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Evemer took an instinctive step toward her, but Mama was faster—she glared at Tadek, gathered up Eyne, and held her close against her neck and shoulder as she stomped up the stairs.
“Name’s Tenzin,” Tenzin said, making herself comfortable in another chair. She held out the wine bottle to Tadek. “Do you want the rest of this? I’m done with it.”
“Hello, Tadek,” Kadou groaned, folding his arms on the table and dropping his head onto them. “Your intelligence network must be very good, if you’re mad enough to be shouting at us.”
“It damn well is! We got a message from Melek not even anhourago, saying you’d been taken!” Tadek said, barely lowering his voice as he took Tenzin’s wine bottle and poured what was left into a cup. “Çe couldn’t say when, or by whom, or whether your lives were in danger, or where you’d gone, so here we’ve been, gnawing our fingernails to the quick and contemplating the various creative ways you might havedied. But here you are, dancing through the front door, and where the hell is Melek?”
“We don’t know,” Evemer said. He pushed himself back to his feet, got cups of water for himself and Kadou, and sat again heavily, exhausted down to his core. “Where’s Eozena?”
“She was feverish,” Tadek said, his jaw tight. “We moved her up to Durdona’s room. More comfortable.”
Kadou raised his head from his arms and said dully, “I need paper, ink, and Zeliha’s seal.”
Evemer pushed Kadou’s cup of water a little closer to him, encouraging. To Tadek, he said, “In that drawer to your left.”
Tadek fetched the writing things from the drawer and the royal seal from around his own neck—Little heretic,Evemer thought darkly—and slapped them onto the table in front of Kadou. “Melek’s message said çe was going after you. Çe hasn’t been back.”
“Start the sealing wax, please,” Kadou said, setting the cup of water aside and pulling the paper closer.
Tadek grumbled and obeyed, kneeling at the hearth to light a candle for melting the wax. Tenzin, in the chair by the fire, watched him curiously for a moment and then said, turning back to the table, “I’ll want to talk about my pay at some point, Highness.”
“Pay?” Tadek looked at her as he rose and brought the candle back to Kadou. “What is he paying you for?”
“Services,” she answered with an infuriating smile.
“She’s a satyota,” Evemer said. Gods, why in the world had he thought it was a good idea to bring someone like Tenzin anywhere near Tadek?
“Ruining my fun, Highness,” she tsked, looking directly at Evemer.
Evemer’s heart stopped, and Kadou fumbled the inkpot, spilling a smear across one edge of the paper.
Unconcerned, Tenzin continued, “Is that a hobby, ruining people’s fun? You look the sort.”
“Don’t—don’t call me that,” Evemer said, strangled. “There’s no need.”
“Eh?” said Tadek, narrowing his eyes.
Tenzin gave Evemer a puzzled look. “Youdon’twant me to call you Highness? You Arasti always seem so uptight about titles.”
“Quiet, please!” Kadou said. “I’m very busy writing these orders and I need complete silence!”
Dutifully, complete silence fell.
Evemer bit his tongue and watched Tadek mentally run through the last few moments of conversation. Giving him time to think had been a mistake.
The only sound was the frantic scratch of Kadou’s pen nib against the paper. At last, he signed with a flourish, poured a puddle of the melted wax, and set Zeliha’s seal into it to cool.
Immediately, Tadek said, “So I have questions.”
“Sit down,” Evemer snapped, standing sharply, grabbing Tadek by his sleeve, and dragging him into a chair. Tadek hissed with pain as his bad leg took his weight.
Evemer leaned on the arms of the chair and got down into Tadek’s face. Tadek gazed back, unintimidated—even curious.
“You have questions,” Evemer growled. “Do not ask them. Do not speak them aloud, do not even think them. There is a situation, and it will be handled without your input.”
“Right,” Tadek said slowly, putting his head to one side. “Now I have questionsandtheories.”
Dammit. Dammit, Evemer should just not talk.
