in a half-aware dream, and her maid often had to break off a flirtation in order to ride forward and steady her in the saddle.
Perhaps she was a tran -dust sniffer, or there was faldis -juice mixed in with the water in the skin on her saddlebow. That would be an unexpected bonusâshe was bound to have a good supply of it among her belongings, and drugs were worth more than jewels. And it would be distinctly interestingâhis eyes glinted cruellyâto have her begging on her knees for her drugs as withdrawal set in. Assuming, of course, that she survived that long. He passed his tongue over lips gone dry with anticipation. Tomorrow he would give the scouts trailing the packtrain the signal to attack.
âOf three things be waryâ
Of a feather on a cat,
The shepherd eating mutton,
And the guardsman that is fat.â
The lady and her companion made camp a discreet distance from the rest of the caravan, as was only to be expected. She would hardly have a taste for sharing their rough camp, rude talk, or coarse food.
Kethryâs shoulders sagged with fatigue beneath the weight of her heavy cloak, and she was chilled to the bone in spite of its fur lining.
âAre you all right?â Tarma whispered sharply when she hadnât spoken for several minutes.
âJust tired. I never thought that holding up five illusions would be so hard. Three arenât half so difficult to keep intact.â She leaned her forehead on one hand, rubbing her temples with cold fingers. âI wish it was over.â
Tarma pressed a bowl into her other hand. Dutifully, she tried to eat, but the sand and dust that had plagued their progress all day had crept into the food as well. It was too dry and gritty to swallow easily, and after one attempt, Kethry felt too weary to make any further effort. She laid the bowl aside, unobtrusivelyâor so she hoped.
Faint hope. âSweeting, if you donât eat by yourself, Iâm going to pry your mouth open and pour your dinner down your throat.â Tarmaâs expression was cloyingly sweet, and the tone of her shifted voice dulcet. Kethry was roused enough to smile a little. When she was this wearied with the exercise of her magics, she had to be bullied into caring for herself. When sheâd been on her own, sheâd sometimes had to spend days recovering from the damages sheâd inflicted on her body by neglecting it. It was at moments like this that she valued Tarmaâs untiring affection and aid the most.
âWhat, and ruin our disguises?â she retorted with a little more life.
âThereâs nothing at all out of the ordinary in an attentive maid helping her poor, sick mistress to eat. They already think thereâs something wrong with you. Half of them think youâre ill, the other half think youâre in a drug daze,â Tarma replied.âThey all think youâve got nothing between your ears but air.â
Kethry capitulated, picked up her dinner, and forced it down, grit and all.
âNow,â Tarma said, when theyâd both finished eating, âI know youâve spotted a suspect. I can tell by the way youâre watching the guards. Tell me which one it is; Iâd be very interested to see if itâs the same one Iâve got my eye on.â
âItâs the one with the mouse-brown hair and ratty face that rode tail-guard this morning.â
Tarmaâs eyes widened a little, but she gave no other sign of surprise. âDid you say brown hair? And a ratty face? Tail-guard this morning had black hair and a pouty, babyish look to him.â
Kethry revived a bit more. âReally? Are you talking about the one walking between us and their fire right now? The one with all the jewelry? And does he seem to be someone you know very vaguely?â
âYes. One of the hire-swords with the horse traders my clan used to deal withâI think his name was Tedric. Why?â
Kethry unbuckled a small
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