“I’d lay low were I the ones who cleaned out Kadross. I’d find a new shore to cast my nets. Lotta questions being asked, casual like.”

“About me?”

“About likely souls who’d turn renegade. They seem to want to catch a good-sized, well-disciplined band. They’d pay high for a proper lead.”

She smiled to herself, pleased that her skill had been noticed but irritated that the search had fanned out as far as Igen’s caverns. Maybe she should not raid Igen, after all.

“You been real clever, Lady Thella.”

He timed his casual use of her name well—she had just taken a mouthful of chowder, still too hot to swallow quickly. He grinned at her discomfort, but they were alone, and Brare was not fool enough to let her name drop where others could hear it. He had known who she was for the past few Turns and she wondered how much she would have to hand over before he would “forget” that he knew it.

“No fear, lady.” Brare chuckled. “It’s my secret!” He chuckled again. “I like a good secret. I know to keep it close, too. Here!” He patted his belt pouch.

Fair enough, and curiously she did trust Brare. She had paid him well over the last Turns. She took his hint and slipped him thirty quartermarks, coins he could most easily change without question. Readis had confirmed that the old fisherman had never been known to betray anyone. The old man, who moved only between his sunny place outside the main entrance and his cave, probably knew anything of interest that occurred throughout the eastern rank of Holds. She had used his information to advantage in the past.

His sharp gray eyes sparkled as his hand confirmed the new size of his pouch. “That’s a tidy price for a cup of chowder, lady.” He gave her a wide smug grin without opening his lips, screwing up the sun-scored wrinkles about his eyes.

“Not just chowder, Brare,” she said, putting an edge on her voice. “What do you know about this girl who can hear dragons?”

Brare regarded her with widened eyes and an appreciative stare, pulling the corners of his mouth down knowingly. “Thought you’d hear about her. Who tol’ja?”

“A deaf man.”

Brare nodded. “He was bound and determined he’d get to you. I told him to wait. Too many looking to find you. He could lead ‘em to your door.”

“He didn’t. I’ve rewarded him well. Gave him a hold all his own for the winter.” Brare accepted her lie with an amiable nod, and Thella pursued the information she needed. “About the girl?”

“Is that why you brought the dragonless man with you?” It was Thella’s turn to grin. He did have ears in the walls and eyes on every ceiling!

“He’s improved in health since you told Readis he was here. The girl?” She did not intend to spend the whole morning chatting with a coy old man in a smelly inner cave, even if he did make a fine chowder.

“Aye, that’s true enough. Our Aramina, daughter to Dowell and Barla. She hears dragons, right enough. Or so the hunters say, for they take her with them if there’s any fear of Fall.”

“Where is she? I’m not prowling about in this warren without direction.”

“That’s wise of you. Two passages to the right here, turn left. Follow the main branch—it’s now lighted—to the fourth intersection. Family dosses down in an alcove on the right. Pink downers,” he added, referring to the cave’s stalactites. “Dowell carved me my stick, you know.” He reached beside him and offered the crutch for her inspection. When she caught sight of the intricate carving, she grabbed the end for a closer look. Father, as well as daughter, would be useful to her. “Broom wood,” Brare said with understandable pride. “Hardest wood anywhere. Not even Thread scores it. This came from a piece blown down by that big gale we had several Turns back. Took Dowell all winter to decorate it. Paid him what it was worth, too.” His fingers caressed the dark wood, rubbed shiny by use.

“Fine work.”

“Stout crutch. Best I’ve ever had!” Then bitterness seemed to overcome him and he snatched it from her, throwing it down beside him and out of sight. “You’ve had your chowder. Get away from me. I’d be thrown out of the best berth a footless man could have if you’re found in here.”

She went immediately, and not to please him—once he started brooding on his injury, he turned maudlin. As she followed his directions, she mused on the idea that a man who could carve with such skill would be living among the Igen holdless. She would have thought he could find a place in any Hold.

Not for the first time, she wondered why no one had taken Igen’s cave complex to Hold. There were plenty of large chambers, even if they were not so high and vaulted as those of Igen Hold itself across the river. Floodwaters washing into the main chamber would be a disadvantage, she admitted. Igen Proper stood well back from the river, on a high bank, well above any overflow.

The labyrinth was not so well ventilated, but some of the stalactites and stalagmites that formed natural divisions between alcoves had an eerie luminous beauty in their shaded layers. The deeper in she went, the more she was aware of the settled odors of damp and concentrated human living. She was glad of the glow baskets, for she would have been quickly lost without light.

The alcove with pink stalactites was empty but neat. Belongings were locked away in carved chests, straw pallets rolled up on top of them. Propped in one corner and chained to a stalactite was a heavy dray beast yoke, though with its distinctive carving anyone would be a fool to steal it. She stood in the center of the chamber, trying to get a feeling for its inhabitants. She would have to find out what pressures could be put on Dowell and Barla so that Aramina would come of her own accord.

When she heard the echo of cheering and many conversations, she turned inward, moving swiftly to less used corridors and back to her lair. She had taken another few hours’ rest and was mulling over possibilities when Giron returned, calling softly to warn her of his coming. Wise man, she thought. She had already heard the scraping and had her knife out, poised to throw. He grunted when he saw her arm still raised and waited to enter until she had sheathed it. He had a covered earthenware bowl in one hand and a loaf of bread in the other.

“I waited for my share,” Giron said, offering half the loaf to her. The tempting odor of steamed shellfish filled the little room when he opened the pot and peered in. “There’s enough.”

She wanted to say that she did not eat dole food, that Thella, Lady Holdless, did not accept Igenish charity, but the bread looked crusty and was still warm, and the shellfish would be succulent.

“You can bury the shells later,” she muttered, reaching into the pot. “What did you hear? Was the place searched? Did you see her again? A reliable source tells me she’s genuine.”

Giron grunted, and his face had a closed expression, not quite concealing intense and conflicting emotions. She waited until they had both eaten before she prompted him again. She could not let his black mood take precedence over her requirements.

“She hears them, right enough,” he murmured, eyes unfocused and features set. “The girl hears dragons.”

His tone made her examine him more closely, and she got a sense of a bitter poignant envy, an unsettling rancorous anger seething in the dragonless man. They had done him no favors restoring his health. So why had he come with her, knowing her quest?

“She could be useful to me, then,” she said finally to break the dense brooding silence. She spoke in a brisk tone. “Look to the beasts after you bury the shells. Save the pot. Were Igen guards in evidence? I’m told they search frequently and without warning.”

He shoveled the shells back into the pot, then shrugged. “No one bothered me.”

That did not surprise Thella. One look at his expression would have been sufficient to warn off questions, even from guards. She was sorry she had not brought someone else to leaven such dour company. She rolled up in her sleeping fur before he returned from his tasks. She knew he knew she was not asleep, but he settled himself for the night with a minimum of sound.