“Kinda, yeah.”
Brin had been joking, flirting. She didn’t expect him to say yes. He wasn’t there to charm her; Tesh had come to protect her. While his concern was thoughtful, it scared her. “Really? What did Raithe say?”
“He doesn’t think we’re crazy. More importantly, he reminded me about someone named Meryl who lives in the city on Yolanda Hill. He says he lives alone, but Raithe remembers seeing someone looking out through this guy’s window.”
“And you think he’s hiding the raow?”
“Not sure. Technically, we only know he’s lying. Well, that and he’s hiding someone. Raithe is going to talk to Malcolm because he used to live with Meryl. What did Persephone say?”
“I don’t think she believed me. She thinks I just had a nightmare. But I did learn what those little rooms are. It’s called the duryngon, a prison. Persephone says the Galantians use the cells to study creatures, so maybe they had a raow.”
“Oh, so you don’t believe me now, either?” Brin was getting more than frustrated with everyone not— “I didn’t say that. I believe you. I’m just wondering how someone could do that.”
“Oh,” she said softly.
“I mean, my mother described raow as monsters that slaughtered whole villages, making huge mounds with bones of the people they killed. For someone to be keeping one…well it’d be like a mouse keeping a cat, you know? Doesn’t make sense.”
“During the conversation, I overheard the guy—or mouse if you will—mention an agreement.”
“How does a mouse make an agreement with a cat—a hungry cat? Do you think he has a magic weapon or something? Maybe a necklace that allows him to control it?”
Brin paused and stared at Tesh curiously, then shook her head. “How did you come up with—never mind. No, I don’t think there’s a magic medallion. But if the raow was in a prison, how did it get out? Perhaps it was let out. Maybe that’s when they made the agreement. You know, I do this for you, you do that for me?”
“So, the mouse freed the cat on the promise that it wouldn’t eat him?”
“Well, sure, but the mouse would want more than that. After all, leaving the cat in the duryngon would take care of that. The mouse would want something more.”
“Like what?”
“Something a raow would agree to. Something it would like to do anyway.”
“Kill lots of mice?”
“That night, when I heard them talking, one of them said something about waiting for spring. Nyphron thinks the Fhrey will attack in spring. That might not be a coincidence.”
“It’s spring, right now,” Tesh told her. “You know that, right?”
They continued walking down the steep sloping street of paving stones, past dozens of buildings with lit candles and closed drapes. Fhrey were inside, and Brin wondered if they were peeking out, watching them pass. What did they do in there? And how did they feel about all of the Rhunes running free on their streets?
“You said Meryl lives on Yolanda Hill?”
Tesh nodded.
“So he’s a Fhrey, then?”
“Actually, no, he’s human. Was a slave, like Malcolm. Seemed like he inherited the house when Shegon died.”
“Oh,” Brin said, then sighed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Well, if Meryl was a Fhrey, then I could see him wanting to release a raow to devour all the humans right as the Elven army arrives. Great plan—horrible and unimaginably evil, sure—but still pretty smart. But a human slave wouldn’t want that. Meryl’s on our side.”
“I’m not so sure,” Tesh said. “I think he liked being a slave. Malcolm said Meryl saw himself as one of them, and while a lot of the Fhrey loyalists—at least the non-Instarya ones—packed up and went back across the Nidwalden when we moved in, a human slave wouldn’t be able to do that no matter how much they wanted to be a Fhrey.”
“Really?” Brin bit her lip. “Is it me, or is this starting to make sense?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m thinking that Meryl really could be planning on letting this raow loose. But how can I get Persephone to believe that?”
“We need proof,” Tesh said. “I know where Meryl’s house is. I’ll go have a look. I’ll go right now.”
“You mean, we’ll go.”
Tesh gave her a serious look. “No, I mean I’ll go. If you’re right, Brin, this could be really dangerous.”
She frowned, nodding. “I know that more than you, believe me. That’s why I can’t let you go alone.” She looked at the two swords on his hips and recalled the sparring bouts in the courtyard. “What do you think? Can you defeat a raow? Maybe we should—”
Tesh straightened up and placed his hands on the pommels of his weapons. “With these, I’m better than anyone but Sebek. I can handle a single raow.”
“So, what’s the problem, then?”
Tesh conceded, “Okay, fine. Let’s go visit Mister Meryl and see if he really does have a guest.”
* * *