Pendant of Fortune (41 page)

His muscles were stiff from sleeping in a sitting position, and his neck and shoulders were even more stiff. He went upstairs to see the sky and relieve himself, and noticed that the pain from his wound wasn’t nearly as great as it had been the previous day. It had stopped bleeding; he could brush dried blood carefully off of it, but it was still very sore to the touch. When he came back downstairs, he was just in time to see the door closing and hear the chuckle of the guards. Another tray lay on the floor, wisps of steam rising from it in the early morning chill. It took him only a sniff to tell that it had been treated the same as the last one. His stomach growled in protest. Ignoring it, he occupied himself with a series of exercises to stretch his sore muscles. All he could do now was wait.

He stayed downstairs so as not to miss any visitors. Around midday, he got his first. His ears pricked up as the door latch was thrown, and the door creaked open to reveal Dereath. He smirked down at the tray and kicked it back outside, then closed the door behind him.

“
Why, Lord Vinton, you don’t look pleased to see me.”

Volle looked away and didn’t respond.

“
And you haven’t been eating the delicious food they’ve been serving you. No appetite? I do admit the guards were reluctant to feed you at all, since they’re still convinced you killed one of their number. Lord or no, they don’t like that one bit. Now, if you were a Lord in good standing, they might not be as vocal about it, but someone’s been reminding them that you’re on trial for treason later this week.” His voice oozed false sympathy. “If you aren’t already in prison for murder, that is. You’ll probably not hang unless you lose the treason trial too, and the King may decide it’s not worth the bother to try you for treason, since you’re already a murderer.”

Volle curled his tail tighter around his feet and tried to ignore the rat. Dereath was gloating now, but he hadn’t won yet. Volle brushed his pendant with a finger and stared fixedly at the stones.

“
I just thought I’d come by to see how you were doing,” Dereath went on. “Sore at all? I’m feeling most wonderfully refreshed.”

Volle clenched his teeth and stayed quiet. Dereath stepped closer to him, and Volle looked up, baring his teeth. “Careful. I’m already branded a murderer. One more body won’t change that, and it would make me feel so very good.”

Dereath sneered at him, obviously trying to gauge Volle’s sincerity, then took a step back. Volle savored that minor triumph.

“
In case you were waiting for your weasel friend,” Dereath said, more sharply, “he won’t be coming. I would expect you will see Nero, to tell you when the trial has been scheduled for. With all this evidence and the guards in the state they are, I expect it will be soon. Maybe even tomorrow. Do you know what tomorrow is? Tomorrow is Rodentiday. Sometimes things really do work out nicely.” He turned and walked for the door.

Volle watched him go, wishing he could think of something to say that would make the rat uneasy and let him feel a bit more of that minor triumph. In the end, he decided it would be wiser to remain silent, especially if Nero would be coming later. He would have a lot to discuss then.

Sometime after midday, he was sitting in the upper room looking at the sky. His moods rotated between worry for Streak (muted, since he’d seen the wolf), anger at Dereath, and slight apprehension for his own fate. The dilemma of Ilyana had been pushed back into his mind, so much so that he never even thought to wonder whether she was expecting him at the resort today. He did wonder about Helfer, no longer angry at the weasel. He wondered whether Helfer had been told of what happened, how much he knew, and what he thought.

Mostly, though, he tried to remain in a mood of calm resignation. At this point, there was little he could do except wait, and he preferred to wait under the sky, even if it meant sitting with the reek of his makeshift toilet in his nostrils when the wind swirled into the tower.

His ears caught noises from downstairs. He had found a fist-sized piece of rubble, and laid it near him, in easy reach. They obviously hadn’t put a lot of thought into this prison, but he supposed nobody had guessed that they would need to imprison even one person, let alone two. Lucky he wasn’t actually inclined to violence, though if Dereath showed his pointy muzzle, he wasn’t sure he could keep from throwing the rock at him.

He was mildly surprised to hear Nero’s voice huffing and grunting as the wolf climbed the stairs. “I suppose I can’t blame you for wanting to be up here,” he said as his head came into view. Volle saw his nose wrinkle, but he didn’t mention the smell. “It’s hard on an old wolf’s legs, though.” As he stepped up to the floor, he looked around for somewhere to sit, finally gave up, and sat on the top stair.

“
I didn’t kill the guard,” Volle said.

“
No, I gathered as much from Archie. He seemed to believe that you had been set up, and he provided a most convincing argument. I fear that argument carries little weight with the victim’s comrades, though.”

“
I guess not.” His stomach growled. “Do you think you could bring me some food tonight?”

Nero nodded. “I’ll do that, and speak to the guards.” He shifted his weight and sighed. “I have spent the morning talking to Streak. He has been more forthcoming than he was previously, for which I gather I have you to thank.”

“
He told you what happened, then?” Volle leaned forward eagerly.

“
He did. And he told me several other things, the importance of which may have escaped him.” Nero tapped the floor with one claw.

“
So you know who did it?”

Nero looked sharply at him. “I have formed several theories which have rather different likelihoods of being true. I cannot say for certain that I have narrowed down that list to one.”

“
But Dereath did it,” Volle said softly, insistently. “He got the scent from me and Streak. Scent transfer doesn’t happen accidentally. He had to have planned it out, because the scent wouldn’t stay on his paw for long.”

The wolf narrowed his eyes again, but didn’t speak immediately. When he did, he was no longer looking at Volle. “Accusing a highly ranked Lord, even one not born to the peerage, is a difficult business. Circumstantial evidence—as convincing as it may be—will probably not be enough. Not when it comes down to your word against his.”

Volle growled. “But at least the evidence should be enough to free me, right?”

“
Perhaps. Streak certainly stoutly defended your innocence, but he admitted that he didn’t know the puma guard’s voice for certain. You could have had a collaborator knock on the door after you’d killed the guard just to make Streak think that the guard was still alive.”

Volle gaped at him. “How would I even think of that?”

“
It is my job,” Nero said, “to imagine all the possibilities.”

“
Is there a possibility in which you killed the guard?”

“
Doubtful, as I was in the orchard having dinner at the time.” Volle’s stomach growled at the mention of dinner. “But I’m certain there is a scenario under which I could have arranged for it to happen.”

“
Why did you go to the orchards?” Volle suddenly remembered seeing the wolf in one of the carriages. “Archie said you were staying here.”

“
Circumstances arose that made it more convenient for us to swap places,” Nero said. “Archie was rather peeved at being deprived of a nice trip, and I am less than enthusiastic about taking trips in general, but I dare say it worked out for the best.”

Volle flicked his ears curiously. “Why is that?”

Nero smiled. “Because I was treated to the best dinner I have had in a long time, and Archie, well…Archie had quite a rewarding afternoon.” He shook a paw at Volle. “You are lucky he was around.”

“
I have a feeling it was not quite luck.”

“
Well, you may be correct. But remember that the fortunate often make their own luck. Now, apart from getting you an unmarked dinner, is there anything else I can do?”

Volle’s tail swished against the rocks restlessly. “Get me out of here.”

“
Your trial will be tomorrow. I think I can safely say that there is very little chance you will be convicted, but I would ask you to remain quiet during the proceedings. It will be a very delicate thing, however it happens.”

“
Tomorrow…” Volle thought about Dereath’s words. “Do you believe in omens?” he asked softly.

“
I believe that the astute person can perceive small details, sometimes without realizing it, that may give him insight into the larger picture.”

“
I mean, do you believe that Canis, and Gaia, send us signals sometimes?”

Nero looked at him curiously. “I believe that they provide the small details. The astute person…”

“
All right, all right.” Volle didn’t know whether to frustrated or amused. “Don’t you even want to ask me what happened with the guard? Or…with Dereath?”

Nero smiled a toothy smile. “If you would like to tell me any relevant details, small or no, I would be happy to hear them, but between Streak and Archie, I think I have compiled an adequate picture of the proceedings.” He placed just the slightest stress on the word ‘relevant.’ “I regrettably did not have the chance to examine the body of the guard, but I am not sure I needed to.”

“
What would you have been looking for?” Volle tilted his head curiously. “Archie or I might have seen it.”

“
I am not looking for anything in particular. It might have been instructive; that is all.”

Volle sat back and nodded. “The puma was alive when I went into Streak’s cell. I’m almost sure it was him knocking at the door. He said Lord Fardew wanted me to come outside in five minutes. I wasn’t going to go, but then…I was talking to Streak and he mentioned Dereath putting his paw under his tail, and I remembered that he did that to me too.” Volle put his ears half back. “Earlier.”

Nero nodded, not seeming curious as to how that had come about, so Volle gratefully went on. “So I went outside to look. I had a feeling something was wrong. I found the puma dead. Only a few minutes later, Dereath and another guard came running up. The other guard seemed about ready to kill me. But I smelled the knife handle that was in the puma, and my scent was on it, but not the cinnamon I’d put on my paws. I’d just done it that day, just, er, trying it out. If I’d killed him, I couldn’t have helped getting cinnamon on the knife, and I know there wasn’t any there.”

“
That is what Archie told me.” Nero nodded.

“
Did he smell Dereath’s paws?”

“
I don’t believe so. In any case, I doubt that would have revealed anything. If Lord Fardew did as you said, he would certainly have washed before returning.”

“
I don’t know if he would have time,” Volle said thoughtfully.

“
He has certainly washed by now.” Nero’s voice held a trace of amusement.

“
I’m sure he has.” Volle flicked his ears back. “And Streak was in the bedroom when that mouse was killed. She was dead when he opened the door. It had to have been Dereath, getting out through that hole in the wall.”

“
I am still convinced,” Nero said, “that Lord Fardew never passed through that hole. In fact, he may have found it a touch larger than he would have liked.”

“
What do you mean?” Volle was getting tired of asking Nero that.

“
Your Streak did tell me that he was waiting in the bedroom, but he also said that he got to the parlor door a couple of moments after the scream. That’s very quick. Even someone who was ready to act at a moment’s notice would be hard-pressed to get from the bedroom to the parlor door in ‘a couple of moments.’ When I pointed that out, he admitted that he was in the parlor when he heard the scream, and I asked him why he had left the bedroom. He said that he heard a noise in the parlor, but the ensuing excitement had driven it completely from his mind.”

Volle listened, ears perked, as Nero continued. “I asked him what kind of noise, and the best he could recall was that it sounded as if something had fallen. Something small and metallic.”

“
The scissors.”

Nero nodded. “That is my guess.”

“
So she dropped the scissors, then someone picked them up? No, that doesn’t work.” Volle stroked his chin, frowning as he tried to work it out. A moment later, his eyes widened. “She wasn’t the one who screamed. She was already dead.”

“
Exactly.” Nero seemed pleased. “The murderer stabbed her with the scissors, then put your wolf’s scent on them later, threw them into the room and screamed through the hole in a passable imitation of a female mouse.”

“
Dereath.”