King of Foxes (22 page)

After months in Opardum, Tal now began to think of Leso Varen as The Man Who Wasn’t There. His name never came up in any context, save one: when the Duke was not around, occasionally someone would mention,

“He’s up in Varen’s suites.”

Tal was not in any hurry, but he was curious. He decided the day would come when he asked questions, but that day wasn’t here yet.

Amafi had also been instructed to do likewise with the other servants in the citadel. To listen, but not to question. All he could discover was that twice a day a meal was left outside Varen’s apartment door, and every week a pile of clothing to be laundered was left outside. No servant was permitted inside except on rare occasions, always at his request, and always involving a particularly repugnant task. One servant had been overheard to complain that if Leso Varen wanted another corpse dragged out of his quarters in the dead of night, he could bloody well do it himself, and another once remarked that whatever the black stains were on the walls of one of the rooms up there, they were nearly impossible to scrub off.

Tal instructed Amafi in his role of manservant and _______________

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found him to be Pasko’s rival in the common matters of the day. Tal’s clothing was always clean, laid out impecca-bly, and his messages were delivered in a timely fashion.

The man could blend into the background, despite his somewhat colorful choice of clothing upon occasion, and he remembered everything he saw and heard.

After supper, Natalia motioned to Tal to join her and whispered, “Have you some time for me later?”

Tal nodded and replied in low tones, “As much as you require, m’lady.”

With a smile, she accepted her brother’s invitation to depart with him, and over her shoulder said, “I’ll send word.”

Tal nodded. Captain Quint Havrevulen turned to Tal and said, “Getting ambitious, Baron?”

Tal pretended not to take the Captain’s meaning.

“Sir?”

“Just watch yourself, Baron. Our lady has many suitors, and some of them do not abide competition well.”

“I am merely our lady’s servant, sir,” Tal said, then with a smile and nod he turned and walked away.

Amafi fell into step beside his master, and said, “Our dear captain wants you dead, Magnificence.”

“Well, then, the feeling is reciprocated.”

They reached Tal’s apartment, and Amafi said, “What is your pleasure, Magnificence?”

“Our master has no need for me, it seems, tonight.”

“Shall we go into the city?”

“No, tonight I wish to explore for a short while,” said Tal. “Kaspar has no need for me later, but I suspect Natalia will, probably after the eleventh hour. So I need to be back here should the call arrive.”

Amafi said, “Magnificence, that’s less than two hours away.”

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“Should it come before I return, send word I am . . .

bathing . . . have some hot water drawn, and I will be along shortly.” Tal quickly stripped off his ornate tunic and donned a plain one of dark grey. He went to the door and glanced out, looking quickly each way. “I’ll be back shortly,” he said.

When Amafi looked out a moment later, he saw that the corridor was empty. “Very good, Magnificence,” he said softly, and shut the door.

__

Tal moved quietly through the dim hallway. Every chance he had since the first day young Rudolph had guided him into the servants’ network, he had explored on his own.

He had already discovered two cave networks, apparently unknown to the servants, that ran back into the cliff for miles. One ran downward, and Tal had ceased exploring due to time constraints. The other ran slightly upward, and ended at a loose fall of earth and stone, and Tal was convinced that with a little digging he might have found another way to the surface of the plateau above the citadel.

Now he was seeking a hidden entrance into Leso Varen’s private apartments. He had unsuccessfully tried several hallways that ran parallel to the halls leading to that part of the citadel, and now he was exploring an old hallway above that. He had almost taken a punishing fall trying one of the other ladders to the upper levels, for as Rudolph had warned, the wood was old and rotten.

But he had found three sound ladders that took him to a series of halls higher than any other he had seen. They started in the distant wing of the citadel that was sealed off, and worked across the highest level of rooms. He had _______________

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mentally mapped every room in the citadel he could see, and had a firm grasp on his location every step of the way.

He also knew he was running out of time and would have to be back to his quarters quickly. He came to a door.

Tal paused. If he judged direction and distance correctly, on the other side of this door would be a hallway, one that should lead within a hundred feet to some sort of servants’ entrance to the hallway outside Leso Varen’s private apartments. He inspected the door, and as soon as he touched it, the hair on his neck and arms stood up.

There was a ward on the door. Even in this forgotten passage, the wizard had ensured his privacy. Tal quickly pulled away. He hoped that merely touching it hadn’t alerted the spell-caster. He thought it improbable, since enough rats traveled these halls to make it likely he’d be up here checking to see if someone breached his privacy two or three times a week.

Tal decided to call it a night and return to his quarters.

He took the shortest route back and after climbing down half a dozen ladders and traveling nearly half a mile of hallways, he cracked open the servants’ door across from his own rooms. He peered out, saw the hall was empty, and quickly crossed the hall.

Letting himself into the apartment, he saw Amafi waiting. “The Lady Natalia sent word.”

“How long ago?” asked Tal, stripping off his very dusty tunic.

“Ten minutes, perhaps. I said as you instructed that you were bathing and would be along shortly.”

Tal tore off his remaining clothes and climbed swiftly into the tub. “I can’t very well show up covered in dust.”

He washed rapidly and was soon drying himself with a large towel a minute later. Amafi tried to comb as much water as possible out of Tal’s shoulder-length hair.

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Still feeling slightly damp, Tal said, “This will have to do,” and left the room.

He hurried along as best he could without drawing attention to himself. He reached the door to Lady Natalia’s suite and knocked. The two guards on either side of the room ignored him, so he knew he was expected.

A servant girl opened the door and admitted him. As Tal stepped into the apartment, the girl exited through the same door, leaving him alone. He found his way to the door to Natalia’s bedchamber and opened it.

“You bastard,” she said sweetly. “You kept me waiting.” She sat propped up by a mountain of pillows, covered to her shoulders by a snow-white sheet. Her bare shoulders and neck were bathed by the light of a single candle, as she had chosen to pin up her long black hair.

“I was in my bath,” said Tal. He crossed the room and sat next to her.

She let the sheet drop as she reached out and pulled him toward her. “Most men are not so fastidious.”

“Any complaints?” he asked just before she kissed him.

After a lingering, deep kiss, she said, “No, though I will admit I like your smell—in moderation—better than the soap you use. I shall have to send some I found in Rodez that I like.”

“I’ll be happy to use it.”

“Now, shut up and take off those clothes.”

“Yes, m’lady,” said Tal with a grin.

__

As morning came, with the sun lingering just below the eastern horizon, Natalia stirred as Tal tried to disentangle himself from her. She woke and clutched at him. “Don’t go.”

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“I must. If your brother summons me, it would be better for everyone if the page found me in my quarters.”

“Oh, bother,” she said, pouting. At times Tal thought she really was a little girl.

As he dressed she lay on her back, staring at the canopy above the bed. “I wish sometimes you were a prince or at least a powerful duke somewhere, Tal.”

“Why?”

“Because then my brother might consent to us marrying.”

Tal felt an unexpected stab in his stomach at those words. He turned and said, “Natalia . . .”

She laughed. “Don’t look so panic-stricken, Tal.” She rolled over and sat up, hugging a pillow in front of her.

“I’m not in love with you.” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know if I could be in love with anyone. I think it’s been bred out of me. And I know you’re not in love with me. I don’t think either of us is that sort.

“But you are great fun. If I must be married to a man I don’t love, it might as well be to one whom I enjoy. You know so many things and have done so much for a man of your few years. And I think you might be . . . I don’t know, something special.”

“You flatter me, Natalia.”

“Yes, I do, but you deserve it. You are the youngest man ever to be named Champion of the Masters’ Court—

I had a clerk research it. The way you saved Kaspar from that bear. You speak many languages, know food and wine, and what else do you do? Play music?”

“Poorly,” Tal admitted as he pulled on his boots.

“What else?”

“I paint a little.”

“You
must
do my portrait!” she said with glee. “See, you are so many things most of the men in my life are not.

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You are not dull. I am never bored when you are around.

Oh, do something truly great, Talwin Hawkins, so my brother will have to consent to our marriage. Go conquer a country or overthrow a dynasty for Kaspar.”

Tal laughed. The girl’s uncharacteristic romantic impulse amused him. “Your brother might consent if I could lay a nation at his feet, but short of that, I suspect we must plan on going our separate ways in the future.”

As he made ready to stand up, she lunged forward and threw her arms around his shoulders. “Not for a long time, Tal. I may not be able to love, but if I could, it is you I would love, deeply and with all my heart.”

For a brief, uncomfortable moment, Tal didn’t know what to say. He had bedded many women in his time, but he didn’t claim to understand them beyond that point.

This was something he had never encountered: Natalia was unlike any woman he had known, and he wasn’t sure if she was indulging herself in a fanciful moment, or if she were revealing a hint of something that lay buried deep within. He sought a facile way out of this uncomfortable moment and kissed her, then said, “If a woman like you could love a man like me, deeply and with all her heart, that would be a truly remarkable thing. Even the gods would notice.”

She looked at him and grinned. “Well said. Now, before you flee, tell me, did you sleep with Princess Svetlana before you killed her?”

Suddenly Tal knew that here was the other side of Natalia, the cold, calculating, vicious side. “M’lady?”

Natalia laughed. “Not to worry, Tal. Kaspar has told me little, but I know enough to see clues and draw conclusions. You may leave me now.”

Tal bowed and hurried out. The morning staff was busy in the citadel, hurrying about their business, less _______________

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than an hour before the Duke’s retinue would be up and asking for their morning meals.

He slipped into his own quarters and found Amafi already awake, with a change of clothing waiting should Tal require it. Tal motioned toward the tub. It was steaming, so Tal knew it had just been refilled. He smelled of Natalia and her perfume, and knew that would bring raised eyebrows should he get too close to the other members of the court today.

As he slipped into the water, he said to Amafi, “Should I ever forget, please feel free to remind me that Natalia is every bit as dangerous in her own way as her brother.”

Amafi motioned for Tal to lean forward so he could scrub his master’s back. “No, Magnificence, she is
more
dangerous.”

Tal couldn’t think of any reason to argue.

__

Tal looked up as Amafi came into the room. He was covered in what appeared to be blood. “Gods, what happened?”

“Something extraordinary, Magnificence. Put on simple clothing, quickly.”

It was almost midnight, and Tal had just returned from a late supper with Kaspar and some other members of the court. The meal had turned into an after-dinner bout of drinking and storytelling with no one but Natalia leaving the table for hours. She had excused herself, claiming fatigue, and with one quick glance had communicated her frustration to Tal. With an equally quick shrug and tilt of his head, he had responded that there was nothing that could be done, and he would have to visit her some other time.

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Tal changed into a tunic and leggings he wore for exercising in the marshaling yard.

“The boots will not do,” said Amafi.

“I have nothing plainer.”

“Then come barefoot.”

As Tal stood, Amafi came over with a handful of ashes from the fireplace. These he rubbed across Tal’s face and into his hair. “Magnificence, try to look like a lowly peasant, and perhaps we will both live through this night.” Then he rubbed some blood off his tunic and onto Tal’s tunic and face.

Tal followed and the former assassin led him straight to the wing of the citadel used by Leso Varen. As he neared the wizard’s quarters, what he saw would have caused him to falter, had he not had a strong stomach.

Servants, all of them ashen-faced and many trying not to be sick, were carrying bodies out of the wizard’s apartment. Mixed among the servants were faces Tal did not recognize, perhaps workers from the city. Someone shouted, “You two!” pointing at them. “Fetch that tub in here and be quick about it.”

Tal and Amafi grabbed up a large wooden tub filled with water mixed with something caustic. Even breathing the fumes made Tal’s eyes water. Turning his head to one side, he helped his manservant haul the tub into the wizard’s apartment.