Her expression went rueful. "It was supposed to be pear."

I lay down my lute case and travelsack and took a seat at her desk. Despite my best intentions, my eyes were drawn to the charred black ring.

Devi tossed her strawberry-blonde hair and met my eye. "Care for a rematch?" she asked, her mouth curving. "I can still take you, gram or no gram. I can take you while I'm dead asleep."

"I'll admit to being curious," I said. "But I should tend to business instead."

"Very well," she said. "Are you really going to pay me off entire? Have you finally found yourself a patron?"

I shook my head. "However, I have had a remarkable opportunity arise. The chance to get a fine patron indeed." I paused. "In Vintas."

She raised an eyebrow. "That's a long ways off," she said pointedly. "I'm glad you stopped to settle your debt before jaunting off to the other side of the world. Who knows when you'll be back."

"Indeed," I said. "However. I find myself in a bit of an odd place, financially speaking."

Devi was already shaking her head before I finished speaking. "Absolutely not. You're already into me for nine talents. I am not loaning you more money the day you leave town."

I held up my hands defensively. "You misunderstand," I said. I opened my purse and spilled talents and jots onto the table. Denna's ring tumbled out too, and I stopped it before it could roll off the edge of the table.

I gestured to the pile of coins in front of me, slightly more than thirteen talents. "This is all the money I have in the world," I said. "With it, I need to get myself to Severen with fair speed. A thousand miles with some to spare. That means pa.s.sage on at least one ship. Food. Lodging. Money for coaches or the use of a post note."

As I listed each of these things, I slid an appropriate amount of money from one side of the desk to the other. "When I finally arrive in Severen, I will need to buy myself clothes that will allow me to move among the court without looking like the ragged musician I am." I slid more coins.

I pointed at the few straggling coins remaining. "This does not leave me enough to settle my debt with you."

Devi watched me over her steepled fingers. "I see," she said seriously. "We must discover some alternate method for you to square your debt."

"My thought is this," I said. "I can leave you with collateral against my eventual return."

Her eyes flickered down to the slender, dark shape of my lute case.

"Not my lute," I said quickly. "I need that."

"What then?" she asked. "You've always said you have no collateral."

"I have a few things," I said, rummaging around in my travelsack and brought up a book.

Devi's eyes lit up. Then she read the spine. "Rhetoric and Logic?" "Rhetoric and Logic?" She made a face. She made a face.

"I feel the same way," I said. "But it's worth something. Especially to me. Also ..." I reached into the pocket of my cloak and brought out my hand lamp. "I have this. A sympathy lamp of my own design. It has a focused beam and a graded switch."

Devi picked it up off the desk, nodding to herself. "I remember this," she said. "Before, you said you couldn't give it up because of a promise you'd made to Kilvin. Has that changed?"

I gave a bright smile that was two-thirds lie. "That promise is actually what makes that lamp the perfect piece of collateral," I said. "If you take this lamp to Kilvin, I have every confidence he will pay a lavish sum just to get it out of ..." I cleared my throat. "Unsavory hands."

Devi flicked the switch idly with her thumb, spinning it from dim to bright and back again. "And I imagine this would be a stipulation you require? That I return it to Kilvin?"

"You know me so well," I said. "It's almost embarra.s.sing."

Devi set the lamp back on the table next to my book and took a slow breath through her nose. "A book that's only valuable to you," she said. "And a lamp that's only valuable to Kilvin." She shook her head. "This is not an appealing offer."

I felt a pang as I reached to my shoulder and unclasped my talent pipes and slid them onto the table as well. "Those are silver," I said. "And hard to come by. They'll get you into the Eolian free, too."

"I know what they are." Devi picked them up and looked them over with a sharp eye. Then she pointed. "You had a ring."

I froze. "That's not mine to give."

Devi laughed. "It's in your pocket, isn't it?" She snapped her fingers. "Come now. Let me see it."

I brought it out of my pocket, but I didn't hand it over. "I went through a lot of trouble for this," I said. "It's the ring Ambrose took from a friend of mine. I'm just waiting to return it to her."

Devi sat silently, her hand outstretched. After a moment I put the ring onto her palm.

She held it close to the lamp and leaned forward, squinting one eye closed on her pixie face. "That's a nice stone," she said appreciatively.

"The setting's new," I said miserably.

Devi set the ring carefully on top of the book next to my pipes and hand lamp. "Here is the deal," she said. "I will keep these items as collateral against your current debt of nine talents. This will last for the s.p.a.ce of one year."

"A year and a day," I said.

A smile curved the corner of her mouth. "How storybook of you. Very well. This will postpone your repayment for a year and a day. If you have not repaid me by the end of that time, these items will be forfeit, and our debt will be cleared." Her smile went sharp. "Though I may be persuaded to return them in exchange for certain information."

I heard the belling tower in the distance and gave a deep sigh. I didn't have much time for bargaining, as I was already late for my meeting with Threpe. "Fine," I said, irritated. "But the ring will be kept somewhere safe. You can't wear it until I've defaulted."

Devi frowned. "You don't-"

"I am not movable on this point," I said seriously. "It belongs to a friend. It is precious to her. I would not have her see it on someone else's hand. Not after everything I did to get it back from Ambrose."

Devi said nothing, her pixie face set in a grim expression. I put on my own grim expression and met her eye. I do a good grim expression when I need to.

A long moment of silence stretched between us.

"Fine!" she said at last.

We shook hands. "A year and a day," I said.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE.

All Wise Men Fear I STOPPED BY THE EOLIAN where Threpe was waiting for me, practically dancing with impatience. He had, he told me, found a boat heading downriver in less than an hour. What's more, he had already paid my way as far as Tarbean, where I should easily be able to find pa.s.sage east. STOPPED BY THE EOLIAN where Threpe was waiting for me, practically dancing with impatience. He had, he told me, found a boat heading downriver in less than an hour. What's more, he had already paid my way as far as Tarbean, where I should easily be able to find pa.s.sage east.

The two of us hurried to the docks, arriving just as the ship was going through its final preparations. Threpe, red-faced and puffing from our brisk walk, hurried to give me a lifetime's worth of advice in the s.p.a.ce of three minutes.

"The Maer is old, old blood," he said. "Not like most of the little n.o.bility around these parts who can't tell you who their great-grandfathers are. So treat him with respect."

I rolled my eyes. Why did everyone always expect me to behave so poorly?

"And remember," he said. "If you look like you're chasing money, they'll see you as provincial. As soon as that happens no one will take you seriously. You're there to curry favor. That's the high-stakes game. Besides, fortune follows favor, as they say. If you get one, you'll have the other. It's like what Teccam wrote, 'The cost of a loaf is a simple thing, and so a loaf is often sought ...' "

" '... but some things are past valuing: laughter, land, and love are never bought.'" I finished. It was actually a quote from Gregan the Lesser, but I didn't bother correcting him.

"Hoy there!" a tan, bearded man shouted to us from the deck of the ship. "We got one straggler we're waitin' on, and Captain's angry as an ugly wh.o.r.e. He swears he'll leave if he ain't here in two minutes. You'd do well to be aboard by then." He wandered off without waiting for a reply.

"Address him as your grace," Threpe continued as if we hadn't been interrupted. "And remember: speak least if you would be most often heard. Oh!" He drew a sealed letter from his breast pocket. "Here's your letter of introduction. I may send another copy by post, just so he knows to expect you."

I gave him a broad smile and gripped his arm. "Thank you, Denn," I said earnestly. "For everything. I appreciate all of this more than you know."

Threpe waved the comment aside. "I know you'll do splendidly. You're a clever boy. Mind that you find a good tailor when you get there. The fashions will be different. As they say: know a lady by her manner, a man by his cloth."

I knelt and opened up my lute case. Moving the lute aside, I pressed the lid of the secret compartment and twisted it open. I slid Threpe's sealed letter inside, where it joined the hollow horn with Nina's drawing and a small sack of dried apple I had stowed there. There was nothing special about the dried apple, but in my opinion if you have a secret compartment in your lute case and don't use it to hide things, there is something terribly, terribly wrong with you.

I snapped the clasps closed, refastening the lid, then stood and gathered up my belongings, ready to board the ship.

Threpe gripped my shoulder suddenly. "I almost forgot! Alveron mentioned in one of his letters that the young people in his court gamble. He thinks it's a deplorable habit, so stay clear of it. And remember, small thaws make great floods, so be twice wary of a slowly changing season."

I saw someone running down the dock toward us. It was the pinch-faced man who had pa.s.sed Elodin and me on Stonebridge earlier. He carried a cloth-wrapped package close under one arm.

"I'm guessing that's their missing sailor," I said quickly. "I'd better get aboard." I gave Threpe a quick embrace and tried to get away before he could give me any more advice.

But he caught my sleeve as I turned. "Be careful on your way there," he said, his expression anxious. "Remember: There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man."

The sailor pa.s.sed us and hit the gangplank running, unmindful of how the board jounced and clattered under his feet. I gave Threpe a rea.s.suring smile and followed close on his heels. Two leathery men hauled up the plank, and I returned Threpe's final wave.

Orders were shouted, men scrambled, and the ship began to move. I turned to face downriver, toward Tarbean, toward the sea.

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO.

A Brief Journey MY ROUTE WAS A simple one. I would head downriver to Tarbean, through the Refting Strait, down the coast toward Junpui, then up the Arrand River. It was more roundabout than going overland, but better in the long run. Even if I were to purchase a post letter and change horses at every opportunity, it would still take me almost three span to reach Severen overland. And most of that time would be in southern Atur and the Small Kingdoms. Only priests and fools expected the roads in that part of the world to be safe.

The water route added several hundred miles to the distance traveled, but ships at sea need not mind the twistings and turnings of a road. And while a good horse can set a better pace than a ship, you can't ride a horse day and night without stopping to rest. The water route would take about a dozen days, depending on the weather.

My curiosity was also glad to take the sea route. I had never been on any water larger than a river. My only real concern was that I might become bored with nothing but wind, waves, and sailors for company.

Several unfortunate complications arose during the trip.

In brief, there was a storm, piracy, treachery, and shipwreck, although not in that order. It also goes without saying that I did a great many things, some heroic, some ill-advised, some clever and audacious.

Over the course of my trip I was robbed, drowned, and left penniless on the streets of Junpui. In order to survive I begged for crusts, stole a man's shoes, and recited poetry. The last should demonstrate more than all the rest how truly desperate my situation became.

However, as these events have little to do with the heart of the story, I must pa.s.s them over in favor of more important things. Simply said, it took me sixteen days to reach Severen. A bit longer than I had planned, but at no point during my journey was I ever bored.

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE.

The Sheer I LIMPED THROUGH THE GATES of Severen ragged, penniless, and hungry. I am no stranger to hunger. I know the countless hollow shapes it takes inside you. This particular hunger wasn't a terrible one. I'd eaten two apples and some salt pork a day ago, so this hunger was merely painful. It wasn't the bad hunger that leaves you weak and trembling. I was safe from that for at least eight hours or so. LIMPED THROUGH THE GATES of Severen ragged, penniless, and hungry. I am no stranger to hunger. I know the countless hollow shapes it takes inside you. This particular hunger wasn't a terrible one. I'd eaten two apples and some salt pork a day ago, so this hunger was merely painful. It wasn't the bad hunger that leaves you weak and trembling. I was safe from that for at least eight hours or so.

Over the last two span everything I owned had been lost, destroyed, stolen, or abandoned. The only exception was my lute. Denna's marvelous case had paid for itself ten times during my trip. In addition to saving my life on one occasion, it had protected my lute, Threpe's letter of introduction, and Nina's invaluable drawing of the Chandrian.

You may notice I don't include any clothing on my list of possessions. There are two good reasons for this. The first is that you couldn't really call the grubby rags I wore clothing without stretching the truth to its breaking point. Secondly, I had stolen them, so it doesn't seem right to claim them as my own.

The most irritating was the loss of Fela's cloak. I'd been forced to tear it up and use it for bandages in Junpui. Nearly as bad was the fact that my hard-won gram now lay somewhere deep below the cold, dark waters of the Centhe Sea.

The city of Severen was split into two unequal portions by a tall, white cliff. The majority of the living business of the city took place in the larger portion of the city at the foot of this cliff, aptly named the Sheer.

Atop the Sheer was a much smaller piece of the city. It consisted mostly of estates and manor houses belonging to aristocracy and wealthy merchants. Also present were the attendant number of tailors, liveries, theaters, and brothels necessary to provide for the needs of the upper cla.s.s.

The stark cliff of white stone looked as if it had been thrust skyward to give the n.o.bility a better view of the countryside. As it wandered off to the northeast and south, it lost height and stature, but where it bisected Severen, it was two hundred feet tall and steep as a garden wall.

In the center of the city, a wide peninsula of cliff jutted out from the Sheer. Perched on this outthrust piece of cliff was Maer Alveron's estate. Its pale stone walls were visible from anywhere in the city below. The effect was daunting, as if the Maer's ancestral home was peering down on you.

Seeing it without a coin in my pocket or a decent set of clothes on my back was rather intimidating. I'd planned to take Threpe's letter straight to the Maer despite my disheveled state, but looking up at the tall stone walls, I realized I probably wouldn't be let through the front door. I looked like a filthy beggar.

I had few resources and even fewer options to choose from. With the exception of Ambrose some miles to the south in his father's barony, I didn't know a single soul in all of Vintas.

I've begged before, and I've stolen. But only when I've had no other options available to me. They are dangerous occupations and only a complete fool attempts them in an unfamiliar city, let alone an entirely new country. Here in Vintas, I didn't even know what laws I might be breaking.

So I gritted my teeth and took the only option available to me. I wandered barefoot through the cobblestone streets of Severen-Low until I found a p.a.w.n shop in one of the better parts of the city.

I stood across the street for the better part of an hour, watching the people come and go, trying to think of some better option. But I simply didn't have one. So I removed Threpe's letter and Nina's painting from the secret compartment in my lute case, crossed the street, and p.a.w.ned my lute and case for eight silver n.o.bles and a span note.

If you've led the sort of easy life that's never taken you to the p.a.w.ners, let me explain. The note was a receipt of sorts, and with it, I could buy my lute back for the same amount of money, so long as I did it within eleven days. On the twelfth day it became the property of the p.a.w.nbroker who would undoubtedly turn around and sell it for ten times that amount.

Back on the street, I hefted the coins. They seemed thin and insubstantial compared to Cealdish currency or the heavy Commonwealth pennies I was familiar with. Still, money spends the same the world round, and seven n.o.bles bought me a fine suit of clothes of the sort a gentleman might wear, along with a pair of soft leather boots. What remained bought a haircut, shave, bath, and my first solid meal in three days. After that I was coin-poor again, but feeling much more sure of myself.

Still, I knew it would be difficult to make my way to the Maer. Men with his degree of power live within layers of protection. There are customary, graceful ways to navigate these layers: introductions and audiences, messages and rings, calling cards and a.s.s-kissing.

But with only eleven days to get my lute out of p.a.w.n, my time was too precious for that. I needed to make contact with Alveron quickly.