Fifty: Suspects

Dela kept her eyes on her knees as they waited in Harkenn's study. She had known this meeting was coming, but still managed to be surprised when Kerrin sent for her. She should have anticipated that she would be required to attend.

She dreaded the conversation she would end up having with Lin later. The girl had watched her go with open disbelief, and even Dela could see that so many personal summonses from Kerrin was starting to look strange. She could not recall that she'd met a single person's eye all morning. She hadn't been able to.

The lord sat behind his desk, idly flicking a pen-knife around his fingers, though his posture was tense and unhappy. Behind him in her habitual chair, the Angel slave Anarabelle watched the lord, the door and Dela in turn, almost more alarming than anything else. The Angel had not shown such interest in any other meeting Dela had been to, not even the ones that would affect the whole city. Dela knew the woman could read truth from lie, and some rumours said she could read minds. Dela wondered if she suspected her of something. Only Kerrin remained cool and collected beside her.

A timid knock on the door released the tension like a spent breath.

"Come in," Harkenn barked, foot slipping from the desk. He sat up as Grace Haverford entered. The otherworld girl looked around at them all in blatant confusion, eyes lingering longest on the slave woman.

"You called for me, sir?"

"I've been given to understand that a criminal faction has attempted to contact you." Dela winced at the lord's bluntness. Grace went pale.

"I didn't go to meet anyone, my lord. I don't know who sent it."

"I'm aware you didn't," Harkenn said irritably. "You didn't have permission to leave the castle on the night they suggested, nor did you ask for it. I'm more concerned with why it wasn't brought straight to me. I do not like having Devils poking around my staff without my knowledge."

Grace thought for a moment. Dela admired her ability to pause; if she had been on the receiving end of that burning glare she would have babbled her guts out in a panic. Before the girl could answer, another knock on the door interrupted them.

"Enter."

Nika stepped inside the room. Dela had heard that the physician had temporarily taken up Yddris's post, and the strange touch of cold that entered the room with him confirmed his identity. He bowed his head in greeting.

"Were you aware of this communication?" Harkenn demanded, forgoing greetings. "Most of the permitted leave I've given to Miss Haverford was to go and see you."

"Not until very recently, my lord. I find it troubling."

"Troubling is putting it mildly," Harkenn muttered, some of the heat leaving his voice. His gaze switched to Dela, and it took all her effort and all her training not to visibly startle at his sudden attention. "I have some artist interpretations of known Devils. I want you to tell me if any of them match the one who assaulted you in the baths."

Dela felt heat rush to her face. All eyes in the room had turned to her at that. If the lord was aware of her embarrassment he showed no sign of it, producing a sheaf of papers from a desk drawer and laying them out on the table, forcing her to stand and move closer to him. He wasn't unpleasant to look upon, and was both clean and pleasant-smelling, but she still shuddered to be so close. The faces on the table glared and smirked back at her in turn. One was clearly a rendering of a Varthian man – ex-Varthian, she corrected herself. He still had his tribal braids and sharpened teeth, and a feral look in his eye that Dela had a feeling the artist hadn't fabricated.

Another was a man who tickled at her memory, and gave her a cold shock when she saw the name – Arlen (Last Name Unknown). His thin, angular jaw and ridged scar were familiar from the glimpse she'd got of him at the vigil on Wick Row. It made all kinds of sense why he had been covered up now.

She moved along the line, passing over three that meant nothing to her. The last but one from the end made her freeze. A jaunty grin greeted her from thick stubble and under a thatch of unruly dark hair. If it hadn't been for evidence of a more-than-once-broken nose and a scar at his temple, he might have looked like any cheerful young man at a bar. With the memory of being trapped in the closet with him still fresh, that only made her skin crawl.

"Him," she said, pointing. "It was him. But he said that he wasn't passing the note on for himself."

"Any ideas who?"

Dela paused, and continued in a lower voice as she moved her finger to Arlen's poster, "I've seen him. Possibly him."

"Interesting." The lord's eyes glinted, and a strange smile curled his lip. "Girl, do you know this man?"

Grace came up behind Dela's shoulder. It made Dela feel strangely better to have her there, as if a united front against Harkenn's moods.

"No, my lord," Grace said. "I've seen him on wanted posters, but never in person."

The lord picked up the poster and examined it himself, the strange smile still fixed in place. "And you?" He turned it towards the slave woman.

Anarabelle's eyes narrowed. "A temple guard claimed to see a man with a blind eye fleeing the scene of Eril's murder, my lord."

"I thought so."

"You think it is the same man, my lord?" Kerrin said. "It troubles me to think that someone like that would have access to the temple and my acolytes."

"I do not think you have current cause to worry, my lady," Harkenn murmured. "If this is who I think it is, I believe his interests are currently very singular." His eyes flicked to Grace, as if judging how much to reveal about something.

"Are we going to have him arrested?"

Harkenn put the poster down, still staring at the drawing of Arlen as if trying to skewer him with a thought. "Whether the criminal knows it or not, he's currently serving my purposes. So not yet, no. I will aim to keep him neutralised as best I can. I will send you extra guard for your temple and I would suggest you resume the patrols of your corridors. In the meantime, I would be most grateful for a moment alone with my maid."

Grace's pale face was the last thing Dela saw before the door closed behind them, still looking upset and confused. Kerrin placed a hand on Dela's back and hurried them along the corridor to a receiving room that Harkenn had often reserved for their use if he was busy when they arrived. The house head had unhappy little lines at the corners of her mouth, but that was the only sign that the meeting had affected her. Just before they stepped inside the receiving room, Harkenn's study door flew open again and Nika swept out. He paused to see them there, his hesitation almost embarrassed.

"My lady," he said stiffly, his voice stilted with suppressed anger. "Good evening to you."

He turned on his heel and disappeared down the stairs.

"Is this very bad?" Dela whispered. Her anxiety, far from easing now she was out from under the lord's glare, was steadily climbing once more. She wished Lin had never said anything to Lady Kerrin. She wondered how much distress she had inadvertently caused, tried to justify it by telling herself that it was for Grace's safety. But then, what did that reasoning say about her hesitation? Without Lin's nudge, she knew she'd never have found the nerve to confess it.

"I don't know, Dela," Lady Kerrin said, ushering her into the receiving room. "I suppose it must be. I have met that Unspoken several times, and I do not think he is easy to anger."

Dela sank into a chair like her legs had turned to goo. "Is it my fault?"

"No." Kerrin settled herself opposite, across a low wood table. "You should not blame yourself for any of this. You have the right to feel safe within the temple. It angers me that someone would seek to take that from you, to involve you in matters that you should not have to think about at your age."

"Why do you think he is asking after Grace's brother?"

Kerrin looked at her steadily, and Dela sensed she was toeing a line into topics that she had no business in. "Her brother is likely in a position closer to Harkenn than his Lordship would like any Devil getting near to. That is all I can say."

Kerrin was perfectly correct in her delivery, but Dela guessed immediately that the rumours of the otherworld boy manifesting the Gift had been true – which likely meant he was Yddris's new apprentice. She could see why that would be troubling to the lord. What she wasn't sure about was why he wouldn't arrest Arlen – if even the Lord of the Reach was too scared of Devil retribution to arrest a man suspected of murdering the head of Orthan, then the Devils were the ones who truly ruled the city.

They waited in companionable quiet for a while. Dela wondered if it was strange that she felt so comfortable in the presence of the Kelian head of house now. Several times she opened her mouth to express her continuing anxiety, and then closed it again. Nothing anyone could say would make her feel less oddly guilty, she thought. By the time they were called back in to the study, the lord was alone. Even his slave had been dismissed from her habitual chair.

"Is all well, my lord?" Kerrin asked.

"I daresay very little is," Harkenn replied. He had resumed flicking his pen-knife around. "Have you had any communication with Orthan of late?"

"No," Kerrin said lightly. "They have become very insular since Lord Eril's death. Areon is..."

"Boorish and ignorant?" Harkenn said.

Kerrin shrugged delicately. "Yes, my lord. I have offered my assistance in organising the House in the absence of a headship but been rebuffed or ignored each time."

"He troubles me," Harkenn said, almost absently. "Would that there were a way of removing him without being accused of interference in affairs I have no constitutional right to."

"I suppose Ethred is as close-lipped as ever?"

"Oh, yes. Nor can I convince Orthan to drop him."

A commotion in the foyer interrupted the conversation, which Dela had been following with wide eyes. It was dawning on her very suddenly that this study was the heart of Nictaven's rule, where the laws that governed their lives were discussed and passed. Not the Assembly, as she had once thought; right here, at this desk. And she was standing at it like she had any business there.

At the noise, the lord sat up and his pen-knife disappeared up his sleeve. "What now?"

He got up and stalked past them, towering over both of them. He easily rivalled a Varthian warrior in height, if perhaps not in mass, but Dela could see no trace of Varthian heritage in the lord's visage. She could not pinpoint any heritage at all, in fact.

"Come, Dela," Kerrin murmured. "It is time we got back."

Dela followed the lady from the room, grateful that this visit was finally over. As they reached the stairs, however, they found their way blocked by guards. There was shouting and cursing in the courtyard beyond the doors. Kerrin could just see over the helmeted heads of the human barricade at the base of the stairs, and she gasped at whatever she saw. Dela glared at the silver elbow plate in front of her as if she could see through it if she strained hard enough.

"This way." A soft voice said at their shoulder. Dela startled to find the Angel slave there. Up close, the studied blankness of her eyes was as disturbing and complete as ever. "My lady, the lord does not think you will be able to pass that way unscathed. He has a guard waiting with your carriage at the grounds entrance."

"Thank you, Anarabelle." Kerrin ushered Dela ahead of her to follow the Angel, glancing back worriedly as they went. "What is happening, do you know?"

"I believe there is a riot stirring," the slave replied. A touch of feeling had entered her voice with the words, though Dela was hard-put to identify it. "Certainly the men and women gathered out front don't have peaceful intentions, from the looks of it."

"Oh, no," Kerrin said sadly. "That's not good at all."

Anarabelle led them down a narrow servants' passage and off into another room that revealed itself as the kitchens. It was warm inside, but subdued. Most staff seemed to be anxiously awaiting the verdict from outside. Some had been talking, but fell quiet at Lady Kerrin's entrance, bowing their heads in deference as she passed. By the large open fire Dela recognised Grace. The girl sat under the washing lines and stared into the fire without really seeing it, and she didn't look around or even twitch at their passage. Dela wondered what had gone on in the study when they left it.

The promised carriage awaited them outside the kitchen door. Dela had no time to ponder the events inside the castle; the carriage began moving almost before she sat down. Kerrin watched out of the window as it took them around the back of the castle through the grounds on the network of gravel paths. They entered the city through Bisa, but it was clear the unrest was not limited to the castle. More people than Dela had seen outside at once in weeks roamed the streets in restless groups of two or more, some heading inexorably in the direction of the castle and others looking shifty enough to be out taking advantage of the confusion. As they drove through still-waterlogged streets, the crowd thinned out – the houses in this area had been evacuated after the flood.

A window smashed nearby and the carriage lurched as the driver fought to get the spooked horses back under control. Fear seeped into Dela's heart.

It was both a surprise and a relief to her that they reached the temple unscathed. They had been challenged, and more than once, but despite feelings running high, no one seemed much inclined to bring any harm to the Lady of House Kiel. They passed clusters of civilians looking desperate; others in active struggle with the city guard and out for looting and blood. They were a minority, but Dela supposed that only a minority was needed to turn a protest foul.

"Dela, you must go inside and stay there," Kerrin said, as the carriage ground to a halt and they got out. The lady set a punishing pace across the courtyard, ushering Dela ahead of her as the sounds of shouting reached them. "No one must leave the dormitories until Harkenn's additional guard get here. If you see anything at all, report it to one of the men we already have. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good." Even though worry lines creased her brow, Kerrin smiled at her. "Good evening to you, Dela."

She gave her a gentle nudge in the direction of the dormitory corridors, and Dela obeyed the hint. Seeing the city in such disarray had rattled her in some deep way she couldn't explain. She wanted the stable, familiar setting of her room and bed.

Lin had waited up for her.

"That was a long one," her friend said accusingly. Dela pulled off her ceremonial robe and hung it on the back of their door before she answered. She was too tired and rattled to have much patience for Lin's resentment.

"We had to come back the long way," she said. "The front entrance was blocked by protesters."

"Protesters?" Lin said dubiously. "Surely that Nict madman hasn't gone that far."

"Not Nict." Dela sat down on her pallet with a groan. "The whole city, it seems."

Lin seemed to finally register Dela's exhaustion and worry. Her face softened, though her frown stayed as she shuffled closer. With a sigh, Dela recounted what had happened since she left the temple, leaving out her suspicions about Grace's brother. As Lin had been the one to report Dela's bruises, Dela would have been hard-pressed to keep the fallout a secret from her.

"I can't believe you weren't going to tell Kerrin that that man broke into the bathhouse," Lin said, after a troubled silence. "A Devil well-known enough to have a poster, but still not in jail? That's huge, Dela. He could have killed you."

"I know, Lin."

They were quiet again. The temple was as peaceful as it always was, which felt wrong after what Dela had witnessed in the streets. Surely something of that chaos should have reached in here. There were acolytes up and down the corridor who had no idea that the city was in such strife. Were they really so sheltered, then?

"Let's go to the tower," Lin said suddenly. "I want to see what's happening."

"Kerrin instructed no one to leave the dormitories."

"The tower is literally built on the dormitories. We wouldn't be leaving the block."

"There are probably guards up there."

"Kerrin doesn't allow guards up there. If they want a vantage point they have to go to the main spire." Lin rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you're following the rules now."

Dela struggled with conflicting feelings. She had determined to herself, after the truth about the note had come out, that she would always follow instructions from now on. Yet she was terribly curious about the extent of the chaos, and Lin could sense it. Just as Dela was about to fold, her friend grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet, eyes twinkling with a strange anticipation.

As they padded out into the corridor, Dela recalled the conversation she'd once had with Lin – did her friend feel like her temple training was drudgery? She supposed she must, to be so strangely excited about the events of the night. They hurried past the lines of doors into other rooms, slowing and nodding when they passed a patrolling guard, as if they were just on the way to the latrine. The tower stairs lay halfway along their corridor, a tightly spiralling set of stone steps that led ever upward to a chamber of contemplation at its peak. It was usually used by older acolytes than themselves who were further along in their spiritual studies, but the priestesses didn't forbid any student to go up there. After being out for several hours already, Dela watched in faint exasperation as Lin took the stairs two at a time in front of her, bounding out onto the platform a long while before Dela staggered up behind her in a fog of regret.

She soon forgot her exhaustion. She had not been up the tower often, but when she did climb to its peak the view always took her breath away. Down below them the city sprawled in a network of bright lines and smoke plumes and glinting windows. Hugging the straggling edges of the settlement were the mountains, now starting to turn green with the changing season. Occasionally the dark arrow of a Marrowhawk winged over the streets, and the general rumble of a living city was cut through by the shrieks and screams of demons. Lin pulled her around the circular viewing chamber to the angle which afforded the best view of the castle. It hulked blackly over the sprawl below it, a scattering of fire lights in the dark. At first Dela mistook a larger light for a big window, but then realised with a gasp that one of the outbuildings was on fire.

"But why?" Lin's excitement had clearly gone cold at the sight of real conflict. "Why are they doing that?"

"I don't know," Dela replied. "Maybe just desperation?"

They watched from above, too high up to see more than the suggestion of movement down there. Beyond the castle the reservoirs glittered with reflected light, and off in another direction, beyond the blazing tower of the Orthanian temple, was a sparsely lit patch of city known as the dead quarter. Dela shuddered when she looked at it, wondering if Arlen and her attacker were there even now.

"What's that?" Lin asked.

"The dead quarter," Dela said absently, unable to drag her eyes away. She gasped and glared when Lin pinched her, but her friend only pointed back towards the castle, beyond it to where something bright winked in the darkness.

"Travellers?" Dela queried, unable to see the significance of a line of lights heading towards the North Gate.

"No, at the front," Lin insisted. Dela squinted. A strange ice-blue light headed the procession, she saw.

"I've no idea," she said, frowning. Unspoken made green fire, she knew, but blue was something she had never seen.

"I've heard the Caelumese make lanterns that burn blue," Lin said. They looked at each other.

The procession continued to close in on the city.