After the feast, Princess Kelena vanished again, but her single appearance remaihe talk of the court for weeks afterward.

  Each time he saw the hair ribbon on his desk, e back to their versation, trying t some new uanding from it. Had she bee the feast as a goad? An indication from Hazerial that he was getting impatient? Had the king thought the girl’s beauty would appeal enough to cio to make him reckless? Was it nearing time t the treason trap, and all that remained was for the Lord of the ternds to stumble into his own noose?

  Perhaps her prese the feast had been somethiirely different, something that had nothing to do with cio at all. Perhaps Kelena had won some point with the queen or aplished some blood-soaked task for the strong gods to be allowed to join society for a day.

  He was getting nothing but a headache for all his guesswork, and in truth, he o focus more on his work in the Hall of Law than trying to dis the twisted motives of ara-blessed king.

  Things with the other lords had beore heated than ever of te; a captive in a shipment from the pirate war had broken loose and murdered his fellow future bloodsves on their way to the sacramental before killing himself. The lords with sacramentals in their holdings were vihat heavier shackles, thicker s, and stres were the solution—and they all wahe iron delivered immediately.

  None of them wao hear that iron took time to transport, especially now that the roads were lousy with highwaymen and ice was filling in the river. They certainly didn’t want to hear it from a lord known to despise the sve trade who was heless growihier off their demands.

  Despite the rising tensions, no assassins had attacked cio sihe night in his Siu Rial residence, and no indication had ever been found of the lord or cabal of lords the man may have been w for. Half a year had passed; his servants were finally beginning to calm down again.

  Then, early one evening, a scream and a crash woke him from a sound sleep.

  cio snatched his walking stid climbed out of bed, careful to nd on his good leg. He hitched his way awkwardly to the chamber door, slipping the rapier from the e as he went.

  The rapier was his one cession to the attack, a design he’d sent to a trusted smith back at Bzing Prairie. The bde fitted ly into the walking stick; the hilt was the handle. Sheathed, the cripple’s aid gave no indication of the on hidden within.

  Thankfully, it had arrived at Siu al with that st shipment of iron. He wasn’t in any rush to blood the thing, but he didn’t want to be caught empty-handed agaiher.

  cio threw open the door to find Loria, the maid who usually brought his evening breakfast, standing alongside a Het messehe two of them were staring down at a corpse lying in a pool of steaming coffee and blood, the floor around the dead man littered with cups, cheese, cold ham, and bread. The serving tray dangled weakly from Loria’s fingers.

  The messenger k doulled a blue gss dagger from the dead man’s eye.

  “They do not get past me often,” the Het said in heavily ated Khinesian. “Your adversaries gain ing.”

  Loria pressed a shaking hand to her lips. She must have see with the knife and thought she was done for.

  “You’re all right, everything is all right.” cio patted the maid on the arm. Pain thrummed up his leg. He o get off it. He was also embarrassingly aware that he was naked. Why couldn’t assassins atta the middle of the night when he was fully dressed and prepared for a fight? “Find Jarik. He’ll take care of this.”

  Her wide eyes rolled warily to the Het. “But, your lordship, the…”

  “It will be fine. He roteg us.” That was certainly how it appeared, anyway. cio locked gazes with the messenger. Like his fellow Children of Day, the man’s eyes were painfully bright. Green this time, though cio had so far seen blue, purple, and hazel. “Go find Jarik.”

  Loria dipped a nervous bow and skirted around the body, breaking into a run before she reached the end of the corridor.

  The Het slipped his throwing ko his cloak, st it somewhere in the depths.

  cio sheathed his walking stick. “If you’ll allow me a moment to dress, I have a few questions.”

  By the time cio was dressed and ready to talk with the Het, Jarik had brought in a pair of en t the body away and a handful of servants were w to restore the hallway.

  “You spoke as if you’ve stopped assassins ing into my residence before,” cio began.

  That was too much for the man’s limited Khinesian.

  “My ing adversaries,” cio tried again. “You have stopped more of them?”

  The Het nodded. “You are not loved.”

  A whopping uatement. “How many more have you killed?”

  The man struggled with the nguage, then held up two fingers. “You say ‘twice’ for this?”

  “Two. Both here in Siu al?” cio did his best to indicate the city.

  “Here aween. In veyance from the City of Blood. I am sent to watch.”

  “To watd to kill assassins?”

  “The khalif says you are a good Khi-born. The others kill you. I watch to stop them.”

  “You were sent to guard me?”

  “You are not loved,” the Het repeated.

  cio huffed a ugh. “Tell me about it.”

  That didn’t transte.

  “Why does the khalif care whether I live or die?” he asked instead.

  “You wish food. You speak food. I see this, I tell the khalif. You will see the khalif.”

  “That’s certainly the thrust of otiations.”

  The man shook his head. “You will see the khalif. In spring, we vey you from the border. You will see the khalif in summer.”

  cio frowned. “I haven’t heard this. No message has e saying that the khalif has agreed to see me.”

  “This is why I e this night.” The Het tapped his chest. “I am the message. No part, only words. You will see the khalif.”

  “He’s agreed to meet with me?” cio couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Shouldn’t believe what he was hearing. Everything else had been carried out on paper. The sudden ge made no sense. “How do I know this is the truth?”

  The Het reached into his cloak again and pulled out a ring. The sig on top matched the seals on every missive he’d received.

  “The khalif allows you to take this to your sn as proof.”

  ***

  et with the king that same midnight.

  “We knew you were the only one we could trust to succeed at this,” Hazerial said, turning the sig ring over in his hand.

  “I’m to leave for the border at the first spring thaw, Your Majesty. An envoy from the Het will meet me at the Salt River crossing to vey me through their territory. With your permission, I’ll go to Bzing Prairie as soon as possible to set affairs in order for my extended absence.”

  “Before you go, Lord cio, you’ll set affairs in order here, in the Hall of Law. You will see the st iron shipment fulfilled before the weather turns, whatever losses you may incur. We expect a rge influx of bloodsves by spring, and the sacramentals must be prepared.”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  cio shifted his weight despite knowing he wouldn’t find a more fortable position. Even after an evening impatiently massaging li into his leg so that he could be here, the appendage felt as if it were crawling with burning maggots. The king hadn’t invited him to sit, and he doubted that was an actal ht.

  In his mind’s eye, he could see the purple ribbon on his writing desk and the princess’s pleading gaze.

  “I had hoped that I would take my bride with me when I left,” he ventured.

  Hazerial smiled down at the sig.

  “It was our fo hope that our daughter would travel into the Kingdom of Day with you, Lord cio. Our ambassador must have his wife with him.” He tossed the ring up and caught it, snapping his long fingers shut like a trap. “However, the daughter of a king ot be given away like some tanner’s brat, with a shout and a shivaree. The arras for a spectacle such as a royal wedding must take time.”

  cio twisted his walking stick, the tip grinding against the stone floor. Language had never been added to the marriage tract to include their agreement about the Het, so he couldn’t cim the king was defaulting.

  Two reasons to move for every Josean-blessed swordsman and at least five for every Eketra-blessed king.

  “When should I expect the wedding to take pce?” cio asked. “My household will ime to prepare as well.”

  “During the Festival of Springlight, at Shamasa Redoubt, a night’s ride from your meeting pce with the Het. We trust that you will have arrived at the border by Springlight?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty.”

  The king must have sensed his hesitation. “If you have doubts, we give you leave to speak them now.”

  “Five me, Your Majesty, it’s only that an active fortress is hardly the first setting to e to mind for something as extravagant as a royal wedding.”

  Hazerial chuckled. “For the union that could very well bring peace with our most a of enemies? Lord cio, I ot think of a more fitting location than a stronghold that has watched the y out these mauries.”