Casket of Souls

what appeared to be a letter into his tabard and setting off in the opposite direction from the post bag. It was nearing dusk, and the Aurënfaie managed to follow him among the sea of small soldiers’ tents without attracting his notice. As Nyal watched, Caem suddenly stopped at an empty tent and went inside. Nyal gave it a wide berth, thencame around the back side and stretched out on his belly to look under the edge of the canvas in time to see Caem carefully lift Danos’s seal, place a folded bit of parchment inside the packet, and then apply something from a small bottle to fix the wax down again. When he was done, he put the packet into his tunic and walked back to the post bag.
    Nyal waited until he’d passed out of sight among the tents again, then went to the bag, ostensibly to put in the letter he always carried with him for just such an occasion. Beka used the same ruse.
    It was a simple matter to glance at the topmost letters in the bag, find the one addressed to Duke Reltheus, and slip that under his leather coat. Back in the relative safety of his own tent, Nyal lifted the seal and found not one but two letters inside. One was sealed with the same wax and addressed to Princess Elani. The other was sealed with tallow and contained a few lines of code. He scanned this quickly, then shook his head as he went in search of Beka.
    She was eating with her riders, so he joined them. Catching her eye, he gave her a meaningful wink, the sort sure to be misinterpreted by anyone else who saw. When they were done with their meal, they made their way to Klia’s tent.
    “You have something good, I assume,” Beka whispered in Aurënfaie as they walked along in the darkness between the watch fires.
    “Very good, though the commander isn’t going to like it,” he replied softly.
    Klia was conferring with General Moraus. They waited outside, and presently the general came out. When he caught sight of them he clapped Beka on the shoulder.
    “I hear you and your riders distinguished yourselves again, Captain.”
    “Thank you, sir!” Beka made him a smart salute.
    “Quite the fight, but you were in the forefront again as I hear it.”
    “Yes, sir, we were.”
    The general nodded approvingly. “Lose many?”
    “Only two, sir.”
    “Astellus speed them, eh? And you—Nyal, isn’t it? I heargood things about you. They say you’re one of our best scouts.”
    Nyal bowed. “Thank you, General. I’m honored to serve.”
    “Well, keep up the good work, both of you. We’re going to drive those damn Plenimarans into the sea before the summer’s out.” With that he strode off into the darkness with his escorts.
    One of the sentries announced them, and Nyal heard Klia call for them to come inside.
    Klia was alone. “You have something for me?”
    “Finally,” Beka said softly as Nyal handed their commander the purloined letters.
    “Let’s see what we have.”
    They followed her into her private quarters at the back of the tent. Klia sat down at her field desk and spread out the three letters next to the candle. The first was a letter to Duke Reltheus, filled with news of battle and questions about family and life at home. The second, the one for Elani, was a love letter, full of protestations of affection, suggestions for places to hunt on his father’s land, and cautious mention of a possible life together.
    “Seems pretty sure of himself,” Klia murmured as she set this one aside. Turning her attention to the third, she handed Beka a wax tablet and stylus. “I’ll count. You write.”
    Slowly, letter by letter, Klia puzzled out the hidden message. “Let’s see. Here’s my name spelled backward. And T-O-O-K. Took …”
    Her eyes widened with indignation as the message took form. “ ’Klia took east gate of town, led troops. Seen stealing gold from mayor house.”
    “By the Flame, that’s an out-and-out lie!” Beka hissed.
    “Yes, it is,” Klia said, frowning over the message. “Thero said nothing about Danos spreading lies, just reporting on our progress. This is troublesome.”
    “May I see the two letters?”
    Klia handed her the two sheets of cheap vellum. “What is it?”
    Beka studied them for a moment. “I don’t think these were written by the same person. I know Danos’s hand; he wrotethe letters. But the code looks like someone else’s handwriting.”
    Klia took them back and scrutinized them. “By the Flame, I think you’re right. Or he was at pains to make it look that