scent of black tea brewing. Karasek’s horse was tethered nearby. Valara caught the words patrol, search, and perimeter. She listened closer and gathered that the general confusion at Zalinenka had worked in their favor, but soon that dearly bought time would run out.
I came for honor, he had said. An honor that ran deeper than his oath to Leos Dzavek. What else had he done in honor’s name? What had such a decision cost him?
She stood, catching their attention immediately. Karasek broke off his conversation. Sometime during her sleep, he had washed away the dust and sweat.
“We’ll eat, then break camp,” he said. “I’ve done what I could to delay pursuit, but unless I return within a few days, my fellow councillors will take additional measures. And I have several tasks I must accomplish before then.”
More hints. She ought to insist on precise information, but she was strangely afraid to at this moment. Perhaps later, in private, she could question him more thoroughly.
“What have you told them?” Ilse asked.
“That I was tracking Leos Dzavek’s murderer.”
“Ah.” Ilse glanced toward Valara. “So you were, in a way. What comes next?”
“For you, evasion,” he said. “For me, I must return as quickly as possible and report my findings to Duke Markov. I planned to tell him that we were mistaken, and that Morennioù’s queen had nothing to do with King Leos’s death. She most likely returned home at once, when she escaped my patrol.”
“Then who did kill the king?” Valara asked.
He shrugged. “Leos was not without enemies, but most of those belonged to minor factions within the court. Outside of Károví is another matter. Immatra in particular would like to expand its territory. If our kingdom fell into confusion, they would have an opportunity to claim and hold our northern coastline.”
It seemed too simple an explanation. Apparently Ilse thought the same because she said, “Would your councillors believe that? And what if they believed you too well? It does Károví no good to avoid war with Morennioù, only to provoke war with another kingdom.”
An excellent question, Valara thought, and one that clearly discomfited Miro Karasek, because he glanced away uneasily. “I think … we cannot avoid war. But to answer your question, the most I can do is distract them for a time. I erased your signatures before I followed you. And matters are rather confused in the palace.”
She took in the unspoken implications. He cannot deceive them forever. Which means they will someday discover his part.
Now it was her turn to be discomfited, but she refused to dwell on that. “What about us?” she said. “What do we do next?”
His mouth quirked into a humorless smile, as if he guessed her thoughts. “First we prepare the ground here, in case Markov sends his trackers north. I shall lay down signs for a second camp farther south, and trails leading east to the coast. You have the simplest task. You go home.”
She was vividly aware of two things in that moment—the sudden change in Ilse Zhalina’s expression and her own sense of balance utterly overturned. They were of the same root and branch, she thought, struggling to keep her face under control. We have both lost a great deal. She has lost her Lord Kosenmark. I have lost my magic. Is that too great a sacrifice? The gods do not think so.
The idea of the gods caring struck her as absurd. She smothered a laugh, caught the startled look from both her companions, and shook her head. “I am sorry. But I cannot trust the roads through Autrevelye. I must find another passage home.”
It was the most transparent lie she had ever offered to anyone. She held her breath, expecting Karasek to protest, Ilse to point her sword at Valara’s throat and demand the truth. But no. To her astonishment, both seemed to accept this outrageous explanation.
They would, neither of them, last a week in Morennioù’s court.
No, that was not fair. Ilse’s gaze had turned inward, as if other problems claimed her attention. And Karasek’s eyes narrowed in a different kind of calculation.
“I know what to do,” he said after a moment. “You will head west and south. Once I’ve reported back to my colleagues, I can rejoin you. I can—” He paused, and in a somewhat less natural voice said, “If you agree, I can escort you to Taboresk, where my holdings are. Then to a port city, where ships can be hired for longer voyages.”
Her heart beat faster. Home. He was