tried sleeping, but the late summer sun defied her. She tried working, but her mind escaped its leash. She wanted to be back in Porte Oliva or Carse, someplace where she understood the system of the world. Suddapal, with its echoes of Vanai and Camnipol, was too complicated. Or if it wasn’t the city, she had become too complicated for it.
Master Kit and Captain Wester joined the family at dinner, and anything else would have seemed strange. Kit regaled the table with stories from his years on the road, and Cithrin watched as people fell under the benign and compassionate spell of his voice. It was that same magic that had brought Sarakal into ruins. And Vanai. Only no, Vanai had burned before Geder’s discovery of the temple. That atrocity, at least, hadn’t been driven by the things in Master Kit’s blood.
She’d hoped to find Marcus alone after the meal, to sit with him. Breathe the same air. She felt that she had a thousand questions for him, only she didn’t know what any of them were. In any case, Marcus went to his room claiming exhaustion almost before the last plate of beef found its way to the table. Cithrin sat alone in the crowd as eating gave way to music and talk. The only one who seemed equally distracted was Isadau. When Master Kit withdrew from the hall, Isadau didn’t follow him. So Cithrin did.
The old actor was sitting alone in one of the smaller rooms, a wool blanket draped over his shoulders, when Cithrin came in.
“Kit,” she said.
“Ah, Magistra Cithrin,” Kit said, shifting on his bench to make room for her. “Have I mentioned how pleased I am to find you doing so well? It’s a long way from the last caravan out of Vanai.”
“I don’t know,” she said, sitting. “Seems like the same place to me, almost.”
“Yes, I suppose I see that,” he said.
“Are you … are you really you?” she asked. “I mean … I don’t know what I mean.”
“I think I do,” he said. “I carried a secret with me for many years, and now it’s uncovered. It must change how you see me, but I feel like the same man I always have been. My affection for you is what it was. My fears for the future haven’t changed. I feel more threatened, I suppose. But that may only be truth. When your friend Isadau said I was an abomination—”
“She didn’t mean it,” Cithrin said.
“She did, Cithrin. She very much did. And I think I understand why.”
A cricket took up its song, and then another. The chirping was thinner than it had been at midsummer. Fewer insects and a slower song.
“Marcus left when I was gone away to Camnipol.”
“Yes,” Kit said. “That must have been hard for you, his disappearing that way.”
“I was fine,” Cithrin said. Then, “God, you know that was a lie, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Kit said. “But it’s one that speaks well of you both.”
“Having him back … just back. It’s like Magister Imaniel popping up out of the grave and coming to the dinner table. Magister Imaniel or else …”
“Or else your father?”
“I didn’t know my father,” Cithrin said.
“Ah yes. I remember that,” Kit said. They were silent for a time.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course,” Kit said.
“Basrahip. The priests. If they were looking for something, what would it be?”
“What do you mean, looking for?”
“Sending out hunting parties. Looking in the empty places in the world.”
“Well,” Kit said, then took a long, deep breath, giving himself time to think. “I think we have established that I may not have perfect insight into the workings of the priesthood. But I would think they were looking for other remnants of the dragons’ power. Something like the Timzinae or the sword that Marcus and I recovered. Are they? Looking, I mean.”
“I think so,” Cithrin said. “We’ve been getting reports from someone in Camnipol. We aren’t sure who. But one of the things he said was that there were expeditions going out. And one of them is being led by a Dartinae man I almost worked with in Porte Oliva. He gave me a dragon’s tooth.”
“Did he really?” Master Kit asked.
“I think he did,” Cithrin said. “I suppose it could be a fake.”
“I wonder …” Kit said.
“I could show it to you.”
“What? Oh, thank you, but no. I was remembering something Marcus said about men like me being driven into hiding once. A very long time ago. If my former companions are searching for