Marla was appraising the sacks of herbs, tut-tutting as she did so. “With the differences in quality we’ll have to mix it into one whole batch before we start brewing. I think Penhaven’s saw you coming.”

  There was nothing Kaddie could say, knowing full well her mind had been elsewhere at the time.

  “What else did he say?” Torrell was leaning across the table, eager to return to the original subject.

  Having already told them about the Brayde and Lassing duel, she wasn’t sure what else would be of interest. “He told me about the old lake while we were having tea in the Red Wharf.” Immediately, she saw Elspeth and Marla share a glance.

  Torrell had both eyebrows raised. “You were inside the Red Wharf, with Rathburn Brayde?”

  “I was waiting for my sickle to be sharpened. What’s wrong with the Red Wharf?”

  Marla threw her hands in the air. “We send her out on her own, and this is what happens.”

  “Mind you, there’d be no one accosting her in there if she was in Brayde’s company,” Elspeth said.

  “I wish I’d have been there. I’ve never dared go in.” Torrell bore a grin on his face, one Kaddie cheerfully wanted to wipe off.

  “It’s—”

  “It’s the watering hole of every villain in town.” Robles’ voice arrived directly behind her. She turned and saw him standing at the base of the stairs with Bodworth in his arms. Both appeared to have been there for some time.

  Kaddie stuck out her chin. “We walked in, sat down, drank spiced tea, talked, paid for the drinks, and left.”

  “What did he have to say about the lake?”

  “Just that there used to be one.”

  “I knew that,” Torrell said. “It’s in the history books, and it explains why there’s such an elaborate water cache system beneath the streets.” He stood and began to pace. “I’ve been trying to tell the Theeds how it might be connected to what we’ve already discovered, and it’s like no one is listening.”

  “Listening or not,” Marla declared, “we have these sacks of herbs to prepare and talking about lakes that no longer exist won’t get it done.”

  “Kaddie, a moment.” Robles returned a wriggling Bodworth to the kitchen floor and set off upstairs.

  Obviously, she was in trouble, and while following her grandfather up to his study she tried to convince herself she’d done nothing wrong.

  When the door was closed and they were both seated, he in his armchair and she on a cat-scratched dining chair that had been divested of clutter, “Why talk to you?” he asked.

  “He said we should stick together, that things would change and not for the better.”

  “Hmm.” For a few moments he said nothing, leaving her to stew. “He’s looking for allies,” he said before she could break the abominable silence, “and naturally, you’re the softer approach.”

  “I wasn’t fawning all over him, if that’s what you’re thinking. He’s a murderer.”

  “Oh, I know. Still…”

  “Why are we so important to him?”

  Robles shrugged. “We have connections, especially after our trip to the plateau.”

  “The Shale? But we haven’t been in contact with them.”

  “Actually, we have. I’ve been sending letters.”

  “Which the Theeds could intercept.”

  He snorted. “Don’t take me for a fool. Of course they’ll intercept, until they discover the letters are nothing more than enquiries regarding my old aunt Leyde, asking if she requires medication.”

  “But how?”

  “It’s a drop-off. That cantankerous old witch died years ago. The letters are also in code. One I’m sure you’ll be familiar with.”

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  She thought for a moment. Shadow Valley. Ancient tomes full of secret formulae, their ingredient lists disguised in the midst of songs and poems. Her mother had taught her the rhymes. They had sung them together when her brothers were elsewhere. “There’s only one code I’m aware of, and I thought it was a secret.”

  “Oh, I haven’t the foggiest idea what it all means.” He waved a dismissive hand. “I simply hand Elspeth the draft, she does the rest, and sends Torrell off to the city gate.”

  Kaddie nodded, knowing the fury it would inspire in her grandmother if Robles knew how it all worked. However, it was just a stupid code and ultimately she abhorred the secrecy. Hidden words and numbers. Keys informing you to read forwards, backwards, upwards and so forth. It was vulnerable to misinterpretation and she had vowed never to use it.

  “It would help,” she said, knotting her fingers in her lap, “if we knew what to expect.”

  “I agree.” Robles leaned forward. “Let me tell you about the city of Enthas, and Rees Toden. Or perhaps his wife, Lure. Yes, let’s talk about her.” Kaddie heard an uneasy inflection in his voice as he mentioned Toden and his wife.

  “Like Terohas, there are four families that rule the capital, and like Terohas, one family predominates. The Todens arrived long ago from overseas, they survived coup after bloody coup, until no one contested them any more.” He shrugged. “After all, what would be the point when you’re always going to lose?”

  “Brayde talked about armies killing one another.”

  “Oh, yes. Hundreds of people. Over and over, until Lure arrived on the scene.” He paused.

  “What’s so special about her?”

  “I’m not sure, but having met her twice, there’s certainly something.”

  “You’ve been to the capital?”

  “Many times, mostly in my irresponsible youth.”

  “Perhaps I should go. Brayde said—”

  “No. I forbid it. Forget that swashbuckling fop and tell me, what do we do here?”

  “We heal people.”

  “Which people?”

  “Everyone, providing they have the coin, and even those that don’t, if they’re in dire need.”

  “Exactly. However, the capital doesn’t care about needs. It cares about greed and makes its choices accordingly. I don’t want you to see that until you’re absolutely sure about what you stand for.”

  “You think one visit to the capital will make me forget everything I’ve been taught? I’m not some stupid little girl. Why won’t you acknowledge that?”

  “Kaddie—”

  She stormed out of Robles’ study, almost running into Torrell who was waiting in the corridor.

  “Kaddie—”

  “Not one word from you, either. Not one.” She stabbed a finger toward him before marching down the stairs, almost tripping over Bodworth as she reached the bottom. Behind her, she could hear her grandfather’s booming voice.

  “Don’t look at me like that, boy. Didn’t you learn anything from her grandmother’s visit? My advice would be to run. Run like the wind!” It was followed by the slamming of his study door.

  In the kitchen, her chest was so tight she could hardly breathe. Marla and Elspeth had stopped what they were doing. Elspeth had an eyebrow raised, but neither of the other woman said anything as she approached one of the tables, inwardly cursing as her face burned and her one eye blurred with tears. Why did everyone think she was stupid?

  Elspeth pushed a cup of hethermint tea across the table. “Calm down, and drink up.”

  Kaddie scowled but complied nonetheless. “He talks to me like I’m a child,” she said in between gulps of hot tea.

  The other woman took a seat at the table. “Are you going to tell us what it was about?”

  “He doesn’t trust me. He thinks. If I go to the capital. I’ll lose everything I stand for.”

  “Enthas?” Marla exclaimed.

  Elspeth waved her off. “Go on.”

  “He asked me what we do here. I told him we heal people, that we—”

  “Forget the we for a moment. Why are you here? You could have stayed in Shadow Valley and done exactly what you do here.”

  “I’m here to learn.”

  “Learn what? Your knowledge already surpasses that of mine, and Marla’s.”

  “I need to get to know people better. They’re hard to diagnose when you don’t know what they’re thinking.”

  “And do you know everything about people, yet?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Some people are hard to read.” Marla refilled everyone’s cups and took a seat alongside Elspeth. “Some lie, some are idiots, and some are downright treacherous.”

  “I know that much.”

  “And Brayde?” Elspeth asked.

  Kaddie sighed. “I don’t know. I just wish grandfather wasn’t so hard. No wonder grandmother ran away.”

  Marla snorted. Kaddie saw the two women share a glance.

  “She didn’t run. Well, not because of him,” Elspeth said. “She did, however, break his heart.”

  After a long silence, Kaddie lowered her head. “You’re going to ask me to apologize, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. He’s trying to protect you.”

  “I yelled at Torrell, too.” When she looked up she saw both women were smiling.

  “You’re so like Kadelene, it’s uncanny,” Elspeth said.

  Kaddie stood and wiped her eye. “I’d better get it over with.”

  Leaving the table, she approached the stairs and discovered Torrell sitting half way up. He must have heard everything. She took a seat alongside him. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

  He wasn’t looking at her. He was staring directly ahead, rubbing his hands slowly together. “If this is about me being away, I’d rather come back than see you go off to the capital with that disreputable man.”

  “I’m not going to the capital. He just offered, that’s all.”

  “He’s dangerous.”

  “I know that.” She let out a sigh. “And I got angry because everyone seems to think I can’t figure that out for myself.”

  “Like I just did? Kaddie—”

  “Shh.” She slid her arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder. He felt warm, solid, a refuge from the coming storm in Robles’ study. Looking down she saw he’d stopped wringing his hands.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “The thought of you and Brayde—” He stopped when she began to laugh.

  “It’s me that should be worried,” she said. “I think he prefers men.” She disconnected and climbed the remaining steps, leaving him staring in her wake.

  A thin cloud of pipe smoke preceded her grandfather as he opened his door, making it difficult to see the expression on his face.

  She stood with her back straight and her head held high. “I’m sorry.”

  After a long puff on his pipe, “I swear you women will be the death of me.” And as he backed into the gloomy cloud, “Come, we have plans to make, things to discuss.”