The King's Blood

you again, by the way. You’ve been missed.”
    Before Cithrin could say, I’ve missed you too , Cary lifted the hem of her dress up over her head and pulled it back. The woman’s breasts were larger than Cithrin remembered, with dark nipples made hard by the cool night air.
    “My God!” Cary said, her voice carrying even over the players on the stage. “Is that mule on fire ?”
    Cithrin felt her eyes go wide and a violent blush rose up her neck through her cheeks and out to the tips of her ears. There was a flicker of movement from the bridge, and then Palliako and Prince Aster running as if dogs were at their heels. Cary pointed toward the street at the far side of the yard. On the stage, Sandr and Hornet were rooted as trees.
    “Right over there,” Cary said, gesturing in a way that made her breasts bounce. “Honestly. On fire.”
    Man and boy reached the rear of the cart. The stage shifted as they climbed in the back door. Cithrin imagined she heard whispering voices, but it might only have been her mind playing tricks.
    “Oh, no,” Cary said and pulled her dress back on. “Sorry. My mistake. Please go on.”
    There was a moment of utter quiet.
    “And I… ah… I say no, Lord Ternigan,” Hornet managed. “There will be no wedding this day.”
    “There shall!” Sandr shouted, stamping his foot. Voice and action commanded the attention of the yard with mixed result. “I’ll not be refused by the likes of you. So draw your sword and blades be true!”
    The men pulled out wooden blades and began the fight sequence that ended the second act as Cary put her arm around Cithrin and angled her back toward the street away from the play.
    “You didn’t have to do that ,” Cithrin said.
    “It’s only a body,” Cary said. “And there are just a few reliable ways to command attention with no preparation. So will you tell me now why I’ve just destroyed everyone’s concentration and halved my night’s take?”
    “Look north,” Cithrin said. “What do you see?”
    Cary frowned and peered into the darkness.
    “They’ve got God’s own bonfire at the Lord Marshal’s revel,” Cary said. “And there’s more traffic than I’d have thought on the bridges.” She smoothed back her hair. There were a few strands of white at her temples that hadn’t been there last year. “That’s not what it is, though, is it?”
    “Dawson Kalliam tried to kill Palliako. Armed men came into the revel. I don’t know whose they were, but what’s going on there isn’t a celebration. It’s a civil war.”
    Cary’s face went cool. In a conversational voice, she said something profoundly obscene.
    “And the two men hiding in my cart?” she said.
    “The Lord Regent and the prince,” Cithrin said.
    “Well of course they are.”
    The clatter of hooves came from the great span of the Autumn Bridge, growing louder and louder until they threatened to drown out the voices of the players. Torches appeared at the crest, and moments later a dozen men in the colors of House Kalliam and House Bannien pelted into the street.
    “Treachery!” one of the men shouted. “Fire and treachery!”
    The audience was on its feet. Cithrin could almost see the fear moving through them, a ripple on a pond. The riders went on, driving their horses deeper into the city. Someone shouted, catching sight of the billowing smoke to the north. The crowd scattered like startled birds, leaving Hornet and Sandr standing forgotten on the stage.
    “Pack it in, boys,” Cary shouted, striding back into the yard. “We’ve storm weather coming, and we’re staying small until it passes.”
    A round-faced girl peeked out from the back of the stage. Charlit Soon. She was pretty in a full-cheeked way, and her eyes were wide with the first echoes of panic. Sandr and Hornet looked at each other, and Sandr shrugged.
    “Some nights it’s a good show, some nights it’s a good story,” he said.
    “What’s the plan, Cary?” Smit called from the back.
    “Pull up the stage, get the cart into the stable, and let’s not have any political opinions for a while,” Cary said.
    “And our guests?” Charlit Soon asked, her voice fluting up to a bird’s chirp at the end.
    “We haven’t got any,” Cary said. “Now move.”
    Sandr hopped off the stage and started hauling the chain. Hornet disappeared in the back. Mikel appeared in an over-sized black cloak and a false stomach that left him looking pregnant.
    “Cithrin,” Mikel said. “Welcome