ties with their Rain Wild kin. There are other birds a-wing with the same news. Depend on it.’

She had to look up at his smile. ‘What shall I do?’ she heard herself ask, and hated herself. With that one question, she put herself completely in his power.

‘Nothing,’ he replied. ‘Nothing, just yet.’

Ronica opened the door of Davad’s bedchamber.

Her slippers were still damp. The stout door of the study had contained the Companion’s conversation too well, and her walk through the garden had been fruitless.

The study windows were tightly closed as well.

Ronica looked around Davad’s room with a sigh.

She longed for her own home. She was, perhaps, safer here, and she knew she was closer to the work she must do, but she missed her own home, no matter how ransacked it was.

She still felt an intruder here. She found Rache at work scrubbing the floor, apparently bent on eradicating every trace of Davad from the chamber.

Ronica shut the door quietly behind her.

‘I know you hate being here, in Davad’s home, amongst his things.

You don’t have to stay, you know,’ she said gently.

‘I am more than capable of taking care of myself. You owe me nothing. You could go your own way now, Rache, with little fear of being seized as a runaway slave. You are more than welcome to continue to make your home with me, of course. Or, if you wished, I could give you a letter and directions. You could go to Ingleby, and live on the farm there. I am sure that my old nanny would make you welcome there, and probably be glad of your company.’

Rache dropped her rag into the bucket and got stiffly to her feet.

‘I would not abandon the only one who showed me kindness in Bingtown,’ she informed her.

‘Perhaps you can take care of yourself, but you still have need of me. I care nothing at all for Davad Restart’s memory.

What does it matter if he is a traitor, when I know he was a murderer?

But I would not see you defamed simply by your connection to him. Besides, I have more tidings for you.’

‘Thank you,’ Ronica said, stiffly. Davad had been a long-time family friend, but she had always acknowledged his ruthless side.

Yet how much blame should Davad bear for the death of Rache’s child?

True, Davad’s money had bought them, and he was a part-owner of the slave ship.

But he had not been there when the boy had died in the hold of the ship, overcome by heat, bad water and little food.

Nonetheless, he was the one who profited from the slave trade, so perhaps he was to blame.

Her soul squirmed within her. What, then, of the Vivacia and the slaves that had been her cargo?

She could blame it all on her son-in-law.

The ship had been in Keffria’s control, and her daughter had let her husband Kyle do as he wished with it.

But how firmly had Ronica resisted? She had spoken out against it, but perhaps if she had been more adamant…

‘Do you wish to hear my news?’ Rache asked her.

Ronica came back from her woolgathering with a start. ‘Certainly.’ She moved to the hearth and checked the kettle on the hob. ‘Shall we have tea?’

‘It’s nearly gone,’ Rache cautioned her.

Ronica shrugged. ‘When it’s gone, it’s gone.

No use letting it go stale for fear of going without.

’ She found the small container of tea and shook some into the pot.

They ate at Serilla’s table, but here in their rooms, Ronica liked the small independence of her own teapot.

Rache had matter-of-factly liberated teacups, saucers and other small amenities from Davad’s kitchen.

She set these out on a small table as she spoke.

‘I’ve been out and about this morning. I went along the wharves, discreetly of course, but there is little going on down there.

The small ships that do come in unload and load quickly, with armed men standing about all the time.

I’d say there was one New Trader, probably a joint venture by several families.

The cargo appeared to be mostly foodstuffs.

Two other ships looked Old Trader to me, but again, I didn’t go close enough to be sure.

The liveship Ophelia was in the harbour, but anchored out, not tied. There were armed men on her decks.

‘I left the harbour. Then, I did as you suggested, and went down to the beach where the fisherfolk haul out. There it was livelier, though there were not near the number of little boats there used to be. There were five or six small boats pulled out, with folk sorting the catch and re-stowing their nets. I offered to work for a bit of fish, but they were cool to me. Not rude, mind you, but distant, as if I might bring trouble or be a thief. The ones I talked to kept looking off behind my shoulder, as if they thought I might be distracting them from someone else, someone that meant them harm. But after a while, when I was obviously alone, some of them felt sorry for me. They gave me two small flounders, and talked with me a bit.’

‘Who gave you the flounders?’

‘A fisherwoman named Ekke. Her father told her to, and when one of the other men looked as if he might object, he said, “Folk got to eat, Ange.” The generous man’s name was Kelter.

A wide man, chest and belly all one big barrel, with a red beard and red hair down his arms, but not much on the crown of his head. ’

‘Kelter.’ Ronica dug through her memories. ‘Sparse Kelter. Did anyone call him Sparse?’

Rache gave a nod. ‘But I thought it more a tease than a name.’

Ronica frowned to herself. The kettle was boiling, the steam standing well above the spout. She lifted it from the hob and poured water into the teapot. ‘Sparse Kelter. I’ve heard the name somewhere, but more than that I can’t say of him.’

‘From what I saw, he’s the man we want. I didn’t speak to him of it, of course. I think we should go slow and be careful yet. But if you want a man who can speak to and for the Three Ships families, I think he is the one.’

‘Good.’ Ronica let the satisfaction ring in her voice.

‘The Bingtown Council meets tonight. I plan to present what information I have, and urge that we begin to unite with the rest of the city once more. I do not know what success I shall have, if any. It is so discouraging that so few have done anything for themselves. But I will try.’

Silence held for a few moments. Ronica sipped at her tea.

‘So. If they will not listen to you, will you give up, then?’ Rache asked her.

‘I cannot,’ Ronica replied simply. Then she gave a short, bitter laugh.

‘For if I give up, I have nothing else to do. Rache, this is the only way I can help my family. If I can be the gadfly that stings Bingtown into action, then it might be safe for Keffria and the children to return. At the very least, it might be possible for me to get word to them, or to hear from them. As things stand, with the city in sporadic fighting and my neighbours distrusting one another, not to mention considering me a traitor, my family cannot return. And if by some miracle Althea and Brashen do manage to bring Vivacia home, then there must be a home for them to return to. I feel like a juggler, Rache, with all the clubs raining down upon me. I must catch as many as I can and try to set them spinning again. If I cannot, I am nothing more than an old woman living hand to mouth until my days end. It is my only hope to regain my life.’ She set her teacup down.

It clinked gently against the saucer. ‘Look at me,’ she went on quietly.

‘I have not even a teacup to call my own. My family…dead, or so far away that I know nothing of them. Everything I took for granted has been snatched from me; nothing in my life is as I expected it to be. People are not meant to live like this…’

Ronica’s words trailed off as Rache’s eyes met hers. She suddenly recalled to whom she was speaking. The next words fell from her tongue without thought. ‘Your husband was sold ahead of you and sent on to Chalced. Have you ever thought of seeking him out?’

Rache cupped both hands around her tea as she looked down into it. The lashes of her eyes grew wet, but no tears fell. For a long moment, Ronica regarded the straight pale parting in her dark hair.

‘I’m sorry –’ she began.