through. I had to qualify myself, and it was tough. Some of the fighters were highly skilled, even if they weren't well known. I'm gripped by a momentary worry that Makri isn't taking it seriously enough. I'm not certain she appreciates the standard of the opposition.
I shake off the worry. Makri is the best fighter I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty. She'll win the competition. I enter Big Bixo's tent with an air of quiet determination. It's time to begin the process of reducing the Samsarinan bookmakers to despair.
Chapter Eleven
After placing my bets I head towards Baroness Demelzos's mansion, where I'm due to talk to her daughter Merlione. In Turai there were carriages for hire but the only carriages in Elath seem to belong to the Barons and their ilk. Commoners walk everywhere. The young servant who admits me is wearing a plain white tunic. I'd have expected Baron Mabados's servants to be wearing something fancier. Embroidered, at least. Maybe the Baron is too cheap to dress his servants well. Or maybe in Samsarina it's a sign of good taste to dress your servants plainly. I can't tell. I don't know the nuances of servants' apparel the way I did back in Turai. I don't know the nuances of any part of society here.
"The Baroness asked me to escort you to our western reception room. Merlione is waiting for you."
For what is effectively a holiday home, it's a large enough place. We walk along plain white corridors hung with pictures of the Baron's ancestors, and past the central shrine, where I catch a glimpse of a rather modest statue of St Quatinius. It's some time since I prayed. In Turai it was standard to pray three times a day. Religious rules in Samsarina are different. There's a period in the evening when everything stops for prayer, but no set time during the day. Probably the Barons don't want their farmers suffering too many interruptions as they work in their fields.
I've formed a picture of Demelzos's daughter as a shy girl, full of imaginary fears and worries. It turns out to be not particularly accurate. For one thing, she's a little older than I expected. Eighteen, perhaps. Old enough to have been married off in some favourable dynastic match. The fact that she hasn't been probably says something about the family, but I don't know what. She greets me in a confident enough manner. She's a reasonably attractive young woman - though I'm finding that harder to judge as I get older - dressed quite simply, with a plain blue robe over a long white dress that looks much the same as those worn by most woman in Elath. They're well-cut garments, but you wouldn't necessarily take her for a Baron's daughter. She isn't wearing any fancy jewellery, which would have been obligatory for a rich young woman in Turai. She does sport a discrete queenstone bracelet.
I take a seat and get down to business. "I understand you think someone is trying to kill you?"
"Someone is," she says. "And no, I'm not imagining it."
"Who thinks you're imagining it?"
"Everyone. But they're wrong. And Alceten's death wasn't an accident either, no matter what anyone says. She was murdered."
Merlione looks me in the eye, defying me not to believe her. She has very dark eyes. She looks a little like her mother did when she was younger. It gives me a faint memory of being a lot younger myself.
"Tell me what happened."
"Only if you're here to help find out who killed her. If you're here to try and persuade me it was an accident, I'd rather not."
"I take it you weren't impressed by the original investigation?"
Merlione laughs, quite bitterly. "Investigation? There was no investigation. Daringos, the King's Steward, asked a few questions and believed whatever was easiest for him to believe. The carriage that killed Alceten was owned by Baron Girimos so he wasn't going to cause any trouble there."
"Who's Baron Girimos?"
Merlione looks at me in a rather less friendly manner. "Shouldn't you know that?"
"I'm new in town."
"That wouldn't seem to qualify you to find out the truth."
"Indulge me. I have hidden talents. Who's Baron Girimos?"
"He owns land all over the west of the country. Very rich and important. He's one of the King's main allies, so no one was going to accuse him of anything."
"Do you think Baron Girimos was behind the death of your friend?"
"I don't know. I can't see why he would be. But someone deliberately drove that carriage into