LITMIR.BIZ

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secrets? From me. From you, as well.”

      Anna bit her lip. She could not say anything without saying too much.

      Maté let a laugh escape. “Confused about how to begin? Let me start, then. Our Lord Brun is an ambitious man. He’s taken it upon himself to recover the Emperor’s jewel, because that will lead him to…to whatever he values most. Am I right?”

      Irritation pricked at her. “Why should I say anything if you can guess yourself?”

      She spoke more sharply than she intended. The shop owner came alert at once, but at Maté’s gesture, he subsided back into indifference. Maté himself had gone utterly still, as though he waited for prey. For a moment, she had the unsettling thought that she was the prey.

      She drew a deep breath. This was her friend, her best and only friend, the man who had explained the factions among the servants in Brun’s household when she first arrived, the friend who had hugged her while she wept after each time Brun took her to bed. He was the brother she’d never had. And he was right about keeping so many secrets. In a low voice, she said, “Lord Brun told me nothing, so I can only guess. I believe he heard about the theft—”

      “How? I hardly think the Emperor—”

      “I hardly think that too. There must have been rumors.”

      “Perhaps.” Maté appeared unconvinced. “Wherever he heard this news, I cannot believe our lord would send off three bonded servants, spending money like water, for just a scrap more influence at Court. He must have some specific reward in mind.”

      Anna dropped her gaze to the tabletop. “I wouldn’t know about that.”

      “No?” Maté said softly.

      She released a long sigh and curled her fingers around her mug. “He didn’t share his plans with me, but I can guess. He wants to marry well, as the saying goes. Recovering the Emperor’s jewel would—how shall I put it—further those plans.”

      Maté’s eyes widened. “The princess?” he breathed. “He wants to marry her?”

      He did not need to specify which princess. There was but one royal princess these days, after the recent arrests and executions. Her Royal Highness, Karin Emerita, the youngest granddaughter of the Emperor Marius. She was just nineteen. Thus far, however, she had proved adept at keeping her grandfather’s trust while she navigated the shifting alliances and factions at Court.

      “That’s only my guess,” Anna said. “Whatever his goal, he won’t keep me in his household. Of that I’m certain.”

      Maté was shaking his head in wonderment. “He aims high, our Lord Brun.”

      “He was always ambitious,” Anna murmured.

      Ambitious, clever, and charming. Qualities that he could summon up in a moment to gain what he wished. Anna remembered his manner when he invited her into his household. Very proper, even as he handed her over to the housekeeper and her new duties. Very different from that night, four years later. She had been twenty, older than the princess, but younger in the ways of Court and society. Remembering that night, Anna reached for her mug and wet her lips with wine. He didn’t force me, she told herself. At least I can say that much.

      A phrase she had repeated to herself often over the past two years.

      “I’m sorry,” Maté said softly.

      She shook her head. “It might have been worse. But thank you.”

      She took another drink of wine, then added water. All around them the wine shop’s other customers continued their endless games, their quiet conversations. In the kitchen, a woman started singing. Phaidre, perhaps.

      “Where would you go?” Maté said at last. “Or could you go?”

      She knew what he meant. Did she have the price of her bond, or would Brun sell her to another household?

      It was time to admit the rest.

      “He promised…” This next part was more difficult to confess. “Lord Brun promised me a reward,” she said. “If I deliver the jewel by autumn, I get my bond returned and a sum of money above that. I could go into free service with another Hêr Lord. I might even obtain a position with the University, as a clerk or scribe. My father was friend to dozens of scholars and tutors. It’s possible one might remember his name and offer me a chance.”

      “And Hêr Lord Brun?” Maté said. “Will he mind having you in the city?”

      Anna smothered a painful laugh. “I doubt it. I’ll be invisible, living in another world entirely from the Imperial Court.”

      “Your father was not so very invisible, as I recall.”

      Her laughter faded at once. It was because her father had known both Court and University that Lord Brun had visited their small house to inquire about obscure points of law or magic. And because he knew the scholar, he had offered to pay Michal Zhdanov’s debts after he died, and to provide the daughter employment in his household. For a price, of course.

      “No,” she said sadly. “He wasn’t.”

      She glanced up to see Maté regarding her with a strange expression. “I remember when you came to us,” he said softly. “A skinny child with unkempt hair and eyes the size of twin moons. You’ve changed a great deal—except for the eyes.”

      She had been sixteen. Still grieving for her father, still terrified by that interview with the moneylenders, who had described in great detail how much her father had owed them, and how those debts were now hers. And grateful, so very grateful to be rescued by Lord Brun.

      She was not certain she had changed much in the past six years.

      “I’m sorry I lied,” she said.

      He shrugged. “Eh. We have Lord Brun to thank for that. No doubt he wished to keep us uncertain of each other. He does that with his friends, you know, as well as his enemies.”

      Anna let her breath trickle out. A mountain of dread and anxiety seemed to have vanished, now that she and Maté had been honest with each other. “I missed you,” she said simply.

      He smiled. “And here I was thinking I was right by your side these past three months. No, I know what you mean. We shall find that jewel, Anna. And you shall have your freedom. Though,” he added, “I cannot promise not to argue with you from time to time.”

      She smiled back. “I like it better when you argue.”

      “Liar.” But he was laughing softly. “Come. Speaking of troubles, we must return to the inn. Lukas and I discovered our new guards tied up and snoring behind the stables. We didn’t stop to question them, we only knew we had to find you as quickly as possible. Lukas took one direction. I took another. If he returns before we do, he might execute them in a fit of rage.”

      Anna shook her head at the thought of Maté and Raab charging through the streets of Iglazi. Then her mood sobered. Maszny had not disagreed when Anna had called Koszenmarc a dangerous man. She gave a shudder, in spite of the heat.

      “What’s wrong?” Maté asked.

      She hesitated a moment. “Nothing definite. Something Maszny said about the pirates, Koszenmarc in particular. He’s a very odd man—Maszny, I mean. Not what I expected.”

      “And I’ve news about our friend Sarrész. The three of us need to hold a conference this afternoon.”

      Back to their mission, in other words. Maté left to order a sedan chair for Anna and a horse for himself. Anna waited with a bored air, sipping her wine. He was never at a loss, she thought, whether it came to fighting brigands, or tracking down a thief, or playing the part of escort and guard.

      She was glad she had finally told him the truth.

      * * * *

      Raab had not executed their newly hired guards, but Anna and Maté

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