aYes?a Sham preened before the mirror.

aThis is a dress that my grandmother would find overly modest, Lady.a Sham smiled slyly and said, aI think it will contrast nicely with the more daring gowns that have become the style recently, donat you?a SHAM MIGHT HAVE gotten a decent amount of sleep, but it required only a glance at the Reeveas face when he welcomed her to the state dining area to tell her that head managed far less.

He brought her hand to his mouth and greeted her with the solemnness required on such an occasion. Someone had finished the new wheeled chair, though they hadnat had enough time to stain it or cover the wheels with leather to provide tractiona"instead the metal had been crudely scored.

aYour timing is impeccable,a Kerim commented as she sat in the cushioned chair next to him. aYou missed the vultures gathering for the bones.a Sham nodded gracefully, aI have found timing to be an extremely useful skill in my work.a His mouth quirked upward in something not quite a smile, aI expect you have.a The time for personal conversation ended as Lady Tirra took up her post on Kerimas other side. Her skin was too dark to be truly pale, and her features were composeda"but she looked ten years older. Sham sat quietly in her seat, feeling no desire to antagonize the matriarch in her grief. Around the room the buzz of gossip was loud enough to be deafening, but at the high table silence reigned.

At last, the High Priest stood before Kerimas table, facing the rest of the room. When the roar died to a sullen murmur, he began to speak.

aHigh Ones, we come here to mourn the passing of a bright star. He leaves us one less light to steer by, and we are bereaved by his falling. Tonight we will witness the last, faint reflection of his light as his mortal form is reduced to ashes. Let us remember the illumination he brought to our dark world. Let us remember the untimely method by which he was stolen.a Beside her, Kerim stiffened and muttered something nasty. Sham touched her rouged lips lightly in thoughta"this was not the speech he and his counselors had prepared.

aThis is a dark and troubled time,a continued the High Priest, playing the crowd. aLord Venas life is not the first of our brethren to be so rudely extinguished, yet they go unavenged and the killer still stalks among us.a In tones that carried no further than Shameraas ear, Kerim muttered, aIf he keeps this up, weall have a riot, and my brotheras will not be the only body on the pyre.a It was his grim tone that made Sham glance around the room and see the emotions that were rapidly increasing: flames of terror and outrage, fanned by the High Priestas speech.

Sham did the first thing that came to mind. Though never formally taught, there were a few cantrips that every apprentice learned from an older one: simple tricks like making milk go soura"they didnat require much magic, which was good as she was still tired from her earlier battles.

a. . . someone or something killinga"a the High Priestas eyes began to water and the beautifully trained voice faltered as Shamas cantrip took effect.

He cleared his throat and began again. aKilling . . .a She added more power to the spell.

The High Priest began to cough. A brown robbed man ran up to him with a goblet of water. It seemed to help until the High Priest attempted to speak again.

Kerim frowned and glanced at Sham. Whatever he saw in her face made him relax slightly; he folded his hands loosely and rested them on the table.

When it was apparent the High Priest would not be able to complete his speech, the High Priestas slender assistant, Fykall, took his place, head bowed as if with heavy mourning.

aHigh ones,a he began, aa"we share our sorrow, and yet we must glory for him who has gone before us as so many others have done. It is the best part of being mortal that we may throw off the robes of this life for the next.a He too, diverted from the approved text, but even Sham, inexperienced as she was with demagoguery, saw it was necessary to control the people first.

The little priest raised his head and surveyed the crowd. Shamera could almost hear the High Priest grit his teeth as the Fykall continued. aThis night we must put our fears aside; only by doing so can we properly mourn and celebrate the passing of Lord Ven. We are aided by the trust we hold for the wisdom of a man who has served Altis so well in the past. As the Prophet has spoken: What need we fear when the Leopard is on the field? Altis calls, and Lord Kerim answers with a roar to snatch victory out of the gaping maw of defeat. Let the murdering jackals howl as they will, when the battle is over, the Leopard of Altis will stand alone on the field of his enemies!a Right now the Leopard of Altis was muttering under his breath about firepits and cooking pots, noted Sham with well-hidden amusement. He straightened, though, when the priestas words were met with a roar of approval. As the people quieted the priest took a step back and to the side, clearly leaving the floor to Kerim.

The Reeve rolled his chair back slightly and used the table to lever himself to his feet; at this there was a second cheer.

aMy brother has been taken from me,a he said, when the noise had quieted in a voice as carrying as the priestsa had been. He spoke slowly, so he could be heard by every person in the room. aI will find the one who has done this and force them to suffer justice if I must take him to the very throne of Altis myself to see it done.a He could not have said another word if he had wanted to, such was the response he won.

The priestas blessing on the food was decidedly anticlimactic.

SHAM WAITED UNTIL most of the room had turned their attention from the Reeve to their plates before saying softly, aFykall did a good job of calming the waves.a Kerim growled, but when he spoke it was equally soft. aI have worked to pull away from Altisas priests since I became Reeve; some of the people have embraced Him, but none of the Southwood nobles. If they think Iave become a puppet of the priests, theyall run back to their estates and stay there until they rot. In one speech, Fykall ruined a decadeas work. Iall be lucky if a third of the Southwood nobles Iave managed to coax into Court are here tomorrow.a aI wouldnat be too sure of that,a replied Sham, remembering Lord Halvokas pleasure at discovering that the Reeveas mistress was a Southwood native. aI suspect the need to believe you can help them will outweigh their distrust. You bring them hope: it will take more than a single speech to destroy it.a He didnat look reassured.

aIn any casea"a she said, taking a bite of fish, aa"that boat has left the docks, and the tides will see its journeyas end.a AT DUSK, LORD Venas body was lifted to the pyre and his soul given to Altis in an elaborate ceremony presided over by the High Priest. Kerim touched a torch to the base of the pyre, stepping back as the oil-soaked wood began eagerly to burn.

Long before the flames died down, most of the court retired, to leave only Lord Venas family to mourn him. Lady Sky would have been there, but she had taken the news of her betrothedas death badly. The castle healer had confined her to bed for fear that she would lose her child. Sham waited until everyone else was gone before leaving the Reeve and his mother staring silently at the orange flames.

EARLY THE NEXT morning, Sham opened her trunk and took out her dagger. It was a momentas work to pull the itching stitches out of her wounds and toss the pieces of thread into the fire.

She put her second-best working clothes on again. The baggy breeches and the black cotton shirt, patched roughly on the left sleeve where she had once caught her arm on a wooden casement, would serve her better than any of her dresses and she wouldnat have to keep the illusion over the cut on her arm.

She caught up a candle and lit it with a breath of magic before pulling the tapestry aside and peering into Kerimas room. With no reason to maintain the fire or to light candles and the sun on the wrong side of the sky to light Kerimas windows, the room was hidden in shadows. Shamas instincts told her there was no one in the room.

With a gesture, Sham lit every candle in the chamber as well as the wood laid in the fireplace. Setting her candlestick on a convenient table, she contemplated the wardrobe. It seemed a fit place to start looking for more of the demonas runes.

WHEN DICKON AND the Reeve entered the room some time later, the fire was roaring merrily as it consumed the majority of the Reeveas clothing, and Sham was tugging one of the large woven rugs across the floor with the obvious intention of sending it to join the clothing.

Dickon cleared his throat and spoke quickly, aSir, that is a three-hundred-year-old rug, a bridal gift from the King of Reth to his sister on her wedding to the King of Southwood.a Sham straightened and gave both men an annoyed look as she wiped the sweat off the back of her neck. aIt also contains one of the demonas runesa"I donat have the strength to remove them all. If the Reeve would like to stay in that chair for the rest of his shortened lifespan, Iall be glad to leave it here.a aSir,a Dickonas voice was almost a moan. a. . . demon runes . . . that rug is irreplaceable. There are ways of making one man look like another. To destroy such a rug on mere superstition . . .a aWe could put the rug in a store room somewhere, if you like,a offered Sham. aIf we get rid of the demon thereas no need to destroy it and until then it will do no harm in storage.a aBut that has to go in the fire.a She nodded at a large, ornate bench sitting against one wall. aThereas more than one rune on it, and two of them I havenat seen before.a They looked to her like the strange bits and pieces that had been on the binding rune shead taken off Kerim. aa"Iam not certain how to deal with ita"it wonat fit in the hearth. You must be very important to this demon, Kerim. It has expended a tremendous amount of energy to ensure that you were vulnerable to it. Iave found its runes on your shoes, your clothes, your armora"a aWhat!a exclaimed Kerim, noticing the heavy war hauberk crumpled into a pile on the floor for the first time. It had taken a master armorer nearly a year to complete the shirt and ten years of battle to make it fit like a second skin.

Sham shook her head, aThe metal is fine, it was on the leather padding. For some reason, none of the marks are on metala"maybe the nature of the demonas magic.a Dickon shook his head and muttered softly.

aOver a lifetime of dealing with difficult women, I have learned it is often better to give into their demands immediately,a said Kerim approaching the bench Sham had condemned. aSee if you can find my axe somewhere in this mess, Dickon, and Iall follow my orders and reduce this defenseless work of art to kindling. Then track down a couple of strong men to cart the more valuable pieces to the nearest storeroom.a Once Sham knew what she was looking for, she couldnat believe that she hadnat seen the magic that touched almost everything in the chamber. The fire roared higher and higher and the room began to look as if a mischievous giant had decided to toss furniture around.

At some point in time, Talbot entered the room to join the effort, and his help was invaluable as they moved several especially heavy items. Shamera suspected that the wardrobe in particular hadnat been moved in several hundred years: judging by the effort required to shift the thing it wouldnat be moved again for another hundred.

Once head resigned himself to the destruction, Kerim seemed surprisingly lighthearted. It struck Shamera head lost the air of quiet acceptance that had formerly characterized him. Not even the death of his half-brother tempered the energy with which he attacked the room.

He chopped not only the bench, but a room divider of six panels into pieces small enough to fit in the firea"as the divider bore one of the strange runes as well. He insisted on helping when Shamera directed the complete disassembly of the large state bed, the last place left untouched in the room. It was there she found the second of the demonas focus runes.

The hall door opened quietly.

Sham, whose black trousers and shirt were the same grey as the dust that had been stirred up by the tumult, crouched where the center of the bed had been, muttering hoarsely in a long-dead language. Kerim watched her intently, immobilized because the various pieces of the bed were scattered helter-skelter around his chair. Talbot leaned with half-assumed weariness against one of the imposing bedposts that leaned in its turn against the wall. Dickon had left to see what could be done to replace the furnishings and rugs Sham relegated to storage. It wasnat until the intruder spoke that anyone looked toward the door.

aIt seems meet that, after ruining your brotheras funeral with political theatrics, you would spend the next day rearranging your room,a Lady Tirraas tones could have frozen molten rock.

Although Sham registered the sound of Lady Tirraas voice, she didnat pause in her chanting. The mark shead found on the floor under Kerimas bed was older than the rest, and the demon had spent time since reinforcing the spell. As the option of burning the stone floor seemed as doubtful as removing it to storage, Sham had to unwork the spell. This was the third time shead tried and it finally looked as if she might succeeda"if she could concentrate on her work.

Tracing the rune backwards (or so she hoped, since like several others the demon used, this rune was somewhat different from the one she knew) and calling upon parts of several spells, Sham felt the rune fade, but not completely. As long as a portion remained, it could be reinvoked. She tried again, varying the pattern of the spells and feeling them begin to unravel the rune at last.

When she finally looked up from her task, the first thing she noticed was Talbot attempting to be invisible. For a man without the ability to call upon magic, he was doing a fair job at it.

a. . . could expect little more than that from you.a aMother, I am sorry that Lady Sky lost her child, but I donat know how my actions could have altered that one way or the other.a Kerim faced his mother across the pile of boards and leather straps that had been his bed, his voice dangerously soft.

Lady Tirra ignored the warning tone and continued to attack him, aYou could have broken the news more gently to hera"a note delivered in the middle of the night is hardly considerate. If you had even arranged a proper laying out . . . instead you had him burned with less dignity accorded the son of a gutter-thug.a aI did as I thought best at the time. Since I am not responsible for Venas murdera"whatever you may feel to the contrarya"I was unable to choose a more convenient moment to announce his death. As for laying him out for public mourning: his body was not fit for viewing, certainly not by a lady in the advanced stages of pregnancy. I suppose I might have allowed my brotheras body to rot for a month or so to give Lady Sky time to have her child safely.a Kerim said the last sentence with bitter sarcasm reflecting, thought Sham, a fair portion of the hurt he was feeling.

aYou have always resented him, havenat you?a said Lady Tirra in the tone of soft discovery. aWhy would you give him honor in death when you granted him none in life? We came here five years ago in the hope that you would find Ven an estate worthy of the Reeveas brother, but instead you kept him here at your beck and call. You wouldnat even make him heir to your office. Then, just when he might have come into wealth by marriage to Lady Sky, he is killed. I find it interesting that the other nobles killed by this . . . unknown killer opposed your policies.a Kerim had regained control of his temper, and there was only sadness in his voice when he replied. aLady, almost all the Eastern noblemen oppose most of my policies regarding the Southwood Lords. It would be difficult to find one who didnat.a aWith the wealth of Lady Skyas dowry, Ven would have been a problem for you,a commented Lady Tirra icily.

Sham looked at the bitter woman and saw, unexpectedly, the same strength in Lady Tirra that characterized her son. It might have been the resemblance that made Sham stop her; it might have been the white-knuckled grip Kerimas hands had on the arms of his chair.

aLady Tirra.a Sham watched as the other woman hesitated, as if she wanted to ignore her sonas mistress.

Stiffly, Tirra turned to her. aI see you have continued in your attempt to win attention by the strangeness of your attire.a Sham looked at the black shirt and pants, grey with dust and smiled, but when she spoke, it was not a reply to the ladyas challenge. aKerim has reasons for his actions, Lady Tirra. He has chosen to keep them from the rest of the Court, but I think you have the right to know the whole,a or, Sham thought, as much of the whole as I choose to reveal.

Without giving Kerim the opportunity to stop her, she continued. aAs you said, there have been a number of murders of which your son was but the most recent victim. My lord has been utilizing some of mya"a she cleared her throat gently, aa"unusual talents, to trap the killer. In the last several days, we have become convinced that the killer was not what he appeared. The discovery of Lord Venas body last night merely confirmed those suspicions.a Sham carefully met Lady Tirraas eyes. For some inexplicable reason, people always thought that meant you were being honest with them. aLady, Lord Ven was not killed last night; he has been dead for several days.a The Lady stiffened and her eyes flashed and when she spoke her voice shook with a repressed emotion Shamera couldnat put a name to. aYou are mistaken. I talked to my son yesterday.a aAs did we all, Lady,a agreed Shamera, not ungently. aBut all of us in this room saw Lord Venas body when it was found last night. He had been dead for several days.a The Ladyas hands clenched, but her face remained cold. aMaster Talbot, saw you this as well?a Talbot bowed. aYes, Lady. It is as Lady Shamera has spoken. I am passably familiar with death.a aHow do you purport to explain this?a Lady Tirra asked, finally addressing her son. The flare of anger had dissolved, leaving only a very tired woman who was no longer young.

He rubbed his hands on the smooth-sanded armrests of his chair and said bluntly, aDemons.a His mother stared silently at him.

aLady Tirra,a said Sham, aI assure you that there are such; ask any Southwoodsman of your acquaintancea"perhaps the magician who keeps shop on the Street of Bakers and supplies your maid with the cream she rubs into your hair. Demons live among people and prey upon them. We have reason to believe that this one is living among the courtiers, looking as human as you or I. It has killed more people than just your son, but we are hopeful that Lord Venas death may lead us to it.a Lady Tirra whitened a touch further. aJust what are your special talents that Lord Kerim would call upon you for aid?a aMagic,a said Sham softly, and, with a gesture, snuffed all the candles and the fire in the fireplace, bringing shadows to the room, now lit only by skylights.

She waited a long breath then raised her hand and pulled a ball of magelight out of the shadows. Small at first, she manipulated the ball of light until pale illumination seeped from an oval source as tall as she was and twice as wide.

From the items Sham had found littering Kerimas motheras private rooms when shead searched them several days previously, Lady Tirra was fascinated by the possibilities of magic. If Sham was convincing enough, Lady Tirra would leave here with the belief that Ven had been killed by a demon and Kerim was doing his best to find it. For Kerimas sake it was important that Lady Tirra didnat think he had killed his brother.

aI have heard that there is no magic in the East,a she said softly, abut here there is magic aplenty, and other things beyond the common ken. Selkies dance in waves of the sea, howlaas wail in the northern winds, Uriah skulk in the Great Swamp and here, in this Castle a demon walks the night.a As she spoke, she caused the surface of her magelight to flatten and shimmer with illusions to illustrate her words.

Sham had never actually seen any of the creatures that she spoke of, except possibly the selkie, but shead heard stories since she was a child. From these childish images she drew lifelike pictures that filled the illusionetic mirror. The demon was particularly impressive. Sham let its image hang in the air for a moment, allowing the full impact of silver-edged claws and six eerie yellow eyes before calling the illusion back into the simple magelight as big around as a manas fist.

She waved, and the candles relit themselves. The fireplace was harder, as some of the fodder still contained remnants of magic and didnat want to burn, but it caught finally and sputtered to life. Sham dismissed the magelight.

Kerimas mother swayed and would have fallen, but for Talbotas quick support. Kerim tried to push his chair over the mound of disassembled bed that trapped him, but one wheel caught in a hole and the chair tipped precariously.

aTalbotas got her, plague it. If you donat stop it, you and the chair are going to be on top of me,a grunted Sham as she grabbed at the corner of his chair and braced herself against it until it stabilized.

aSheas fine, Lord,a said Talbot promptly, as he carried his burden to the couch and arranged her comfortably. aSheas a delicate Lady, unlike some here. The sight of that demon was enough to cause a grown man to faint, much less a gentlewoman.a Reassured, Kerim helped Sham back his chair into the cleared space.

aIam sorry,a apologized Sham. aI guess I got carried away with the demon.a aYou were able to remove the rune beneath the bed?a asked Kerim, bending to heave one of the dark boards aside to clear a path through to the couch where his mother rested, deliberately refraining from commenting on her decision to tell Lady Tirra about the demon.

Sham nodded and took one end of a heavy bedpost and rolled it aside. aThat should be the last of them. Iam afraid that it has left you rather short of clothing . . .a The Reeve grunted as he managed to collapse the rest of the boards into a relatively flat pile that he muscled the chair over. Sham winced at the scratches the sharp edges of the narrow metal wheels left in the finely polished wood.

Talbot stepped away from the couch as Kerim rolled near his mother and hovered over her, holding her hand. In a voice designed to carry no further than Shamas ears, Talbot commented, aConsidering the poison sheas always spewing at him, heas very concerned with her well-being.a Sham glanced at the Kerim near the prone figure of Lady Tirra. aSheas all the family he has,a she said finally and turned to begin the task of rebuilding the bed.

Without a word Talbot helped her to lift the heavy baseboard and shift it into position. The bed was an old one, slotted and carved so it was held together like one of the intricately carved puzzles that were sold in the fairs. Sweating and straining, the sailor and Sham managed to slide the first of the four, heavy bedposts into position. Long before they were half-finished rebuilding the bed, Lady Tirra opened her eyes and struggled to sit up, pushing Kerimas restraining hands away impatiently.

aYou believe that demons killed my son?a Lady Tirraas gaze was focused on the ground so that she might have been addressing anyone.

It was Kerim who chose to answer. aYes, Mother. Furthermore, I believe that it is still here, waiting to kill someone else. I donat know what it looks like, or how to destroy ita"but it must be done before it kills again.a Lady Tirra raised her dry eyes to meet Shamas. aWhy did you tell me this? I assume Kerim would have kept it to himself.a Sham shrugged, falling back into her thief persona. aIt was becoming clear that you held Lord Kerim responsible for Lord Venas death. I thought that was unnecessarily harsh for the both of you.a Lady Tirra nodded and started to speak, but her voice was overridden by the sound of someone pounding frantically on the door. Talbot, who was the closest, opened it. Sham recognized the stableman whoad come to get Kerim before, but this time he had obviously been running.

aMy Lord, thereas a man murdered in the stables. Thereas a riot brewing with Elsic in the middle. The Stablemaster sent me to fetch you afore things get out of hand.a Kerim nodded and started for the door, pausing briefly to snatch the war horn that hung on the wall. aTalbot, stay with Mother. When she feels well enough, escort her to her rooms and then join us in the stables. Shamera, come with me.a She started after him then realized she still had her thieving garb on. Stepping to a mirror on the wall near the door, she set a brief spell, not really an illusion, since her talents didnat run that way, but something akin to an invisibility spella"almost as good as Dickonas donat-look-at-me-Iam-only-a-servant demeanor.

She caught up with Kerim halfway down the corridor.

TEN.

Elsic tucked his head against the silky-soft shoulder of the Reeveas warhorse. He held the brush in one hand as he absorbed the warm scent of horse and fresh straw.

The stallion had a long name in the Eastern tongue, but Kerim called the horse Scorch because he was blackened on all ends like a scorched bit of wood. Elsic liked to curl his tongue around the odd name when he talked to the stallion.

Since Kerim had granted him leave to work with the horse, Elsic had been given the task of grooming him and keeping his stall clean. Relying on touch rather than sight, it took him longer than the other grooms; but the Stablemaster said he did as good a job as Jab, who had groomed the Reeveas stallion previously. The praise hadnat made Elsic any more popular with Jab or any of his cronies, especially after Jab was dismissed for using beggarsblessing. He really didnat mind the other stablemenas antagonism. He didnat like to talk much anyway, except to Scorch and occasionally with the Stablemaster or Kerim.

Elsic spent most of his time in the quarantine barn where Kerimas stallion had been banished after breaking out of his stall and savaging one of the other stallions. There were four stalls in the barn, stout-walled with barred windows, but Scorch was the only occupant.

When the stallion shifted restlessly, Elsic returned to grooming the last bit of sweat that remained from the long-line exercise the Stablemaster gave Scorch twice daily to keep him fit. Usually the big animal relished the attention and stood motionless as long as Elsic kept the brush moving, but today Scorch took a half-step away from the brush and began making huff-huff noises as he expelled air forcefully through his nostrils.

Elsic put a hand out and touched the horseas shoulder. The velvet texture was damp with nervous sweat, and the muscles underneath were taut with battle-readiness. The boy tried to smell what disturbed the animala"head long ago found that his nose was almost as keen as the horseas. As he drew in a deep breath, he heard something brush against wood as it entered the barn. Instinctively, Elsic stood as still as he could trying not to draw attention to himself.

Like Elsic, the warhorse was quiet, issuing no challenges to the invader of his territory. Elsic wrapped a hand in the horseas mane for reassurance as he heard rustles and bumps in the stall across the aisle.

It was gone as suddenly as it had come. He didnat hear it leave, but it was gone all the same. Scorch whistled piercingly, half-rearing until Elsicas feet were lifted off the floor. The boy smelled it tooa"blood.

Reluctantly, he loosened his grip and stepped out of the stall, shutting the door but not latching it behind him. He thought about seeking out the Stablemaster, but a strange sense of dread drew him across the aisle to the next stall instead.

The door was latched; it took him a moment of fumbling to open it. When his left boot touched something, he knelt and stretched out a reluctant hand, though he knew the man was dead.

AS THEY NEARED the stables, Sham could hear angry muttering and the shrill scream of an enraged stallion. There was a small barn to the side of the main buildings where most of the disturbance seemed to be concentrated. She felt a bit of smug satisfaction when the Reeveas new chair traveled easily over the ruts and rocks of the stableyard.

A group of angrily muttering stablemen were gathered at the east end of the barn, near the entrance. The Stablemaster stood in front of them, a long, wicked whip held readily in one hand as he struggled to be heard over the growl of the crowd.

Sham had seen enough mobs to know when one was brewing; a thread of uneasiness had her palming her dagger.

When the Stablemaster noticed them approaching, he quit trying to address the crowd and contented himself with keeping them back. His eyes passed over Sham without pause, dismissing her as he would a servant. Distracted by her spellas success, it wasnat until they were quite close that Sham realized it was more than just the stablemasteras whip that kept the mob from entering the building.

Snorting and tossing its head, a large dark-bay stallion paced restlessly back and forth, occasionally striking at the air with a quick foreleg. White foam lathered his wide chest and flanks. His ears were flattened, giving him a wicked look not lessened by his rolling eyes. He looked like the horse Kerim had been riding the night shead met him, but Sham wasnat certain.

When they were within several paces of the crowd, Kerim stopped and blew the war horn head brought from his room. The mournful wail cut easily through the lower rumbling of the crowd. When the last echoes of it died down the stableyard was quiet; even the stallion had stilled.

Satisfied that he had their attention, Kerim continued forward. A path opened in the crowd and Sham, anonymously androgynous in her dusty clothes, followed him until he stood next to the Stablemaster.

Kerim turned to the crowd and addressed them in Southern first, repeating himself in Cybellian. aI believe you all have duties elsewhere.a At his cool look, most of the small crowd dissolved until only a handful of stubborn men remained.

Kerimas eyebrows raised in mock surprise. aAm I to understand that none of you work in my stables?a The men shifted uneasily, but one stepped forward. Doffing his cap, he looked at the ground. aBegging your pardon, sire, but the man what died is my brother, Jab. He asked me to meet him in the barn when I finished with my horses, said he had somewhat to show me. When I comes in, I sees that weirdie . . .a He cleared his throat, perhaps remembering that the Reeve was known to take an interest in Elsic. a aCuse me, sire. I sees Elsic kneeling down next to the body of my brother. There werenat no head on the body, sire. I only knowad it was Jab acus of his boots.a Kerim eyed the sharp-bladed scythe the stableman was carrying and said blandly, aSo you decided to carry out a little justice of your own, did you?a The ruddy stableman blanched, and his friends began quietly to drift away.

aIt were for my own protection, sire. That demon horse opened its stall and drove me out of the barn afore I could catch Elsic and hold him for the guards.a Kerim shook his head in disgust. aEnough. Take the scythe back to where it belongs. You have the rest of the day off. Your brother will be seen to by the priests of the Temple. If you desire other arrangements for him, talk to one of them.a He waved his hand in dismissal.

When the last of them were gone, Kerim turned his attention to the barn. The big stallion snorted and raised both front legs in a slow, controlled rear that he held for a long moment before dropping to all fours.

aYead better see to the horse first,a suggested Talbot, whoad arrived just as the mob dispersed.

Kerim nodded and propelled himself forward. As he passed the entrance, the stallion snorted at him but never took its attention off of Sham, the Stablemaster, and Talbot. When Kerim gave a sharp, short whistle from the shadows of the barn, Scorch reluctantly followed him.

aCome,a said Kerim after a moment.

Inside the barn it was dim and cool. By the time Shamas eyes had adjusted from the brightness of the late afternoon sun, Kerim was backing his chair out of a stall opposite the one head put his horse into. Mutely he gestured Talbot into it. The shadows hid whatever reaction Talbot had, and after a moment he came out and shut the stall behind him.

aDid you notice anything strange?a asked Kerim.

The former seaman nodded grimly. aNot enough blood. aTis gory enough I grant ye, but if he were kilt here theread be quite a bit more. Someone brought the body here after he was dead.a aElsic,a Kerim called softly.

The stallionas stall opened and closed behind the thin, pale boy. There were smears of blood on his hands and on his clothes where head wiped them off.

aStablemaster,a said Kerim softly, his eyes still on Elsic. aSend a rider to the Temple and inform the priest there is another body to retrieve. I also need someone to find Lirna"the Captain of the Guardsa"and let him know I need a pair of guardsmen here to keep people out until the priests come.a aYes, sir,a the man left, patting Elsicas shoulder as he passed.

Kerim waited until he was sure the Stablemaster was gone before approaching Elsic.

aIt was Jab, wasnat it?a Elsic asked quietly.

aYes,a replied Kerim. aDo you know who brought him here?a Elsic shook his head, leaning against the stall door as if it was the only thing holding him up. The stallion put its head over the door and began to lip Elsicas hair.