celebrate his mother’s departure had been to head straight from the docks to the palace and try out the royal bed, even before sitting on the royal throne. The royal bed with Celeste in it, of course.
Clearly the spurious Marquesa had been absent from Chivial for years, which explained why she had been so shocked when Wolf recognized her. Secondly, her associates had been sailors, small-town doctors, younger sons of minor aristocracy—none of whom could have found the resources to storm Quondam. There had been no mastermind behind Celeste except Celeste herself, and Wolf had still not found a credible suspect.
“Gone!” Lynx sniffed. “Lost my ward. No Blade’s ever lost his ward before, Archives says. I’ll go crazy!”
“I think you’d have…” Wolf caught a spark of an idea before it could emerge in words. Playing for time to think, he said, “I don’t thinkHogwood was completely satisfied with your testimony. Did you hold back anything? Is there anything you can tell me that you didn’t want to put on the record?”
“Just that I loved her.”
“You said she’d kept her legs together at Quondam.”
Lynx sighed and a tear trickled down into his beard. “I don’t mean that sort of love. Oh, we had to be so cruel! I love her, Wolf! We all loved her.”
“She’s a harlot!”
“I know. But I love her.”
“That’s your binding talking, chump!”
“It’s my binding feeling it.” A tear trickled from the other eye. “The most beautiful woman in the world.”
“No doubt,” Wolf agreed with a shudder. “You still say you didn’t swinge her when she was at Quondam?”
“No,” Lynx said grumpily. “But not from want of longing.”
“She’d have agreed?”
Lynx just scowled. Stupid question.
Wolf said, “I still can’t understand anyone sacrificing so many lives to carry her off. Have you thought of any sane reason why anyone should? Or any other reason for the attack on Quondam?”
“Jewels?” Lynx muttered. “I told you she used to wear all her jewels. That’s what I’m afraid of, Wolf. It was easier to carry her away decorated than to strip her there. They took her to their boats, kept the jewels, and dropped her overboard.” He put his face in his hands and started weeping in earnest.
“You’ve been conjured out of your wits. You want to lie down and get some sleep?”
He grunted. “Can’t sleep.”
Wolf said, “Good.” The spark of an idea was glowing nicely now. “You remember Quintus?”
Lynx looked up with a sad smile. “Remember his fencing. He won the Cup twice, didn’t he? Remember his laugh. Always laughing. You could hear Quintus laugh right across Starkmoor.”
Wolf would certainly never forget that laugh. “Ambrose gave him to Baron Elboro, him and Warren.”
“And you killed them,” Lynx said, starting to show more interest. “Intrepid was telling me. Why d’you kill so many brothers, Wolfie? Why you, always? Why not let some of the others do some of the King’s dirty work? Or why not catch them in nets or something and revert them?”
“Because reversion spells almost never work and you can’t catch a Blade with nets or anything else if he knows you’re coming for him, and they all knew. As soon as the Thencaster Plot crawled out of the midden they all knew we’d be coming for their wards.”
Lynx said, “Oh. Right.”
“They were all half crazy from divided loyalty anyway. Elboro was the last. The King put me in charge…” There were details Wolf had never told anyone, not even including them in the infamous report he had filed after he’d done Athelgar’s filthy work for him.
“Three Blades and two snoops,” he said, “but by that time I was wearing the sash on these excursions. We discovered a possible escape route over the rooftops and if we knew of it, we could be certain that Elboro’s Blades did. I set a trap. I thought it would be better to herd Elboro into the chokey than try a frontal assault.”
Leaving his
Clearly the spurious Marquesa had been absent from Chivial for years, which explained why she had been so shocked when Wolf recognized her. Secondly, her associates had been sailors, small-town doctors, younger sons of minor aristocracy—none of whom could have found the resources to storm Quondam. There had been no mastermind behind Celeste except Celeste herself, and Wolf had still not found a credible suspect.
“Gone!” Lynx sniffed. “Lost my ward. No Blade’s ever lost his ward before, Archives says. I’ll go crazy!”
“I think you’d have…” Wolf caught a spark of an idea before it could emerge in words. Playing for time to think, he said, “I don’t thinkHogwood was completely satisfied with your testimony. Did you hold back anything? Is there anything you can tell me that you didn’t want to put on the record?”
“Just that I loved her.”
“You said she’d kept her legs together at Quondam.”
Lynx sighed and a tear trickled down into his beard. “I don’t mean that sort of love. Oh, we had to be so cruel! I love her, Wolf! We all loved her.”
“She’s a harlot!”
“I know. But I love her.”
“That’s your binding talking, chump!”
“It’s my binding feeling it.” A tear trickled from the other eye. “The most beautiful woman in the world.”
“No doubt,” Wolf agreed with a shudder. “You still say you didn’t swinge her when she was at Quondam?”
“No,” Lynx said grumpily. “But not from want of longing.”
“She’d have agreed?”
Lynx just scowled. Stupid question.
Wolf said, “I still can’t understand anyone sacrificing so many lives to carry her off. Have you thought of any sane reason why anyone should? Or any other reason for the attack on Quondam?”
“Jewels?” Lynx muttered. “I told you she used to wear all her jewels. That’s what I’m afraid of, Wolf. It was easier to carry her away decorated than to strip her there. They took her to their boats, kept the jewels, and dropped her overboard.” He put his face in his hands and started weeping in earnest.
“You’ve been conjured out of your wits. You want to lie down and get some sleep?”
He grunted. “Can’t sleep.”
Wolf said, “Good.” The spark of an idea was glowing nicely now. “You remember Quintus?”
Lynx looked up with a sad smile. “Remember his fencing. He won the Cup twice, didn’t he? Remember his laugh. Always laughing. You could hear Quintus laugh right across Starkmoor.”
Wolf would certainly never forget that laugh. “Ambrose gave him to Baron Elboro, him and Warren.”
“And you killed them,” Lynx said, starting to show more interest. “Intrepid was telling me. Why d’you kill so many brothers, Wolfie? Why you, always? Why not let some of the others do some of the King’s dirty work? Or why not catch them in nets or something and revert them?”
“Because reversion spells almost never work and you can’t catch a Blade with nets or anything else if he knows you’re coming for him, and they all knew. As soon as the Thencaster Plot crawled out of the midden they all knew we’d be coming for their wards.”
Lynx said, “Oh. Right.”
“They were all half crazy from divided loyalty anyway. Elboro was the last. The King put me in charge…” There were details Wolf had never told anyone, not even including them in the infamous report he had filed after he’d done Athelgar’s filthy work for him.
“Three Blades and two snoops,” he said, “but by that time I was wearing the sash on these excursions. We discovered a possible escape route over the rooftops and if we knew of it, we could be certain that Elboro’s Blades did. I set a trap. I thought it would be better to herd Elboro into the chokey than try a frontal assault.”
Leaving his
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