news of her presence would be everywhere within a day, and she would be an easy target for her father’s men. Besides, she knew perfectly well that Xejen would not allow her to leave. She was too precious an asset to him, and she remained so by making him believe that she shared the same goals and beliefs as he.
‘Send them one hostage as a gesture of good faith,’ she said. ‘He does not know that the other nobles have died; for all he is aware, there could be many more imprisoned in the donjons of the keep. Chien is useless to you anyway, and what is more, he is very ill and your physician has been unable to do anything to help him.’ She glanced at Bakkara. ‘He is innocent, and does not deserve to be here.’
‘He will tell them of the strength of our forces,’ Xejen said, stalking around the room. ‘He will name names.’
‘He has barely been outside the room you put him in,’ Mishani replied. ‘He knows nothing of your forces.’
‘And as to naming names,’ Bakkara put in, ‘isn’t that what we want to happen?’
‘Exactly,’ Mishani agreed. ‘Chien is a major player among merchants and maritime industries. If he starts talking, his ships will carry the word across the Near World.’
Xejen twiddled the fingers on one hand. He was obviously persuaded, but he was making a great show of deliberation. Evidently he thought someone like Mishani might be fooled by that, and he would not seem quite so eager to agree with her.
‘Yes, yes, it could work,’ he muttered to himself. ‘Will you talk to him, Mistress Mishani?’
‘I will talk to him,’ Mishani said.
As it turned out, it was not quite as easy as Mishani had thought.
‘I will not leave you alone here!’ Chien raged. ‘You can’t ask me to do this!’
Mishani was as impassive as always, but inside she was frankly shocked at the sudden fierceness of his emotion. He had been moved to more comfortable quarters after his confinement had ended. It was no different from the rest of the drab keep, comprising a few heavy wall hangings, rugs, a comfortable bed in consideration of his weak state and a few odds and ends like a table and a chest for clothes. She had not exaggerated the severity of his fever to Xejen; but he obviously felt well enough to get angry, even if he was still too weak to stand up.
‘Calm yourself!’ she snapped, and the sudden harshness in her voice quieted him. ‘You are acting like a child. Do you think I would not rather come with you? I want you to go because you must do something for me that only you can do.’
His hair had grown out a little during his confinement, a black stubble across his broad scalp, and he had evidently not been inclined to put a razor to it yet. He gave her a reluctantly mollified look and said: ‘What is it, then, that only I can do?’
‘You can help save my life,’ she said. It was calculated to stall the last of his indignation, and it worked.
‘How?’ he asked. Now he was ready to hear it.
‘I need you to take a message for me,’ she told him. ‘To Barak Zahn tu Ikati.’
Chien watched her suspiciously. ‘The Barak Zahn who is besieging this town?’
‘The same,’ she said.
‘Go on,’ Chien prompted.
‘You must ask to meet him alone. You cannot let anyone else know I am here. If you do, my father’s men will be waiting for me upon my release.’
‘And what will I tell him?’
Mishani lowered her head, the thick, braided ropes of black hair swaying with the movement. ‘Tell him I have news of his daughter. Tell him she is alive and well and that I know where she is.’
Chien’s eyes narrowed. ‘The Barak Zahn doesn’t have a daughter.’
‘Yes, he does,’ Mishani said levelly.
Chien held her gaze for a moment, then sagged. ‘How can I leave you here?’ he asked, more to himself than her. ‘There is an army outside, waiting to assault this place, and it is defended by peasants and tradesmen.’
‘I know your honour demands that you stay, Chien,’ Mishani said. ‘But you will be doing me a service greater than all the protection you can offer if you leave Zila and take my message. That is all I ask of you. Barak Zahn will do the rest.’
‘Mistress Mishani . . .’ he groaned. ‘I cannot.’
‘It is my best chance at surviving this siege, Chien,’