Traitor's Moon

it?”
    â€œNo. You’d best take it to an Akhendi.”
    For the first time that day, Alec smiled. “I know just the Akhendi for the task.”
    Kheeta’s grin mirrored his own. “Let’s hope Seregil is as lucky with his search.”

34
I NVESTIGATIONS
    S eregil paced impatiently around his sister’s hall, waiting for her to rise and dress. Adzriel appeared at last, looking anything but rested. Declining her offer of breakfast, he quickly outlined his intentions.
    â€œMust it be you?” she asked. “The Iia’sidra must approve such a search, and having you involved will not sit well with most of them.”
    â€œI have to get in there. Thero will be in charge, of course, but I have to be there. By the Light, I’d have done it my own way long before now if we were anywhere else but here. If Ulan is our poisoner, he’s already had too much time to do away with any evidence.”
    â€œI’ll do what I can,” she said at last. “There must be no soldiers, though.”
    â€œFine. I assume the other khirnari will insist on being there?”
    â€œBrythir í Nien, at least. Any accusations at Sarikali must be made before him. Give me time to call the assembly. An hour at the very least.”
    Seregil was already halfway to the door. “I’ll meet you there. There’s someone else I need to speak with first.”
    I’m getting to be a regular visitor here
, he thought as he came in sight of the Nha’mahat. Dismounting at a safe distance, he crossed thedew-laden grass, keeping an eye out for fingerlings. There were plenty about at this hour, frisking and flapping over the morning offerings in the temple porch.
    â€œI wish to speak with Elesarit,” he told the masked attendant who met him at the door.
    â€œI am he, little brother,” the old man replied, ushering him inside.
    To Seregil’s considerable relief, the rhui’auros bypassed the stairs to the cavern, taking him instead up to a small, sparsely furnished room. On the open terrace Seregil saw breakfast laid for two on a little table. Several fingerlings had worried a loaf of dark bread to bits across its polished surface. Laughing, the rhui’auros shooed them away and tossed the crumbs after them.
    â€œCome, you have had nothing to eat in almost a day,” he said, uncovering dishes containing Skalan cheeses and hot meats. He filled a plate and set it before Seregil.
    â€œYou were expecting me?” Seregil’s belly growled appreciatively as he speared a sausage with a knife and wolfed it down. The food suddenly seemed to stick in his throat, however, as he noticed a platter of oat cakes dripping with butter and honey. Nysander had always served them at his extravagant morning meals.
    â€œYou miss him a great deal, do you not, little brother?” asked Elesarit, his own food untouched before him. He’d removed his mask, revealing a lined face both kindly and serene.
    â€œYes, I do,” Seregil replied softly.
    â€œSometimes sorrow is a better guide than joy.”
    Nodding, Seregil took a bite of oat cake. “Did you send Nyal to me this morning?”
    â€œHe came, did he not?”
    â€œYes. If it hadn’t been for him, we might not have figured out what was wrong with Klia, or how to help her.”
    The rhui’auros’s brows arched dramatically. Under different circumstances, the effect would have been comical. “Someone has harmed your princess?”
    â€œYou didn’t know? Then why did you send Nyal?”
    The old man eyed him slyly and said nothing.
    Seregil fought back his impatience. Like the Oracles of Illior, the rhui’auros were said to be possessed by the madness that came of being touched by the divine. This fellow was clearly no exception.
    â€œWhy did you send him to me?” he tried again.
    â€œI did not send him to you.”
    â€œBut you just said—” Seregil broke off, too tired to deal with subtle games and riddles. “Why am I here, then?”
    â€œFor the sake of your princess?” the man offered, seeming equally mystified.
    â€œVery well, then. Since you were expecting me, you must have had
something
to say to me.”
    A dragon the size of a large cat crawled out from under the table and leapt into the rhui’auros’s lap. He stroked its smooth back absently for a moment, then looked up at Seregil with vague, unfocused eyes.
    Pinned by