and glanced up across the castle’s upper courtyard to the Harmach’s Tower. Given the unqualified success of his simulacrum, a feeble old madman locked up in his chambers there had just become nothing more than a tedious liability. As long as Maroth Marstel remained alive, there was always a slight chance that someone might somehow stumble across the inconvenient fact that there were now two Harmach Marstels.
He allowed himself a small smile; after all, he’d been looking forward to this moment for months. “And now for a little bit of tidying up,” he said to himself.
TEN
24 Hammer, the Year of Deep Water Drifting (1480 DR)
A winter fog hung heavily over Hulburg as Geran dressed himself for the journey to Thentia. A Sokol caravan was setting out along the Coastal Way in half an hour, and he intended to slip out of the town by playing the part of one of the caravan guards. Nimessa had provided him with a surcoat in Sokol’s colors of blue and black, and the cold weather gave him the perfect excuse to cover most of his face with a scarf and hood. She’d quietly arranged with her arms-captain for him to join the caravan’s mounted escort; the fellow didn’t know who he was smuggling out of Hulburg, and Geran intended to keep it that way as long as possible. He checked his appearance one last time in the standing mirror in Nimessa’s room, and decided that it was good enough for all but the closest inspection. Of course, that depended on whether they met any of Rhovann’s constructs on the way out of town, and whether the helmed guardians had some means of seeing through common disguises or not.
In that case, I’ll break ranks and make a gallop for it, he told himself. He adjusted his sword belt one last time, slung a pair of saddlebags with a typical sellsword’s traveling kit stuffed inside over his shoulder, and trotted downstairs. Nimessa waited for him in the foyer, wearing a dress of green velvet with high boots—always a good idea in Hulburg’s streets at this time of year—and a heavy fur mantle against the weather.
“It seems you’re ready,” she said. She glanced out the window toward the compound’s courtyard, where the mule teams were being hitched to their wagons, and looked back to him. “Are you certain you want to leave today? You can stay longer if you feel you need to.”
He sensed the unspoken invitation in her offer, and hesitated. He liked Nimessa very much, and it was certainly true that the last two days of hiding in her home had been very pleasant indeed … but strangely enough the time he’d spent with her had finally dispelled the mystery and confusion he’d wrestled with in his heart for months now. Nimessa Sokol wasn’t the one he loved, no matter how desirable he found her, and he thought that her heart wasn’t entirely given to him either. To stay longer and draw out their temporary entanglement would only make that more clear without changing the essential nature of his heart, or hers. Framing his answer in the simplest and most comfortable terms he could find, he said, “I’d better go while I can. You might not have another caravan setting out for a couple of tendays or more. And I don’t want to endanger you any more than I already have. You’ve risked too much on my behalf already.”
“I understand,” she said, and her wry smile showed him that she did understand. She leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek, and drew a deep breath. “As for the question of danger, I’ll be the judge of my own risks. I’ll send word to our representatives in Thentia to extend you any help they can if you need to slip back into Hulburg again.”
“I appreciate the offer,” he said, “but the next time I return to Hulburg will be the last. There will be no more retreats. One way or the other, I’ll settle with Rhovann and Marstel and put things right. I have to.”
Nimessa nodded, and drew back. “We’ll help as we can, then. A good journey to you, Geran.”
He opened the door and stepped outside. The mists were cold and damp, the sort of weather that would slowly chill a traveler all day long until no fire or bedroll could warm him when he finally stopped. He made his way over to the mount waiting for him and swung himself up into the