“I won’t help you escape,” said Kyra. “But you have my word that I will repay you within the limits of my conscience.”
James scrutinized Kyra, and she stared right back at him. Finally he nodded. “I’ve an informant in Willem’s household. He’s a servant named Orvin, and he’s good at overhearing things. I pay in silver for each useful piece of information. He’s a tall man with dark brown hair that’s thinning at the front. About forty years of age, and he wears a tunic with Willem’s family crest when he’s on the Palace grounds. Go talk to him.”
N I N E
Kyra asked one of Malikel’s servants about a man named Orvin in Willem’s household. The man did, in fact, exist. After a couple of days discreetly watching the pathways leading to Willem’s quarters, Kyra spotted him. When she tailed him home, she saw that he lived on the first floor of a boardinghouse in the merchant district. Kyra counted at least six children when she peeked in the windows.
Now that she had him, the question was when and how to approach him. The Palace was too dangerous, and surprising him in his house seemed too threatening. Kyra watched his door that night and followed him as he left the next morning. Luckily, he didn’t head straight for the Palace but instead went to the markets. That would be as good a place as any. Kyra pulled her cloak over her head and sped up until she fell in step with him. The man was deep in thought, and it took a while for him to notice her. He stopped in his tracks.
“James told me he paid you in silver. That right?” Kyra said.
Stark fear crossed his face.
“I in’t planning on turning you in,” she said quickly, worried that she would have to grab him to keep him from bolting. “Otherwise you’d already be in the dungeons. But I’d like your help, and I can pay for it.”
The man squinted at her, trying to see beneath her cloak. “Who are you?”
Kyra supposed she didn’t look or sound like anyone from the Palace or the Guild. Marketplace shoppers brushed past them, and the shouts of vendors made it hard to hear. She jerked her head toward a nearby alleyway. “Best for both of us to be out of sight.” He hesitated to follow her, and Kyra sighed. “You and I can have this chat out here or in the alley. Your choice.” The look he gave her wasn’t kind, but he followed her to the back street. It was empty and darker than the thoroughfare. The smell of rot that always plagued alleyways near the markets was dampened by the cold. Kyra glanced around, checking to make sure there were no windows. She dropped her hood.
Fear crossed Orvin’s face again. “You’re Malikel’s woman.”
It looked like her days of anonymity were over. “I’ve sworn no oaths to Malikel, and he doesn’t know I’m here. I just want some information.”
“And if you don’t get it, will you turn me in?”
She had to think before she answered. Blackmail would have been easy, and certainly tempting, but she shook her head. “I won’t betray a city man to the wallhuggers without good reason. But I’m guessing that you’ve no love for Willem, if you’ve sold information to James before.”
His stance lost a bit of its defensive tilt. “I’ll have you know that I didn’t choose this path lightly,” he finally said. “I have seven mouths to feed, and His Grace is stingy with his wealth. You’re common-born like me. You know what it’s like to be under them. If it comes out that I’ve betrayed the Palace, my family will starve.”
“I know,” said Kyra.
He let out a resigned breath. “What do you want to know?”