“Isn’t?” she asked softly.
“You said it cannot be and I’m saying you’re right. It isn’t real. It’s a forgery.”
“How can you be certain?” she asked. “I’ve seen my great-uncle’s script and seal many times and this appears to be from his hand and ring.”
James grinned. “It’s too flawless. I doubt that even your great-uncle could order the death of his favorite niece without some noticeable trembling in his hand. The letters are too prefect. I can’t read the words, but I can see the handwriting and it’s a clever forgery. Besides, even if the handwriting displayed that slight agitation I’d expect, there are two other reasons.”
“Which are?” she asked as the sound of approaching footsteps reached them.
“Your great-uncle would never be stupid enough to sign his own name to a death warrant on any Keshian noble, especially one in his own family. More to the point, we’ve seen a fair number of documents bearing his seal in the palace over the years and there’s a tiny imperfection in his signet.” James pointed. “Look here. Where the long point of the star touches the bottom of the seal there should be a fine crack, as if the ring has a tiny fracture. This seal doesn’t have it. The ring wasn’t his.”
“Then why?” asked Jazhara. As she spoke, a small company of the city watch appeared outside the door.
“Because,” said James, striding toward the door, “if the new court mage in Krondor dies and someone in the Imperial Court starts casting around for someone to blame, who better than the head of the Keshian Intelligence Corps? Someone in the Empress’s Palace might wish to see him removed and replaced with his own man.”
“The Crawler?” asked Jazhara.
James turned and nodded.
“Then he is someone of importance,” she said. “To threaten my great-uncle is to risk much. Only a man with his own power base within Kesh would dare this.”
At the door, a guard of the watch said, “One of these children came to us and we hurried here as quickly as we could, Squire. What can we do to help?”
James replied, “There are some bodies inside that need to be removed, but otherwise everything’s under control.” He glanced at the children who hovered around them in a circle, as if ready to bolt should the alarm go up. “You’d better take charge of this lot before they scatter.”
“Where shall we take them?”
James said, “To the Shield of Dala Orphanage the Princess helped found, over by the Sea Gate. Last I heard they had plenty of beds and hot food.”
Several children started to inch away, as if getting ready to flee. Jazhara crouched and reached out as if to gather the fearful children to her. She said, “They are not like the men who have hurt you. There you will truly find food and warm beds.”
Confronted otherwise with the prospect of a cold night with only stones to sleep upon and an empty belly, the children remained. The guard looked around. “Well, then, if you’re all right getting back to the palace without a guard, Squire, we’ll get this bunch moving. Come along, children,” he said, trying not to sound too gruff.
The children left with two of the guards while the remaining pair peered into the building. “We’ll have these bodies gone by morning. What about the building?” one of them asked.
James replied, “It’ll be looted five minutes after you leave, so I’m going to poke around a little more and take anything important to the prince. Once we’re gone, get rid of the bodies and let whoever wanders by take what he wants. If the previous owner has any heirs, I would welcome them coming to the palace to complain.”
The watchman saluted and James and Jazhara reentered the dyer’s shop. Jazhara thoroughly examined every paper in the chest and James inspected every likely spot that might harbor a secret hiding place. After an hour, James announced, “I don’t think there’s anything else.”
Jazhara had been carefully reading the papers found in Yusuf ‘s office. “There’s enough here to warrant a full investigation from my great-uncle’s end,” she said. “This attempt to have my death placed at his feet in order to discredit him . . . it would have created a virtual civil war in the north of the Empire, for the desert tribes would know it to be a false accusation.”
“But the Empress and her council in the City of Kesh might believe it.”
Jazhara nodded. “Whoever this Crawler is, he seeks to benefit from confrontation between our peoples, James. Who would gain from such chaos?”
James said, “It’s a long list. I’ll tell you sometime. Right now, we should get to the palace. You have barely enough time to take a short nap, change into clean clothing, eat, then be presented to Prince Arutha.”