"I had heard he left the castle," Utta said carefully. "I was sorry to hear he was going."

"But all that doesn't matter this moment. As I said, we came back from the service. I came here to take off my chapel clothes. There was no letter. You will think I am a foolish woman who simply did not notice, but I swear on all the gods, there was no letter. I went out into the parlor room and sat with the others and we talked of the service and what we would do this day. The fire burned down and I went to get a shawl, and the letter was lying in the middle of this bed."

"And no one had come in?"

"None of us had even left the sitting room. Not once!"

Utta shook her head. "I do not know what to say. Shall I read it?"

"Please. It is eating away at me, wondering why such a thing was left here."

Utta spread the piece of parchment on her lap and began to read aloud.

",, Men on Raven 's Gate are slack. It seems our strong old walls work their spell not only on enemies, but on our own soldiers as well. I do not know if the young captain whose name escapes me inherited this problem from Mur-roy and has not been able or willing to fix it yet, or whether his governance of the guards has been slack, but this must change. I warn you that we must keep our eyes open for enemies within our city as well as outside, and that means greater vigilance.

"I implore you also, tell Brone that I said the rocks beneath where the old and new walls meet outside the Tower of Summer must be examined and per¬haps some other form of defense should be built there-an overhanging wall, perhaps, and another sentry post. That is the one place where someone might climb up from below and gain direct access to the Inner Keep. I know this must seem like untoward fretting to you, my son, but I fear the long peace is end¬ing soon. I have heard whispers here in Hierosol that worry me, about the autarch and other things, and I was already fearful before I set off on this ill-starred quest.

"While I speak of the Tower of Summer, let me tell you one other thing, and this is meant for your eyes alone. If you read this letter to Briony and Barrick, DO NOT read this part to them.

If a day should come when you know beyond doubt that I am dead, there is something you must see. It is in the Summer Tower, in my library desk-a book, bound in plain dark cloth, with nothing written on its cover or binding. It is locked and the key may be found in a hidden cubby hole in the side of the desk, under the carved head of the Eddon wolf. But I beg of you, even order you so much as I am still your father and lord, do not touch it unless a time comes when you know as undeniable truth that I will not come back to you.

"That is all about that, or almost all. If you must share anything in that book with someone else, brave son, spare your brother and sister, and trust no one else but Shaso, who alone among my advisers has nothing to gain from treachery and everything to lose. For him, the fall of me or my heirs will mean exile, poverty, and perhaps even death, so I think he can be taken into your confidence, but only if you can see no way to shoulder the burden alone.

"Enough of this unhappy subject. I trust that I will still come back to you hale and well-Ludis wants bright gold in his hands, or at worst a living bride, but not a dead king. In the hours and days until then, please see that the castle is made safe. There are still too many places where we are vulnera¬ble, and the slack methods of peacetime quickly become lasting regrets. Tell

Brone also that the tunnels beneath thecastle have not been surveyed in a hun-dred years, while the Funderlings have been burrowing like moles, and ihat there are so many holes in so many Southmarch basements that…"

"And there it ends," said Utta. "Except that there is a curious addendum

written in the side margin, in quite a different fist."

"I could not make that out-read it to me," demanded Merolnnna, The Zorian sister squinted for a moment, trying to make sense of it It

was in an archaic-looking script, much smaller and more clumsily done

than the king's writing, twisted so that it would fit into the letter's narrow

margins, but the ink seemed quite fresh and new.

"If ye desire to knowe more, we wold speake with you. Say only, YES, and we will heare ye, howsowever."

Utta looked up at the duchess, perplexed. "I have no idea what that means."

"Nor do I. Any of it. But if someone is listening, I will say it. Yes!" She almost shouted the word. "There. How is that for madness? I am talking to ghosts. It will not be the first time this cursed year."

Utta ignored that, looking around the room, trying to spot anyplace that someone might hide and spy on them. The chamber had no windows, and since the duchess' part of the residence was on the topmost floor, nothing lay above them but the roof. Could someone be up there, crouching beside the bedchamber's small chimney, listening? But surely they would hear any¬one moving about up there, or the guards would spot them.

The two women sat together in silence for long moments, waiting to see if anything would come of the strange request and Merolanna's ac¬cession, but at last the duchess raised herself shakily from the bed. "Whatever happens, I cannot in good faith keep you here all day, al¬though it is a comfort to see you, Sister Utta. I do not trust many of those around me, and none of those who have sided with the Tollys, those damnable traitors."

"Please, my lady, not so loudly, even in your own chambers."

"Do you think they would have me tried and executed?" Merolanna laughed with something that sounded almost like pleasure. "Ah, but I'd scorch them first, wouldn't I? I'd speak my mind and burn the skin from their ears! Hiding behind a baby like that, claiming to protect Olin's throne

when everyone knows they've been itching to get their hands on it since his poor brother died." She waved her hand in disgust. "Enough. 1 will walk you to the door. It is time I get out of this room, before 1 start seeing the phantoms I'm speaking to."

Merolanna bid her good-bye, offering her Eilis to walk back with her, but Utta politely refused. She wanted to walk by herself and think about what had happened.

Before she got two dozen steps down the hall, the door opened up again and Merolanna called after her in a cracked, frightened voice.

"Utta! Utta, come here!"

When she returned to the rooms, she let Merolanna lead her with trem¬bling hand into the bedchamber. There, in the middle of the bed, lay an¬other piece of paper-a torn scrap of parchment this time, but the writing was in the same crabbed, ancient style.

"Come to us to-morrow an home after suns set, in the top of the 'Tower of Summer."

Hunted

Then Zmeos and his siblings reappeared, and disputed the right of Perin

Skylord and his brothers to rule over heaven, but the three brothers met

their scorn with peace. For a long time they all lived in uneasy alliance

until the eye qf Khors fell on Zoria, Perin's virgin daughter. Khors coveted

her, and so he stole her from her father's house, taking her to his fortress.

— from The Beginnings of Things The Book of the Trigon

SOMETHING WAS TUGGING at his hair.

Ferras Vansen had been lost in dreams of sunny meadows, but even in that fair place something dark had been lurking in the grass, and now it took him a few heartbeats to shake off the grip of the fearful dream.

"Master!" Skurn again took a clump of Vansen's hair in his beak and yanked. The bird's foul breath was right in his face. "Wake up! Something out there!"

Awake, dreaming, it made no difference-fear and misery were every¬where. Vansen rolled over. The bird hopped off him, flapping awkwardly back to the ground. "What?" he demanded. "What is it?"