That news certainly had no need to spread now.
âTrust whom you will. I am not your lackey.â I grinned without humor. âPerhaps you should send one of the other women on your council.â
Kohlmann bored on. I had not marked the councilor to be the power in the room, but this business clearly stirred some passion within him. âThey seek you regardless. You may as well respond in our name. I will accompany you as surety.â
âYou could not stand against a Blade Mother.â My voice was flat. âIf this embassy would claim our lives, we are already forfeit. So I do not see what further protection you might offer.â
âThe protection of legitimacy. And witness. You they might seek to capture as one of their own gone astray, but such an assemblage of envoys should consider thoughtfully before striking down a councilor of Copper Downs.â
âThese are people with a ship ,â I told him, as if he were simple. âIf they are hunting me, as you think, then all they need do is lay chains on me and sail away. Who would care then what corpses lay cooling in their wake?â After a moment, I added thoughtfully, âAt least, thatâs how Iâd do it.â
Kohlmann blinked twice. I was fairly certain that constituted an outburst, coming from him. âThey have too much of their trade and good name invested in this embassy. The Prince of the City would not cross the Storm Sea on some petty raid.â
He had the truth of that. The Prince had far too many receptions to attend. âFair enough. Youâve seen farther into this than I. But you are coming with me.â
âWhen?â Kohlmann asked.
Just for the sake of twitting him, I replied, âI will meet you here on the morrow, an hour past dawn.â With a sharp nod, I bid them good day and saw myself out. Nast, in the hallway beyond, gave me an almost genuine smile and pressed something into my hand.
âSir?â I asked quietly. This man and I had our differences, but weâd always shared respect. Unlike some people I knew, heâd be unlikely to shove stinging nettles or a bag of scorpions upon me.
âYou are back in Copper Downs, without patronage,â Nast said in that thin, pinched voice. âThe clerks have collected a purse to ensure you may live decently.â
He was right, so far as it went. My bonds were still held by Nast on my behalf, but they were hardly spending money. I could buy passage across the sea, but not pay for a basket of rolls with them. I allowed my doubt to sharpen my tone. âIs this your way of reducing the terror that I will doubtless once more wreak upon your city, or do your people actually care so for me?â
âA tool can serve two purposes. You will not go hungry, and a few less windows may be broken. We shall all rejoice on both counts.â His face pinched into what might have been a smile. âThe more, ah, impulsive ⦠among my staff also hold you in high regard. They seem to credit you with much to their benefit.â
âThank you,â I said simply, and glanced about at the clerks and their assistants crowding the halls, oh-so-carefully not watching me in return.
Gossip eddied in currents behind me as I left them all behind. A small smile lingered on my face.
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
My experiences in the teahouse left me very much wanting a decent, protected place to sleep. The weather was already too close and miserable to curl up on a rooftop or find a reasonable straw heap. I could not risk the sort of cough Iâd catch in the chilled damp of winterâs encroachment. The Tavernkeepâs establishment was impossible, of course, with this new embassy in the city and looking for me there. I did not feel ready to approach Endurance in his temple. Which left me with remarkably few options, short of simply renting a room like any traveler who ever came to any city on the plate of the world.
Even with some
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