After their visit to the ember man, Anla had closed her eyes briefly in their carriage ride back to their room. She startled awake sometime early in the morning, realizing that Raulin must have carried her up and laid her in bed without waking her. She could hear his deep breath next to her and she reached out to touch his face softly.

She’d had other thoughts about what they would have done after the ball. For one moment she smiled, then she remembered what had transpired. She felt sick with worry over her brother and ashamed she had used her magic on him. Hadn’t she asked him to lean on her many times? When there were issues, when he was unsure, when there had been miscommunication, she had hoped he would come to her for help. And when it came time for her to do the same, she had cast him as an enemy and turned away.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Anla couldn’t fall back asleep, though her body desperately wanted to. Her mind kept playing scenarios over and over again, bouncing from the high of reuniting with Garlin to the low of seeing him killed.

Finally, daylight came and she awoke, dressed, and sat curled up in the chair. It was another hour by the clock before Raulin awoke, looking around for her. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“Waiting. What are we going to do today?”

“We are going to pay a visit to the Crishold household, discreetly, and figure out the status of things. Since you said his wife visits family during his Brotherhood events, she might be a few days. And, she’ll be in mourning. I’m not sure about exact customs in that regard, so we’ll need to ask Al what’s appropriate.”

“Can’t you sneak in and take him?”

“Yes, but I’d rather we do this as legally as possible. It sounds like Mrs. Crishold isn’t going to want her husband’s half-elven children around, so she will likely find some orphanage to take them whenever it’s socially acceptable. When that happens, we can stroll in first chance and adopt him ourselves. That way there will be no one to come after us when it’s reported a child has gone missing, a child whose sister recently entered the picture and was connected with the murder of that child’s adoptive father.”

“You think they would come to me first?”

“Very likely. And since we don’t have a base, per se, the police would check here first. We could get another room elsewhere, but if you were followed, it would look very bad when they searched there. It really all depends on how badly the police want this solved. I don’t know how much clout Crishold held or how much crime the city has at this point.”

“Is there anything we can do now?”

He stood, stretched, then began his morning exercises. “I’m going to at least monitor the estate, if not visit the grieving widow. It’ll allow me to keep abreast of the situation and know if I need to strike early.”

“But, what can I do?”

“For now, you need to pretend you were just the woman who happened to see Crishold murdered. Your involvement was accidental, your timing terrible. I’ll do what I can to speed things up.”

She nodded. “I don’t feel well about this.”

“You’re worried. I understand. I gave you my word, though. He will be coming with us on our ride to Riyala.”

He meant it. She could tell by his tone that held that same clarion bell tone that Al’d had when he spoke of wanting to save the Arvonnese monarchy. She relaxed a little. He would save Garlin.

They were early to breakfast and had to wait until their food was eaten and their teas cold before Al and Tel came down. “How was last night?” Al asked, flapping out his napkin.

“It went about as expected, for the most part. We’ve hit a bit of a snag.” Raulin explained Garlin’s situation. “We won’t be leaving until we have him.”

“Oh, that’s relieving,” he said, smiling at Anla. “I know how much your family means to you. This will be wonderful.”

“I’m glad to hear there are no objections to having a boy in our group.”

“Well, it’s Anla’s brother. It’ll have it’s problems and adjustments, but I’m sure we can make it work for a few months.”

“Absolutely. Now, what can you tell us about Ghenian women in mourning?”

Al frowned in thought. “A lady in mourning is effectively cut off from everything during her period of grieving. Of course, she’s allowed to do anything she needs to do, like work and shopping, but all social engagements are suspended. She’ll wear all white and pay her respects frequently to Kriskin. She might cut her hair or wear a veil.”

“What will she be doing in her first week of widowhood?”

“Other than planning for her husband’s funeral, not much. She’s not expected to do anything other than receive visitors and make sure the household is running.”

“And do you know of any customs about visiting a widow?”

“Not really. I think you should ask at Kriskin’s temple.”

“Ah, the one god that loves me no matter where I am. I’ll be there this morning. Wizard, care to be my tether?”

“I could use the fresh air,” he admitted.

“Mezzem, I’d take you, but I need you to stay here should the constable need to ask you more questions.”

She nodded solemnly. Al lent her a book and he and Raulin set off to the Kriskin temple. Al needn’t have come; the temple was only a few blocks away from their hotel.

It was a beautiful building, white marble with intricate carving on the quoins. A garden freshly in bloom was on either side of the walkway, the wisteria drooping from the pergola over white stones below them. Above the entrance was an engraving of a capped horizontal line below a bottomless triangle, both encircled. This was a church that provided all services for the dead: funeral, burial, and record-keeping.

Raulin stood for no more than five minutes before he caught the eye of one of the priestesses. She hurried to great him, her impeccably white robes fluttering and flowing around her.

“Greetings. How may we help you? Oh, my manners. I’m Kiscada. Please take a seat.”

“Thank you,” Raulin said as they both sat. He introduced himself and Al as his client. “I was wondering if you could spare a few minutes to inform me about local mourning customs for widows.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Kiscada said as if nothing would please her more. They listened as she rattled off the same points that Al had told him earlier.

“When would be a good time to pay a condolence visit to a widow?” he asked.

“Are you…?”

“No, no. This is for something I’m planning in Riyala. I hope the traditions aren’t too different.”

“Not really,” she said, fixing her hair as she had several times already. “To answer your question, it depends on how well you know the woman. Immediate family are allowed to come at any point and stay to help her cope and to decide arrangements. Close friends and non-immediate family may begin to show one full day after the death of the husband. The third day is for business colleagues, associates, and politicians.”

“What about the general public?”

“After the third day, anyone may visit the widow during appropriate hours.” She frowned. “Of course you understand that it might be years before she’s willing to take off the white and engage in any sort of relationship outside her vows.”

“That isn’t my intention at all.”

Kiscada brightened. “Oh, good! You wouldn’t want to tarnish her good name.”

“Unless that was my objective, which it isn’t.”

“None of my business, knight. Was there anything else you wanted to know about?”

“Not really,” he said, standing.

“You’re sure? I mean, I could speak about what to wear or appropriate gifts…”

“Oh, yes. The last one.”

Kiscada smiled in relief. “The public’s concern with a widow is to make sure she and her children are well cared for. Anything of need, usually foodstuffs or purses of coin are acceptable.”

“That’s informative, thank you. We must be going. I wasn’t expecting our visit to last so long, but you did a wonderful job explaining everything.”

A blush crept onto her cheeks. “Yes, well, you’re very welcome. Please come back if you have any more questions.”

Once they were out on the street, Al cleared his throat. “So, she seemed mildly enamored with you.”

“As I’ve said before, I have some sort of knack with the clergy.”

“Yes. Um, so…” he sighed. “I’ll be frank, since my curiosity has now outweighed my decency. You slept with a Kriskin priestess?”

He looked back at Kiscada, who was watching them leave from the doorway. “Yes, why? What’s so strange about that?”

“I’ve heard they’re pretty terrifying in the dark.”

“Maybe some of them are. And maybe some, like the one I bedded, are pretty normal people. Not every Kriskin priestess is going to put a bone blade to your neck or drink your blood. That was more the Iondikan girl.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I will say that experience caused me to vet my clergy better.” He looked over at Al. “This is an odd conversation for you.”

“Well…yeah, I guess so. I used to hate hearing this sort of talk in Amandorlam, who bedded who and which was the best to try. It was disrespectful. But…I don’t know. Since Mian, I’ve been wanting to talk to someone about it.”

“Did you ever talk to your friend Aggie about your wife?”

“No. Couldn’t get a word in edgewise. And also there wasn’t anything to talk about. I hadn’t performed my duties as a husband for…about a year before Marnie was born. And I was faithful, even though she wasn’t.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Raulin coughed. “You haven’t had a woman for…almost four years?”

“I think that’s about right.”

“You know, I’d like to one day be faithful, but right now I can’t and I don’t know how you did that.”

“Tichen.”

“Oh, yeah. His ‘monastic virtue’ spiel. I’m guessing you’re not as interested in that as you once were.”

“Not really. I’ve sort of lost interest in trying to attain a high level of living. Feels lonely.”

“It sure does. So…how was your tryst with Mian?”

“Good,” Al said. “Really good, actually. I’ve never been like that with a woman. I even broke a rule.”

“Dare I ask?”

“Well, it’s not a rule, but wizards aren’t supposed to use their magic in that setting and I did. I’m pretty sure she liked it.”

Raulin chuckled. “I didn’t know you could do that. If I recall how you two were in the restaurant with all of us, then yes, I can see that she liked it then. Wow. If I could do that, I’d never get out of a temple alive.”

Al laughed, but let the silence take the conversation. He’d had a strange, sudden realization. While he’d had plenty of friends he could chat with, he’d never really had a friend he could talk to like this, like a brother. A firm decision, then. He was going to Aviz.

Raulin sighed. “I’ll have to break the news to Anla that it’ll be a few more days.”

“Why, though?”

“You heard the lady; it’s going to be four days until it’s appropriate to call on Mrs. Crishold.”

“For you, sure, but you’ve explained how Marin Liasorn acts to me. He’s a bit bumbling as far as Ghenian etiquette goes. It would make sense for him to call on her with the pretense that he’ll be leaving soon and they don’t do these sorts of things in Arvonne, et cetera,” he said with an arm wave. “Just go, stick your foot in the door, apologize, and since you’re there, ask about the children.”

Raulin stopped cold before grabbing Al in a tight hug. “Genius!” he said, letting go. “Let’s go! I need to change and get everything ready!”

* * *

At 5:23 in the evening, less than a day after Mathen Crishold had been stabbed, Marin Liasorn knocked on the front door of his estate. He wore a serious set of clothing in dark grays, his vest a linen in houndstooth. He took off his bowler before the door was opened by a servant.

“Sir, the missus is in mourning and is taking no visitors.” She began to close the door before he placed his hand heavily against it.

“Yes, I understand she’s in mourning. I was at the ball last night. I was hoping I could pay my condolences before I left for Genale tomorrow.” He moved his hand so the purse with money in it was more visible.

“Wait right here, sir. I’ll ask.”

She meant for him to stay on the threshold, but he slipped in behind her and stood in the foyer. He waited some fifteen minutes before he heard a conversation between two women that seemed to be getting louder.

“…interrupting me. I am not interested. Please tell him to leave and to come back at the proper…” A women dressed in white with a long lace shawl wrapped around her shoulders stopped briefly when she saw Raulin was inside. She walked to him, covering her head. “I’m in mourning. I have no idea who you are. It is incredibly rude of you to show yourself here today. Come back in a week.”

“A thousand apologies,” he said, bowing low. “This is not the way things are done in Arvonne, so I was unsure when it would be appropriate for me to pay my condolences.”

“Not today!” she snapped. She eyed the purse in his hand and calmed slightly. “What did you bring me, at least?”

He handed her the purse that was filled with fifty gold. “In Arvonne, it is a man’s duty to help the bereaved.”

She opened it and peered inside. “This will help. Thank you.”

“I know it won’t go far with so many mouths to feed.”

She snorted, closing the clasp. “At least I don’t have to worry about those savage children anymore.”

His breath caught for a moment, but his facade stayed in place. “Oh? Are they not here? They were last night.”

She turned to leave. “I called the Nui-Breckin Alliance first thing this morning. Those horrid brats are out of my life for good.”

“What?” he said, then recovered when she snapped her head back. “I mean, it must have been a difficult decision to make under grief.”

“I knew the first chance I got they would be gone. Now, it’s me and my son, just like it should be. Good day.”

Raulin’s stomach clenched as he mumbled a response and left quickly. He panicked and he couldn’t remember the last time he had done that. He knew that when he needed to run, he ran, and when he had to fight, he fought, but when he had to hunt someone down now to save them, he was untrained. He walked towards the hotel, stopped and turned towards the heart of the city, then back again four or five times, finally stepping off to Cataya’s downtown. Hopefully, he had enough slack to make it to the building.

Where was it? How did he get to it? He didn’t know. How would he…? Ask someone. It took fifteen people before one said they thought they remembered seeing a building on Crescent and Farthing with that name. He ran there, searched the whole block, checked every door in the building before giving up. Who would know for certain? He wracked his brain, wringing the edges of his bowler, wiping his brow from the exertion.

“Where’s the police station?” he finally asked a man who startled and pointed in the direction he had been heading. He ran, hoping to catch someone before they locked up for the day, forgetting until he arrived that Cataya was large enough to need an overnight patrol. “Can you..tell me.. where the… Nui-Breckin…Alliance…building…is?” he asked in blown gasps.

“Alliance…building?” The man behind the desk gave him an odd look. “The Alliance doesn’t have a building in Cataya. We ran them out years ago.”

“But…how would someone…sell children to the…Alliance then?”

“Who?” the man asked sharply. “Who said they did that?”

“The widow Crishold. I visited her today and she said she had given all her husband’s children to the Alliance.”

The man paused for a moment, then snorted. “You’re saying the wife, nay widow, of the city’s most fervent opponent to the Alliance just gave her children over to them?” He shot Raulin a nasty look then went back to his paperwork.

Raulin opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. As the priestess had covered, widows were fairly untouchable. It would be much harder to prove that she had basically given over seven children to a despicable slaughter. He was wasting time. Without another glance, he left the station and began walking, asking people about which areas he should avoid in Cataya and heading straight for them.

He spent hours asking, looking, threatening, pleading, chasing, bribing, posturing, and gritting his teeth in frustration. If anyone knew where they were, they weren’t talking, not a single one of the scores of people he had run into that evening.

It was well past midnight when he returned to the hotel. He opened the door to his and Anla’s room quietly, a shaft of hallway light falling on her sleeping form. He quickly undressed to a pair of loose trousers and crawled into bed, trying not to disturb her. If he could hold off speaking with her until he had Garlin, she would never need to know how badly he had miscalculated this situation.

He awoke before she did and slunk out of their bed, dressing as Raulin before sneaking into the other room and waking Al. “Wizard, I need your help.”

He snorted awake. “Wuh? Help? Help how?”

“She already gave them to the Nui-Breckin Alliance!” he hissed.

“Who?”

“Mrs. Crishold!”

Al sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “She…wait. She gave the children to the Nui-Breckin Alliance? That’s monstrous!” He jumped out of bed and threw on his shirt. “What do we need to do?”

“I spent about six hours last night trying to find some hint as to where they are. No one was willing to talk. Other than trying that again, I don’t know what to do.”

“Did you do your normal ‘I’ve got eleven cleavers and you only have ten fingers, so one is going to be sad’ routine?”

“Yes! No one budged.” He paused. “Wait. Ah, I was dressed as Marin, not Raulin.”

“That might make a difference. Unless you’re really ugly; I wouldn’t know.” He frowned. “Of course, if you knew where they we sending the children, you could just go there and head them off.”

Raulin stared at Al for a few moments, then began swearing. “The wharf! They’re going to ship the children to New Wextif. Gods damn my stupidity!” He ran out of the room and the down the stairs. Al paused only for a moment, then ran after him.

Al had to remain on a bench and wait a few hours until he finally spotted Raulin walking back. He knew immediately from his sunk shoulders to his slow pace that he hadn’t found Garlin. He waited until Raulin spoke.

“I found the Nui-Breckin Alliance. Two men were on a ship with some of the children. A few others had been sent ahead by train to New Wextif, since Tektorn doesn’t have a chapter.” He sat next to Al and slumped forward. “Garlin is gone.”

“You did everything you could.”

“It won’t be enough. Anla has survived on the streets of Hanala for years so that she could find her siblings. One sister is dead, the other doesn’t want to speak to her. Garlin is all she has left of her family and she needs this to be a happy reunion.”

Al breathed into his clasped hands as he thought. “Were they certain the others were taken by train? They could be on the road.”

“Those are pretty much the same thing, as far as I’m concerned. If Garlin was put on a train for New Wextif yesterday morning, there’s no way we’d catch him. And if not and he’s in a cart or carriage, which road, the main highway to Acripla or some back road through towns? I’m giving equal measure to both.”

Al sighed. “You’re going to have to tell her.”

“I know.”

They walked back in silence. Al was hoping for some breakthrough in strategy to come to him, but other than hassling a widow, he had nothing.

Anla was in their room, reading in the chair, when Raulin came in and removed his mask. “You’ve been gone for some time. How are things going?”

He sat on the bed. “Anla, I’m so sorry. Garlin’s gone.”

“Gone?” she asked, putting the book down. “Where? What do you mean?”

“The widow called on the Alliance the first chance she got and gave them over. I spent last night hunting for them and this morning I found some on a few ships about to set sail. A few other were possibly sent by train or on the road to New Wextif. When or precisely where or how, I don’t know. I assume Garlin was one of those children.”

“What are we going to do to get him back?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t know what to do. If we had the time, I’d sail as fast as we could to New Wextif and wait for them to bring him in. But we don’t. It would take us two months at least by train or ship to get to New Wextif. I have three months, including travel, to get from here to Riyala to Hanala. We just can’t do it in the time I have left.”

“But if you didn’t finish your contracts, we could save him.”

“And, I would be dead. My order does not grant extensions. I don’t get clemency for failure. They won’t take any excuses other than my death for why I couldn’t finish a contract.”

Her lips pressed together. “So, you’re giving up?”

“Here’s what I can offer. We will sail for Riyala. I will finish my two spying contracts there. Then, we will take a ship to New Wextif. We’ll get him back even if we have to storm the Alliance and kill everyone there to get him.”

“He’ll be dead by that point.”

“It’ll take us about five days to get to Riyala. With everyone’s help, I can have those contracts done in days, hours if you’re willing…Well, I won’t ask you to use your magic like that, but it would cut down on time. From there we sail for New Wextif, two months. It will take around two months by train or road for them to get him to the capital. The difference, Queyella willing, will only be a week.”

“Which is enough time for him to be killed.”

“Or not. Sakilei said that children sometimes spent weeks in a place before being…” He couldn’t finish the sentence. “I know it’s poor bed, but I’m willing to try.”

“You promised me,” she said, tears in her throat.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“You said you had to kill Crishold. I helped you do it. You said you would get Garlin if I helped you. And now you’re saying he’s gone, he’s going to be killed, even though I did everything you asked?”

“Anla, I didn’t think Crishold’s widow would pass her adopted children off like that! It’s barbaric to think she had so little love for another human that she would sentence them to death like that. It boggles my mind.

“I am giving you what I can. I wish I could give you more.”

She held her stomach. “Get out.”

He waited to see if any other thoughts came to his mind, but nothing did. “Again, I’m sorry,” he said before leaving.

Raulin had never been in a serious quarrel with anyone in his entire life. Oh, he’d had lover’s spats with some former beaus and a few fights with acquaintances that weren’t that important to him, but never had he been in a situation where he wanted to make something right, but couldn’t. He wasn’t sure how to solve it. He wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing. He gave her space. When he needed to speak, it was brief and his tone was kind without being mirthful, as if he had forgotten about what had happened. And, of course, he went back to sharing his room with Tel.

He bought flowers and chocolates for her before the ferry ride to Riyala and set those outside her and Al’s door. He tried speaking to her, but she refused to acknowledge him. Meals were awkward and she had taken to moving to another table to sit alone for quite a few dinners.

A week passed and she still said nothing to him. He knew that she hadn’t accepted any of his gifts, but it wasn’t until he was standing in the hallway that he saw where her heart was about it. She caught his eye, and with a glare that could wither a fresh spring bloom, she crushed the bouquet he had left outside her door for her with her heel.

By that point his patience had worn thin and his hope was gone. “Are we over?” he asked.

She opened the door to her cabin.

“Look at me! I’ve tried everything I can think of, other than sacrificing myself, to fix this. Tell me what I can do or tell me were done and I’ll leave you alone.”

She stepped back slightly and glared at him. “I have asked for nothing from you in our time together. I have helped you, I have saved you, I have put up with a lot from you. I forgave you after you cut me to pieces in Mount Kalista. I shouldn’t have. I should have kept my distance so that when you disappointed me yet again, at least it would be expected instead of me hoping you’d do the right thing.”

“By forfeiting my life.”

“By trying. You keep putting it in terms of ‘my life or his’, but you don’t consider leaving your order. It would’ve solved everything. By not chosing that I understood what kind of man you are. You say you hate killing, that you hate bedding women then leaving them, that you don’t want to steal or spy anymore, but you love what it brings. You’re rich. You’re spoiled. You can disappear from people’s lives when it pleases you, because you don’t have to worry about the long-term. You can leave a wake of pain behind you because that’s what your order says you can do and that gives you license to do so without repercussion.

“I just can’t be a part of that any more. I can’t allow myself to let you hurt me yet again and just forgive you because I have to keep the peace. No. Thank you for showing me what I won’t be missing before I started to wonder what could have been.” With that, she closed the door.