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 Does Orico still live? he asked at last.
 As far as we ve heard.
 We can do nothing more tonight. He wouldn t trust any plan that came out of
his tired brain tonight.  Tomorrow, Foix and Ferda and I will go into Valenda
on foot, in disguise, and reconnoiter. I
promise you I can pass for a road vagabond. If we can t see our way clear,
then fall back to Provincar dy Baocia s people in Taryoon, and plan again.

Can you walk, my lord? asked Foix in a dubious voice.
Right now, he wasn t sure if he could stand up. He glowered helplessly at
Foix, who was tired but resilient, pink rather than gray after days in the
saddle. Youth. Eh.  By tomorrow, I will. He rubbed his face.  Do dy Jironal s
men realize they are not guardians but prison-keepers? That they are being led
into possible treason against the rightful Heiress?
The dedicat-commander sat back, and opened his hands.  Such charges are being
flung about like snowballs from both parties right now. Rumors that the
royesse has sent agents into Ibra to contract a marriage with the new Heir are
flying everywhere. He gave Royse Bergon an apologetic nod.
So much for the secrecy of his mission. He considered the pitfalls of
potential party lines in Chalion.
Iselle and Orico versus dy Jironal, all right. Iselle versus Orico and Dy
Jironal . . . hideously dangerous.
 The news has had a mixed reception, the commander continued.  The ladies
look on Bergon with approval and want to make a romance of it all, because
it s said that he is brave and well-favored.
Soberer heads worry that Iselle may sell Chalion to the Fox, because she is,
ah, young and inexperienced.
In other words, foolish and flighty.
Sober heads had much to learn. Cazaril s lips drew back on a dry grin.  No,
he mumbled.  We have not done that. He realized that he was speaking to his
knees, his forehead having unaccountably sunk to the table and anchored there.
After about a minute Bergon s voice murmured gently in his ear,  Caz? Are you
awake?
 Mm.
 Would you like to go to bed, my lord? the dedicat-commander inquired after
another pause.
 Mm.
He whimpered a little as strong hands under each arm forced him to his feet.
Ferda and Foix, leading him off somewhere, cruelly. The table had been soft
enough . . . He didn t even remember falling into the bed.
SOMEONE WAS SHAKING HIS SHOULDER.
A hideously cheerful voice bellowed in his ear,  Rise and ride, Captain
Sunshine!
He spasmed and clawed at his covers, tried to sit up, and thought better of
the effort. He pulled open his glued-shut eyelids, blinking in the
candlelight. The identity of the voice finally penetrated.  Palli!
You re alive! He meant to shout joyfully. At least it came out audibly.  What
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time is it? He struggled again to sit up, making it onto one elbow. He seemed
to be in some evicted officer-dedicat s plainly furnished bedchamber.
 About an hour before dawn. We ve been riding all night. Iselle sent me to
find you. He raised his brace of candles higher. Bergon was standing
anxiously at his shoulder, and Foix too.  Bastard s demons, Caz, you look like
death on a trencher.
 That . . . has been observed. He lay back down. Palli was here. Palli was
here, and all was well.
He could shove Bergon and all his burdens off onto him, lie here, and not get
up. Die alone and in peace, taking Dondo out of the world with him.  Take
Royse Bergon and his company to Iselle. Leave me 
 What, for dy Jironal s patrols to find? Not if I value my future fortune as a
courtier! Iselle wants you safe with her in Taryoon.
 Taryoon? Not Valenda? He blinked.  Safe? This time he did struggle up, and
all the way to his feet, where he passed out.
The black fog lifted, and he found Bergon, round-eyed, holding him slumped on
the edge of the bed.
 Sit a minute with your head down, Palli advised.
Cazaril obediently bent over his aching belly. If Dondo had visited him last
night, he d not been home. The ghost had kicked him a few times in his sleep,
though, it felt like. From the inside out.
Bergon said softly,  He ate nothing when we came in last night. He collapsed
straightaway, and we put him to bed.
 Right, said Palli, and jerked his thumb at the hovering Foix, who nodded and
slipped out of the room. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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