Luck in the Shadows

parchment. "I suppose he was composing this when I looked in on him. Read it out, if you would."
    Barien's last, brief missive was as formal as any of the thousands of state documents he'd drawn up over the course of his long career. The handwriting flowed in dark, perfect lines across the page without a blot or waver, devoid of the slightest hint of hesitation.
    "My Queen," read Micum, was "Know that I, Barien i Zhal Mordecan Thorlin Uliel, have in these last years of my service to you committed high treason. My actions were deliberate, considered, and inexcusable. I offer no justification but pray you to believe that in the end I died the Queen's man." He's signed it, "Barien, Traitor."
    "Illior's Eyes, how could I have been such a fool?" groaned Nysander, pressing a hand to his brow.
    "But this proves nothing," Seregil exclaimed in exasperation. "There are no details, no names, no specifics of any kind."
    "Idrilain is aware of our investigations. I believe she understands the import of this letter," replied the wizard.
    "Oh, that's fine then," Seregil snapped, pacing to the far end of the room. "Unless she suddenly begins to wonder why he died immediately after you began looking into his activities. Suppose she begins to question whether your loyalty to me is greater than to her? That's still my body there in the Tower, you know. I want it back in one piece!"
    Micum looked the letter over again. "Couldn't this be a forgery? Sakor's Flames, we've just been dealing with some of the best forgers in Rhнminee."
    "And what about Teukros?" added Alec. "It's his word against Kassarie's that he intended to go there at all. He could have gone to Barien's instead. He could have gotten into the house easily enough, being family. Once in, he kills his uncle, drops the note, and slips out again. I told you before, Barien was angry
    with him over something."
    Nysander shook his head. "There were no signs of violence or magic on Barien's person or in the room."
    "Doors?" interjected Seregil.
    "Locked from within. And as for the matter of Teukros' disappearance, if a man of Barien's stamp believed his nephew had betrayed the family's honor, he himself may have taken steps to remove the young man, a last act of family duty. There is ample precedent for such practices among that class. But the fact remains that whatever Alec heard them arguing about last night, it must surely have contributed to Barien's death."
    "What about Phoria?" asked Micum. "It appears she was one of the last people to see him alive, and at his summons, too. Has anyone talked to her?"
    "By all reports, the Princess Royal is in deep mourning and is seeing no one," answered Nysander.
    "That's vague enough," mused Seregil. "Do you think she's involved?"
    "Before Barien's death I should not have thought so. Now I fear we must admit the possibility. If that does somehow prove to be the case, you may be certain it will be dealt with by higher authorities than you or I."
    Seregil continued his uneasy perambulation around the room. "Which still leaves us with one man dead and one missing. Have their houses been tossed?"
    Nysander nodded. "A small cache of forged shipping manifests was uncovered at Teukros' villa. With them were found copies of several seals, including yours and those of Lord Vardarus, Birutus i Tolomon, and Lady Royan a Zhirini."
    "My seal and that of Vardarus; that's clear enough."
    Seregil picked up a sextant from one of the tables and fidgeted absently with it. "What about these others? I've never heard of them."
    "Minor nobility with minor commissions. Lady Royan oversees the port of Cadumir on the Inner Sea just north of Wyvern Dug. The commission is an hereditary one appended to her holding. Young Sir Birutus was recently appointed to a post with the sutler corps—something to do with meat, I believe."
    "They don't sound like the sort to bring the government toppling down," Micum said, perplexed.
    "And just where was all this damning evidence found?" asked Seregil, coming to a momentary halt by the desk.
    "An interesting point, that," Nysander said with a mirthless smile. "Everything had been concealed beneath the floorboards of Teukros' bedchamber."
    "The floorboards," Seregil exclaimed in disgust. "Bilairy's Codpiece, even a green thief knows better than that. You might as well nail it to the front door! This snarl of events just isn't making sense. Barien certainly had access to the royal seal, but to have handed it over to such a dolt as