Kevin started slightly. He looked more closely and made out the slender form seated motionless, with folded hands. The fellow's uncanny stillness had caused Kevin to overlook him until now. His voice was dry as a whisper, yet somehow conveyed the emphasis of a loud expostulation. 'Lady, I can offer you little insight. As yet I have no agent who is privy to Desio's private councils. He discusses his intentions only with his First Adviser, Incomo, and his cousin Tasaio. The First Adviser is, of course, not given to gossip or drink, and Tasaio confides in no one, even the warrior who was his childhood mentor. Given the circumstances, we do well to know that the agents we have are reporting accurately.'
'Then what is your surmise??'
Silent a long moment, Arakasi replied, 'Tasaio is in command, I would wager. He has a mind as devious and keen as any I've encountered. He served Lord Jingu well in the obliteration of the Tuscai.' All, save Kevin, knew the fallen house was the one Arakasi served before coming to Mara's service. 'Tasaio is a very sharp sword in his master's hands. But working under his own direction . . . it is hard to judge what he would do. I think Tasaio probes.
His warriors could have been ordered to die so that he might test something about House Acoma. I judge it a gambit.'
'For what?'
'If we knew, mistress, we would be planning countermeasures, instead of pondering possibilities.'
Mara paused through a tense moment. 'Arakasi, is it possible we have a spy in our own ranks?'
Kevin watched in curiosity as the Acoma Spy Master subsided once more into stillness. Close scrutiny revealed that the man had a knack for arranging himself in a fashion that caused him to blend with his surroundings. 'Lady, since the day I swore oath on your natami, I have instigated diligent checks. I know of no traitor in our midst.'
The Lady made a frustrated gesture. 'But why attack a thyza caravan between the estate and Sulan-Qu, unless somebody guesses what plans we have afoot? Arakasi, our next grain shipment is to conceal our new silk samples. If that was information the Minwanabi sought to discover, our troubles might be grave indeed. Our cho-ja silk must take the merchants at the auctions by surprise. Reven ~l standing will be lost if our secret is discovered beforeh ~l Arakasi inclined his head, conveying both agreement ~ l assurance. 'The raid by Desio's soldiers might have l coincidence, but I concur with you. We dare not presume Most likely he probes to discover why we arm our car so heavily.'
Why not give them a red herring?' offered Kevin.
'Herring ?' snapped Keyoke with impatience. By this Mara's Force Commander had grown resigned to barbarian's out-of-turn remarks; he could not be made think like a slave, and the Lady at some point, and reasons of her own, had decided not to enforce protocol.
Arakasi and the Midkemian had never encountered each other previously, and the impertinence came as a surprise The Spy Master's eyes glinted in the shadows as he looked at the tall man who stood behind Mara's shoulder. Never one to entangle his intellect with preconceptions, he discarded both the man's rank and his insolence as irrelevant~' and fastened what proved to be an almost frighteningly~: intense interest upon the concept behind Kevin's suggestion.
'You use a word for a species of fish, but imply something very different.' r
'A ruse of sorts.' Kevin accompanied his explanation with his usual expansive gestures. 'If something is to be hidden in a thyza shipment, confuse the enemy by burying wrapped and sealed packages in every wagon that carries goods. : Then the enemy must either spread his resources thin and intercept all outgoing caravans, and thereby make plain his intentions, or else abandon the attempt.'
Arakasi blinked very fast, like a hawk. His thought moved faster still. 'And the silk samples would be in none of these shipments,, he concluded, 'but concealed somewhere else, perhaps even in plain sight, where silks might ordinarily be in evidence.'
Kevin's eyes lit up. 'Precisely. Perhaps you could sew them as the lining of robes, or maybe even as a separate shipment of scarves.'
The concept is sound,' Mara said, and Arakasi nodded tacit agreement. 'We could even have servants wear underrobes of the fine silk beneath their usual travelling robes.'
That moment, someone outside knocked insistently at the screen. Arakasi faded into his corner as if by reflex, and Mara called an