"I didn't know that Thulls swam all that well."
"They don't - particularly not with large rocks tied to their feet. After you'd destroyed the whole thing, I didn't really need him anymore, and there were some things I didn't want him mentioning in certain quarters."
"You always were prudent, Bethra."
"What are you up to now?" she asked curiously.
Silk shrugged. "A little of this, a little of that."
"The succession?"
"Oh, no." He laughed. "I know better than to get involved in that. Which side are you on?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
Silk looked around, his eyes narrowing. "I could use some information, Bethra - if you're free to talk about it, of course."
"About what, Silk?"
"The city seems to be awash with Murgos," Silk said. "If you're not presently involved with them, I'd appreciate anything you could tell me."
She smiled at him archly. "And what would you be willing to pay?" she asked.
"Couldn't we just call it professional courtesy?"
She smiled wickedly at him; then she laughed. "Why not? I like you, Silk, and I think I'll like you even more if you owe me a favor."
"I'll be your slave," he promised.
"Liar." She thought for a moment. "The Murgos have never really shown all that much interest in trade," she said. "But a few years ago they began arriving in twos and threes; and then late last summer, whole caravans started coming in from Rak Goska."
"You think they want to influence the succession?" Silk asked.
"That would be my guess," she said. "There's a great deal of red gold in Tol Honeth suddenly. My coin chests are full of it."
Silk grinned. "It all spends."
"It does indeed."
"Have they picked any one candidate?"
"Not that I've been able to determine. They seem to be divided into two different factions, and there's quite a bit of antagonism between them."
"That could be a ruse, of course."
"I don't think so. I think the antagonism has to do with the quarrel between Zedar and Ctuchik. Each side wants to get control of the next Emperor. They're spending money like water."
"Do you know the one called Asharak?"
"Ah, that one," she replied. "The other Murgos are all afraid of him. At the moment he seems to be working for Ctuchik, but I think he's playing some game of his own. He owns the Grand Duke Kador out right, and Kador's closest to the throne right now. That puts Asharak in a very powerful position. That's about all I really know."
"Thank you, Bethra," Silk said respectfully.
"Are you planning to stay in Tol Honeth for long?" she asked.
"Unfortunately no."
"Pity. I was hoping you might be able to come by for a visit. We could talk over old times. I don't have many close friends anymore - or dear enemies, like you."
Silk laughed dryly. "I wonder why," he said. "I don't imagine I could swim much better than the Thullish ambassador did. You're a dangerous woman, Bethra."
"In more ways than one," she admitted, stretching languidly. "But your life's not really in any danger from me, Silk - not anymore."
"It wasn't my life I was worried about." Silk grinned.
"That's another matter, of course," she admitted. "Don't forget that you owe me a favor."
"I hunger for the opportunity to repay my debt," he said impudently.
"You're impossible." She laughed, then gestured to her porters, and they lifted her litter to their shoulders. "Good-bye, Silk," she said.
"Good-bye, Bethra," he replied with a deep bow.
"Absolutely disgusting," Durnik said in a voice strangled with outrage as the porters marched away with the litter. "Why is a woman like that even permitted to stay in the city?"
"Bethra?" Silk asked in surprise. "She's the most brilliant and fascinating woman in Tol Honeth. Men come from all over the world just for an hour or two with her."
"For a price, of course," Durnik said.
"Don't misunderstand her, Durnik," Silk told him. "Her conversation's probably more valuable than-" He coughed slightly with a quick glance at Aunt Pol.
"Really?" Durnik questioned in a voice heavy with sarcasm.
Silk laughed. "Durnik," he said, "I love you like a brother, but you're a terrible prude, do you know that?"
"Leave him alone, Silk," Aunt Pol said firmly. "I like him exactly the way he is."
"I'm only trying to improve him, Lady Polgara," Silk explained innocently.
"Barak's right about you, Prince Kheldar," she said. "You're a very bad man."
"It's all in the line of duty. I sacrifice my more delicate feelings for the sake of my country."
"Of course!"
"Surely you don't imagine that I enjoy that sort of thing?"
"Why don't we just let it drop?" she suggested.
Grinneg, Barak, and Mister Wolf returned to Grinneg's house not long after the others had arrived.
"Well?" Aunt Pol asked Wolf as the old man came into the room where they had been waiting.
"He went south," Wolf said.
"South? He didn't turn east toward Cthol Murgos?"
"No," Wolf said. "He's probably trying to avoid a meeting with Ctuchik's people. He'll look for a quiet place to slip across the border. Either that or he's headed for Nyissa. Perhaps he's made some arrangement with Salmissra. We'll have to follow him to find out."
"I met an old friend in the marketplace," Silk said from the chair in which he lounged. "She tells me that Asharak's been involved in the politics of succession. It appears that he's managed to buy the Grand Duke of Vordue. If the Vorduvians get the throne, Asharak's going to have Tolnedra in the palm of his hand."
Mister Wolf scratched thoughtfully at his beard. "We're going to have to do something about him sooner or later. He's beginning to make me just a little tired."
"We could stop over for a day or so," Aunt Pol suggested. "Attend to it once and for all."
"No," Wolf decided. "It's probably best not to do that sort of thing here in the city. The business is likely to be a bit noisy, and Tolnedrans get excited about things they can't understand. I'm sure he'll give us an opportunity later - in some less-populated place."
"Do we leave now, then?" Silk asked.
"Let's wait until early morning," Wolf told him. "We'll probably be followed, but if the streets are empty, it will make things a little more difficult for them."
"I'll talk to my cook, then," Grinneg said. "The least I can do is send you on your way with a good meal to help you face the road. Then, of course, there's still that barrel of ale to be dealt with."
Mister Wolf smiled broadly at that, then caught Aunt Pol's reproving frown. "It would only go flat, Pol," he explained. "Once it's broached, you have to drink it up fairly quickly. It would be a shame to waste it, wouldn't it?"