After supper, Natalia motioned to Tal to join her and whispered, “Have you some time for me later?”
Tal nodded and replied in low tones, “As much as you require, m’lady.”
With a smile, she accepted her brother’s invitation to depart with him, and over her shoulder said, “I’ll send word.”
Tal nodded. Captain Quint Havrevulen turned to Tal and said, “Getting ambitious, Baron?”
Tal pretended not to take the Captain’s meaning. “Sir?”
“Just watch yourself, Baron. Our lady has many suitors, and some of them do not abide competition well.”
“I am merely our lady’s servant, sir,” Tal said, then with a smile and nod he turned and walked away.
Amafi fell into step beside his master, and said, “Our dear captain wants you dead, Magnificence.”
“Well, then, the feeling is reciprocated.”
They reached Tal’s apartment, and Amafi said, “What is your pleasure, Magnificence?”
“Our master has no need for me, it seems, tonight.”
“Shall we go into the city?”
“No, tonight I wish to explore for a short while,” said Tal. “Kaspar has no need for me later, but I suspect Natalia will, probably after the eleventh hour. So I need to be back here should the call arrive.”
Amafi said, “Magnificence, that’s less than two hours away.”
“Should it come before I return, send word I am…bathing…have some hot water drawn, and I will be along shortly.” Tal quickly stripped off his ornate tunic and donned a plain one of dark grey. He went to the door and glanced out, looking quickly each way. “I’ll be back shortly,” he said.
When Amafi looked out a moment later, he saw that the corridor was empty. “Very good, Magnificence,” he said softly, and shut the door.
Tal moved quietly through the dim hallway. Every chance he had since the first day young Rudolph had guided him into the servants’ network, he had explored on his own.
He had already discovered two cave networks, apparently unknown to the servants, that ran back into the cliff for miles. One ran downward, and Tal had ceased exploring due to time constraints. The other ran slightly upward, and ended at a loose fall of earth and stone, and Tal was convinced that with a little digging he might have found another way to the surface of the plateau above the citadel.
Now he was seeking a hidden entrance into Leso Varen’s private apartments. He had unsuccessfully tried several hallways that ran parallel to the halls leading to that part of the citadel, and now he was exploring an old hallway above that. He had almost taken a punishing fall trying one of the other ladders to the upper levels, for as Rudolph had warned, the wood was old and rotten.
But he had found three sound ladders that took him to a series of halls higher than any other he had seen. They started in the distant wing of the citadel that was sealed off, and worked across the highest level of rooms. He had mentally mapped every room in the citadel he could see, and had a firm grasp on his location every step of the way.
He also knew he was running out of time and would have to be back to his quarters quickly. He came to a door.
Tal paused. If he judged direction and distance correctly, on the other side of this door would be a hallway, one that should lead within a hundred feet to some sort of servants’ entrance to the hallway outside Leso Varen’s private apartments. He inspected the door, and as soon as he touched it, the hair on his neck and arms stood up.
There was a ward on the door. Even in this forgotten passage, the wizard had ensured his privacy. Tal quickly pulled away. He hoped that merely touching it hadn’t alerted the spell-caster. He thought it improbable, since enough rats traveled these halls to make it likely he’d be up here checking to see if someone breached his privacy two or three times a week.
Tal decided to call it a night and return to his quarters. He took the shortest route back and after climbing down half a dozen ladders and traveling nearly half a mile of hallways, he cracked open the servants’ door across from his own rooms. He peered out, saw the hall was empty, and quickly crossed the hall.
Letting himself into the apartment, he saw Amafi waiting. “The Lady Natalia sent word.”
“How long ago?” asked Tal, stripping off his very dusty tunic.
“Ten minutes, perhaps. I said as you instructed that you were bathing and would be along shortly.”
Tal tore off his remaining clothes and climbed swiftly into the tub. “I can’t very well show up covered in dust.”
He washed rapidly and was soon drying himself with a large towel a minute later. Amafi tried to comb as much water as possible out of Tal’s shoulder-length hair.
Still feeling slightly damp, Tal said, “This will have to do,” and left the room.