hear voices, below, as the hold-folk gathered into the hall. Outside, thunder rumbled, low and ominous, from the north. The events of the night before, the Kordholders' attack on her, came rushing back in memory, and she shivered.
Then she straightened and walked down the stairs, to deal with the other strangers who had come to Bernardholt.
Chapter 17
Fidelias waited until the big Steadholder had padded up the stairs and out of his sight, carrying someone wrapped in a blanket. The former Cursor glanced around the hall. For the moment, at least, he and his companions had been left alone. He turned to Odiana and Aldrick with a frown.
Aldrick stood staring after the Steadholder and murmured, "Well, I wonder what that was all about."
"Fairly obvious," Fidelias said. He glanced at Odiana.
"Fear," she whispered, and shivered as she leaned closer to Aldrick. "The most delicious fear. Recognition."
"Amara." Fidelias nodded. "She's here. That was her."
Aldrick lifted his eyebrows. "But he never turned around. You never saw her face."
Fidelias gave Aldrick an even look and suppressed a surge of irritation. "Aldrick, please. Do you expect her to hang a sign on the door that she's here? It all fits. Three sets of tracks-the boy's, the Steadholder's, and hers. She was limping. That's why he was carrying her."
Aldrick sighed. "All right then. I'll go up and kill those two, and we can be about it." He turned away and lifted a hand to his sword.
"Aldrick," Fidelias hissed. He seized the swordsman's arm at the biceps and reached down into the earth to borrow from his fury's strength. He stopped the larger man cold.
Aldrick glanced down at Fidelias's arm and relaxed. "That was the point, wasn't it?" the swordsman said. "Fidelias, we have to stop them from reporting to Gram. Without the element of surprise, this entire campaign could be for nothing. We came here to find the Steadholder and the boy who had seen our friend Atsurak, and kill them. Oh, and the agent of the crows-eaten Crown if we happen to run across her, which we have."
"Love," Odiana said. "We still don't know where this boy is, do we? If you go and kill the ugly little girl right now, won't the Steadholder object? And then you'd have to kill him as well. And anyone else upstairs. And all these people here..." She licked her lips, her eyes bright, and said to Fidelias, "Why shouldn't we do this again?"
"Remember where you are," Fidelias said. "This is the most dangerous area of the Realm. Powerful furies, dangerous beasts. This isn't one of the old plantations of the Amaranth Vale. It breeds strong crafters. Did you see the way that boy handled those gargants out front? And he calmed our mounts when they got nervous-that wasn't me. And he did it without so much as stopping to make an effort. A boy. Think about it."
Aldrick shrugged. "They don't go armed. They're Steadholders, not warriors. We could kill them all."
"Probably," Fidelias said. "But what if that retired Legionnaire Steadholder is a strong crafter to boot? What if some of the other holders here are that strong? Odds are some of them would escape-and since we don't know who the boy we're looking for is we'd never know if we got him."
"What about that boy out front?" Odiana asked. "That lovely strong tall one with the gargants."
"His feet are too big," Fidelias said. "The rain all but obliterated the tracks, but the ones from earlier today are clearer. We're looking for a smallish boy, not growing a beard yet-or possibly a girl. Atsurak probably wouldn't know the difference at that age, if a girl had been wearing breeches. The Marat don't make the same distinctions we do."
"He had big hands, too," Odiana mused, and leaned against Aldrick, her eyes heavy, drowsy. "May I have him, love?"
Aldrick leaned down and absently kissed her hair. "You'd only kill him, and then he'd be no good to you."
"Get the idea out of your heads," Fidelias said, his tone firm. "We have an objective. Find the boy. The storm is rolling in behind us, and everyone will be gathering into the hall. As soon as we find him, we'll take him, the Stead-holder, and the Cursor and leave."
Aldrick grunted assent. "And what if we don't? What if he's already gone off to Garrison to warn the local Count?"
Fidelias grimaced and looked around. "I grew up on a steadholt, and you'd never keep something like that a secret. If that's what has happened, we'll