about.
“And tonight I’ll feel ill enough to have a pair of serving girls watch me carefully throughout the night,” Eltrina murmured as she forced herself erect so that she might get herself the tea she really needed. “It will cost me more than a little silver to have them here to prove I never leave the room, but money is no problem at the moment. Beginning tomorrow, it will never be a problem again.”
That would have made her laugh if laughing hadn’t been so painful, but at least Eltrina could smile. She really did know the man she’d been married to, and Grall never advertised his problems to anyone who didn’t absolutely need to know. For that reason she’d taken a chance and gone to their bank, and had found that withdrawing money had been as easy as ever. The bankers knew nothing about the trouble between her and Grall, which meant he also hadn’t gotten around to divorcing her. When he was found dead tomorrow morning and no one was able to prove a charge of murder against her, she would inherit everything that had been his.
“And once his estate is mine, I’ll spend every copper of it in order to get even with those peasants—and with the Five,” Eltrina said, not shouting but no longer whispering. “What I went through was
their
fault, and I’m
going
to pay them all back. But those peasants aren’t available right now, so I’ll just have to start with the Five.
Someone
will know how to reach them, someone I can bribe to make sure I have my revenge. And it might even be a good idea to spread the word about how legitimate their Seating is … spreading it among the peasants, that is. I wonder what they’ll do if the entire city rises against them…”
That time Eltrina did laugh, but the pain was more than worth it.
CHAPTER SIX
“What do you mean, you won’t be coming back again until you have further word from your men?” Lady Hallina Mardimil snapped to the man Ravence, her patience completely gone. “I’m paying you gold to report to me, so you’ll report when
I
tell you to.”
“Making the trip to this house just to say that I haven’t heard anything more is a waste of my time,” the annoying little peasant countered, a dismissiveness in his tone that Hallina was growing to recognize—and detest. “I told you two days ago that my men believed the people with your son are heading for a place called Widdertown, where it’s assumed they’ll stay for a while. Whether the while is short or long depends on what their plans are, but if there’s an opportunity to reach your son, my men will take it. They won’t report again until they make the attempt or miss their chance, and that’s when
I’ll
be back.”
“You haven’t yet said anything about the men I asked you to find and hire,” Hallina pointed out, refusing to agree to his stance without an argument. “Since
that
matter is still pending, you have more to do than simply wait for a pigeon to deliver a message to you.”
“I believe I’ve already told you that the sort of men you want aren’t available through me,” Ravence replied, actually having the nerve to sigh. “My business is the confidential settling of private, personal matters, not the hiring of thugs. Even if the thugs are supposed to be ‘fearless and capable and adept at all forms of mayhem.’”
“Are you daring to mock me?” Hallina demanded, feeling her face grow warm with embarrassment at the thought. “For someone whose agents are preparing to abduct my son for me, peasant, you have much too high an opinion of yourself!”
“My men aren’t going to abduct your son, they’resimply going to return him here,” Ravence replied, not in the least disturbed. “If, after he speaks with you, he tries to leave again, they’ll do nothing to stop him. I happen to feel that a parent has the right to have one final word with his or her child before that child severs all relations, and for that reason I’m here right now. Otherwise I
“And tonight I’ll feel ill enough to have a pair of serving girls watch me carefully throughout the night,” Eltrina murmured as she forced herself erect so that she might get herself the tea she really needed. “It will cost me more than a little silver to have them here to prove I never leave the room, but money is no problem at the moment. Beginning tomorrow, it will never be a problem again.”
That would have made her laugh if laughing hadn’t been so painful, but at least Eltrina could smile. She really did know the man she’d been married to, and Grall never advertised his problems to anyone who didn’t absolutely need to know. For that reason she’d taken a chance and gone to their bank, and had found that withdrawing money had been as easy as ever. The bankers knew nothing about the trouble between her and Grall, which meant he also hadn’t gotten around to divorcing her. When he was found dead tomorrow morning and no one was able to prove a charge of murder against her, she would inherit everything that had been his.
“And once his estate is mine, I’ll spend every copper of it in order to get even with those peasants—and with the Five,” Eltrina said, not shouting but no longer whispering. “What I went through was
their
fault, and I’m
going
to pay them all back. But those peasants aren’t available right now, so I’ll just have to start with the Five.
Someone
will know how to reach them, someone I can bribe to make sure I have my revenge. And it might even be a good idea to spread the word about how legitimate their Seating is … spreading it among the peasants, that is. I wonder what they’ll do if the entire city rises against them…”
That time Eltrina did laugh, but the pain was more than worth it.
CHAPTER SIX
“What do you mean, you won’t be coming back again until you have further word from your men?” Lady Hallina Mardimil snapped to the man Ravence, her patience completely gone. “I’m paying you gold to report to me, so you’ll report when
I
tell you to.”
“Making the trip to this house just to say that I haven’t heard anything more is a waste of my time,” the annoying little peasant countered, a dismissiveness in his tone that Hallina was growing to recognize—and detest. “I told you two days ago that my men believed the people with your son are heading for a place called Widdertown, where it’s assumed they’ll stay for a while. Whether the while is short or long depends on what their plans are, but if there’s an opportunity to reach your son, my men will take it. They won’t report again until they make the attempt or miss their chance, and that’s when
I’ll
be back.”
“You haven’t yet said anything about the men I asked you to find and hire,” Hallina pointed out, refusing to agree to his stance without an argument. “Since
that
matter is still pending, you have more to do than simply wait for a pigeon to deliver a message to you.”
“I believe I’ve already told you that the sort of men you want aren’t available through me,” Ravence replied, actually having the nerve to sigh. “My business is the confidential settling of private, personal matters, not the hiring of thugs. Even if the thugs are supposed to be ‘fearless and capable and adept at all forms of mayhem.’”
“Are you daring to mock me?” Hallina demanded, feeling her face grow warm with embarrassment at the thought. “For someone whose agents are preparing to abduct my son for me, peasant, you have much too high an opinion of yourself!”
“My men aren’t going to abduct your son, they’resimply going to return him here,” Ravence replied, not in the least disturbed. “If, after he speaks with you, he tries to leave again, they’ll do nothing to stop him. I happen to feel that a parent has the right to have one final word with his or her child before that child severs all relations, and for that reason I’m here right now. Otherwise I
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