Good guess. She grunted. She strained. She indicated that she was ready to cooperate. In some capacity.

"I'll take your tongue, too, if you try anything cute!" Generally, people preferred loss of a few fingers to loss of the tongue.

Half from memory, half from impulse, Else brought out every silver coin he possessed. He applied them to the witch wherever magical inhibition might be useful. The woman sagged.

Knife poised, Else removed the woman's gag. "You know who I am. You tried to kill me. Your a.s.sa.s.sin was incompetent. At the time I was unaware of your existence. That's changed. You caused that. I don't know why. Tell me why."

The witch shrugged, as much as was possible. Else squeezed her hand around his blade. She gasped, whispered, "I don't know why. Somebody wanted it done badly enough to pay for it."

"But you don't know who." Naturally. There would have been a chain of intermediaries so the contractor could remain distanced from the crime.

"It didn't matter. I wanted the money. It wasn't personal."

Else's questions unearthed no hint of why anyone would want his mission to end on an island in the middle of the Mother Sea.

He grew impatient. The woman was not resisting. Neither was she offering up anything useful. Meanwhile, big things were happening to Brothe. He had no idea what. Any scenario wherein the defenders repelled the invaders, while Starkden survived, would not bode well for Else Tage. The woman knew who he was.

He shifted to her involvement with the pirates. Was that just mercenary grasping, too?

The silver was too effective. Starkden could speak coherently no longer. Else removed several coins.

He had been part of several large, mysterious operations lately. Gordimer and er-Rashal had piled them on. He was the best man for the job. And Sha-lug did not question orders. Not even orders to undertake a mad raid into the Idiam in the Lucidian Desert, into haunted Andesqueluz, in search of the accursed mummies of heathen sorcerers of antiquity. He had done the job without asking why.

"I'm getting old," he mused. He had been taught, as a trainee, that the old thought too much. And he was now of an age that had seemed ancient when he was the leading prospect in the Vibrant Spring School.

His wrist went from itch to ache while he was getting little of practical value from Starkden.

"The Brotherhood of War wants you. Badly. And they're better at this than I am."

What might have been amus.e.m.e.nt and mockery shown back at him. Disdain followed.

His wrist throbbed. He had trouble dunking through the pain.

It was decision time.

The choices were plain.

He drew his sword.

Something hit him from behind, impacting every inch of his body.

He had not been fast enough.

He knew what it was. He knew why he had been itching and hurting. He knew what he had forgotten, because it had not been mentioned for a while. And that was that there was a second sorcerer involved with the pirates. Masant al-Seyhan.

Vaguely, Else heard a man ask, "Can you travel? We have to hurry. It isn't working the way we were promised. It's gone bad already. Oh, d.a.m.n! What the h.e.l.l is this."

Else heard steel strike steel. A second, all-over blow hit him. After that, he heard and felt nothing for a long time.

REDFEARN BECHTER FOUND ELSE SPRAWLED IN THE STREET. Dried blood caked his lips, nostrils, and ears. His skin had turned a nasty, dark shade of pink, with blisters. His nails were cracked. His hair was a ruin. It looked like tiny embers had crawled through it in pursuit of fleas. His face was spotted with little red rings, like the signature of some strange pox.

Else asked, "What happened?" His words were an incoherent drone. "Oh, saints in heaven. I can't hear. Talk slow. I'll read your lips." a.s.suming he could stay focused. His left eye felt arid. It itched.

His wrist felt like somebody had tried to hack through it with a white-hot iron bar.

"All right. You getting me?"

"Yes. Go ahead."

Bechter grinned. "Just guessing, mind, but I'd say you got your a.s.s kicked."

"Even my gums hurt. What happened? Enunciate carefully. Hey! I'm starting to hear something."

"The neighbors have painted a picture that doesn't make sense."

"And? So?"

"You came running down that street there, dragging a woman. Presumably the witch. A band of pirates weren't far behind."

"I remember that. They wanted her back. I kept trying to lose them before I headed for friendly territory. They wouldn't shake. Every time I turned back toward the Castella, they would get in my way. I decided to hole up until they gave up."

"That would be over there. Where that house used to be." Bechter pointed.

The place no longer stood. Smoke still drifted toward a sky clouding over, promising rain. Most of the afternoon had pa.s.sed. "Sainted Eis and Heron!"

"No s.h.i.t."

"Keep it slow and loud. I can hear most of what you're saying now."

"Here's what we have. You broke in there. You were seen. The neighbors didn't do anything because you have blond hair. Later, a band of Calzirans arrived. They seemed to know where they were going. Their leader was a wizard."

"Masant al-Seyhan. I think. That name came up when the piracy started."

"Maybe. He used a couple of spells that must've been real potent."

"Do tell. They knocked a house down on top of me."

"No. That happened later. You'll love this part. Two blond men showed up. It's pretty clear they were the two we've been hunting. They didn't say anything. They just walked up and started killing Calzirans. They were completely savage and totally unstoppable. Eventually, the fight moved inside."

That did not jibe with what Else remembered. But his recollections were kaleidoscopic and vague and incompletely trustworthy. "I can hear pretty good, now. I could use some water."

"Something terrible happened inside that house. But by then the neighbors stopped being curious and went into hiding. We've just started digging into the rubble. We're finding a lot of dead pirates."

"But no witches or wizards, I'll bet."

"Not a one. Nor any blond men, either. Did you get anything out of the witch?"

"She wouldn't even admit she was a witch. Or that she understood me. I kept her unconscious most of the time. Anyway, I was too busy outrunning pirates to have time for questions."

"That's what I figured. d.a.m.n it all!"

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault You went above and beyond, just making that swim."

"Wait a minute, now. How come you've got time and manpower to waste looking for me?"

"The situation improved. The Collegium weighed in while you were distracting the Calziran talent. Plus, a regiment of Imperial cavalry turned up and took the raiders by surprise."

And everyone else, Else surmised. What was Hansel up to? He had seven or eight hundred regular soldiers handy, deep in Patriarchal territory, just when Brothe's situation was most desperate?

Else said, "I can't get my brain to work. I hurt too much."

"I'll see if I can get you a ride home. But not yet. There's still spots of heavy fighting. Most of the pirates didn't get back to their boats. Those few that were left to be gotten to."

"SO NOW YOU'RE A HERO," PALUDAN SAID, WHEN ELSE Appeared before him the next day.

"Not a very successful one." He ached all over, still. His eye and his ears were not yet right The red circles were worse. They were not restricted to his face, either. He felt old and tired despite ten hours of sleep.

"But one of ours," Gervase Saluda said. "Out there making the Bruglioni name shine."

Paludan scowled. He was not pleased, despite the positive reflection on the Bruglioni name. The whole city would now notice that one of its richest men had sent just a handful of men to help defend Brothe. And that neither Gervase nor Paludan, nor any of their handful of men, had become involved in the fighting. Only the name Piper Hecht would stand out.

Else replied, "I did what I could. I didn't do it well enough. I lost the witch. I never saw the two blond thugs. Or the sorcerer who rescued the witch. Masant al-Seyhan could strut in here right now and I wouldn't know enough to duck."

Saluda sneered. "All that perishes before the fact that you were one of the rare few who actually fought the Calzirans. You were the one who distracted their mages long enough for the Collegium to break the pirates."

"How is that going?" Else asked that rather than why Paludan was determined to be disgruntled by a Brothen success.

"Not good for the pirates. Groups are cut off all over. They just want to leave Brothe, now. But that isn't working for them. There aren't any boats left."

Paludan grumbled, "The Calziran wizards are frantic. They keep trying to salvage their manpower. But that isn't going well, either."

Else asked, "We know that they survived, then?" A concentration on force preservation? Military thinking, that, Which ought to be alien to the pirates.

Paludan grunted. He was ready for a change of subject.

The Bruglioni properties had come through unscathed. Gervase and Paludan wanted to sit back and let someone else clean up. They had little idea of the reality out there in the Mother City. Men with no personal stake in Brothe, the Imperials and those squatters who had enlisted for the pay, had done and were doing most of the fighting. Neither group would take risks. They were disinclined to die for a city that disdained them.

Mr. Caniglia appeared. "Master Paludan, your uncle has arrived. He'll be up in a few minutes."

Saluda told Else, "They may have to carry him. He has trouble with stairs." He did not seem pleased by the visit.

Divino Bruglioni arrived puffing, presumably due to the change of att.i.tude. His footmen seated him in a chair the house maintained exclusively for the Bruglioni Princ.i.p.ate, then withdrew. "Stay, Captain Hecht," Princ.i.p.ate Divino said when Else started to follow.

Paludan's face darkened. But he controlled himself, a habit he had developed since the deaths of his sons.

Princ.i.p.ate Divino told Else, "I hear you did quite well out there."

"I managed to get myself beaten to a pulp."

"You were in the right place at the right time. You distracted our most dangerous enemies at the critical moment."

"I guarantee you, it wasn't part of my grand scheme. I did what I thought needed doing. If those mystery blond men hadn't turned up I'd be just another body to chunk in the river."

"Possibly. Possibly. What can you tell me about those people?"

"The blond men? I never saw them. I just heard about them. I was unconscious when they got there. Sergeant Bechter told me they were there. Bechter from the Brotherhood."

"How about the Calziran sorcerers?"

"I only saw the woman."

"Any idea why they survived?"

"Had to be the timing. The blonds showed up before the Calzirans were done with me."

The Princ.i.p.ate continued asking questions, moving to the Bruglioni household. He demonstrated a close knowledge of Else's efforts. Closer than Paludan or Gervase. Paludan was unaware that some staff had been replaced.

The old man changed course. "Paludan. What are you doing to get family back from the country?"

Paludan looked vaguely bewildered. He had sent letters. Followed by threatening letters. "They're stalling around, Uncle. But they'll respond eventually."

"Good. Good." But Divino did not sound pleased. "Captain Hecht. I'm going to my chambers, now. Walk with me, please."

Else shrugged at his employer and did as he was told.

Out of earshot, the old priest said, "I left before we got to fiscal matters."

Else waited.

"What are you doing about the books?"

"Bringing in a Deve auditor. To look at everything. Household and business accounts both."

"What do you expect to find?"

"I know what he'll find. That somebody's been looting the Bruglioni treasury. The magnitude of the theft is what I want to determine."

"You have a suspect?"

"I have someone in mind. But he may be too obvious."

"Gervase Saluda. Of course. I think Gervase is dipping his beak. In here. We have more to discuss."

"Yes, Your Grace." Else did not conceal his unease.

"Gervase is a true friend to Paludan, Hecht. He's Paludan's only friend. And Paludan is Gervase's only friend. I don't see Gervase putting that friendship at risk by committing a crime too big to forgive."