Kushiel's Chosen

labor to win his admiration." He let his eyes close briefly, and said, "Yes. I know what you're wondering. The youth was of age, and willing. I'm not that much a fool; but fool enough."
    "I'm sorry, my lord," I said politely, not knowing what else to say. Ricciardo's eyes snapped open, his gaze sharp and canny once more.
    "I tell you so that you know," he said, "what my family is capable of, and how little they will bend on certain matters. My brother dangles Severio before you as bait, but once he has whatever he's asked of you-and I know him, there's somewhat he wants-he'll snatch his son away and leave you gaping."
    "And he'll turn you to his own purposes if he may," Allegra murmured, "even if 'tis against your own loyalties. Meanwhile, the Doge will hear naught of reason, the silence draws on between the Stregazza and House Courcel, and Prince Benedicte grows fearful for his son and wife and increases the number of his guard at the Little Court."
    Her words struck me like a blow, triggering a memory. I must greet his grace the Duc de Somerville, Severio had said to me in the concert hall. I am charged by my mother on behalf of Prince Benedicte to thank him for the company of D'Angeline guardsmen he sent to attend the Little Court. It seems my maternal grandfather grows chary of protecting his pure-blooded heir.
    For the first time in months, I felt the satisfaction of a piece of the puzzle falling into place.
    The missing guardsmen of Troyes-le-Mont.
    "My lord Ricciardo," I announced, coming out of my reverie. "Let US not toy with one another. Your brother has asked me to approach the Cruarch of Alba regarding trade rights, and if you know who I am, you know there is a chance Drustan mab Necthana would hear me. For reasons of your own-and mayhap concern for my welfare-you ask that I do not. Very well, I will consider it, but there is somewhat I want. You say you have friends in the Little Court. I want access therein, without troubling Prince Benedicte."
    Ricciardo was staring at me; they all were, even Joscelin. But it was the Doge's son who spoke, wondering. "You don't have any intention of marrying my nephew, do you?"
    He was clever; I should have been more circumspect. I shrugged, opening my hands. "I enjoy Severio's company. In Terre d'Ange, that is enough. Beyond that, my business is my own."
    "Not if it affects La Serenissima," he said flatly.
    I met his dark, hooded gaze squarely. "It doesn't."
    "My lord," Joscelin said unexpectedly, leaning forward at the table. "We are looking for Melisande Shahrizai."
    I wouldn't have dared say it so baldly, but coming from Joscelin-it took them by surprise. I saw Ricciardo blink, considering Joscelin, who bore it with stern Cassiline calm. "Benedicte's traitor," he said thoughtfully. "Yes, he looked for her too, not two months ago. I daresay it's one of the reasons my father is wroth with him and will not extend his hand in peace, that Prince Benedicte would suspect the Palace of harboring traitors. I'm sorry." He shook his head. "I know no more of it than that."
    He evinced none of the signs of lies and evasion I knew to look for and had seen in such abundance in Magister Acco the astrologer; but then, he was a Stregazza, and trained to guile. Still, I thought he had dealt fairly with me, and if his motives were no less ambitious than his brother's, I could not fault him for it.
    "Enough of this!" Allegra pushed her chair back from the table and stood. "Ricciardo, we invited the Comtesse here to show her hospitality, not to intrigue," she said, chiding him, then turning to me. "My lady Phèdre, would you do me the kindness of seeing the library? I would see that my children- both my children-are well versed in an education befitting their station. If you would recommend texts, I would be grateful."
    "Of course," I murmured.
    Their library was small, but not ill-furnished. I glanced over the tomes available and spoke well of several D'Angeline volumes, recommending the addition of key Hellene philosophers and a handful of Tiberian historians. Allegra sat at the desk and made notations in a graceful hand, then took a fresh sheet of parchment and wrote out a brief letter, folding and sealing it with a blot from a wax taper and the familiar Stregazza signet.
    "Here." She handed it to me. "It is a letter of introduction to Madame Felicity d'Arbos, who was a good friend to my mother when she served as lady-in-waiting to the Princess-Consort Maria Stregazza de la Courcel in