“Hopefully, he doesn’t still think I came back to Tranquility because I want to mooch money.” Rylana couldn’t quite keep the bitterness out of her voice. Even though her father had only suggested that once, when they’d first run into each other on the street, it had rankled.
“No… he didn’t mention that,” Zames said as they headed for the kitchen, stepping aside for a gnomish cleaning device that was rolling down the hallway, dragging linens and a comforter toward the laundry room in the back of the castle. “He said you might eventually realize that a diner has limited opportunities for advancement and come to take your rightful position in the family business.”
“The diner is wonderful. You should come by when you get a day off.”
“I’ve, ah, heard of it. And the dragon.”
“He’s wonderful too.”
Sylin arched her eyebrows.
“I’ve heard he’s surly,” Zames said.
“Maybe it would be more correct to say hisfoodis wonderful,” Rylana said, “though he… grows on you.”
“Did you pine last night, not being able to sleep adjacent to him in his lair?” Sylin asked her.
“Of course not,” Rylana said, though shehadwoken up thinking of Jildarin. As they stepped into the kitchen, she added, “Sleeping on a bed was luxurious and delightful. I’d forgotten how good one’s muscles could feel after?—”
“What is that?” Zames pointed to a book on one of the butcher-block islands.
“One-hundred-and-one Recipes to Awaken a Troll God?” Sylin suggested.
“Nobody awakened anygods.” Rylana gave her an exasperated look.
“That intense blue glow and magic suggestedsomethingwas woken up.”
“Well, the glow is gone now, thankfully.”
“I’m the only one who’s been in the castle for the last few days,” Zames said, walking toward the island, “and I don’t recognize it. It wasn’t there when I chopped up raw meat for the dogs last night.” He picked up the book and read the title off the cover. “The Rise of the New God, Gnomish Hegemony, and the Founding of Tranquility.”
“That sounds like a book that could put you to sleep faster than drugs,” Rylana said.
“By reading it or being struck by it?” Zames made a face as he hefted it to indicate its weight. “I can promise you by its size that it’s never been a bestseller.”
“Not in this century anyway.” Rylana took it from him. The pages were yellowed and the text written by hand. “The printing press has been around for three-hundred-odd years.”
“Maybe that was penned in your castle’s scriptorium.” Sylin’s eyebrows twitched.
“That’s possible. It could have been on a shelf in the library for ages, and I wouldn’t have known. It’s also possible that Vormalt brought it with him and accidentally left it.” Rylana turned a few pages, wondering if there was anything in it about Avandar Castle. And the chamber—thetemple—with the idols underneath it… But she had a feeling that predated all the topics mentioned in the book title.
“He asked me if I was here to reveal the secrets of the city,” Sylin said.
“To those who’ve been duped all this time,” Rylana said. “Iremember. I wish we’d succeeded in questioning him.” Belatedly, she wondered if Vormalt hadtrulypassed out after Sylin had shown him her knife, or if he’d feigned that. “We should have submerged his head in a bucket of water to check,” she muttered.
“Do you know where he lives?”
“I know where his family estate is, yes, and I know where the estate of the woman he married is.”
“Oh, Pennigrew Timberport?” Zames asked. “She’s a delight. Quirky but a delight.”
“Do you want to check those locations?” Sylin arched her eyebrows. “The way you answered the question makes me believe you don’t think he’ll be in either place.”
“He could be,” Rylana said, “but ifI’dvandalized the library floor in someone’s house and been identified by the staff, I wouldn’t go home.”
“House?” Sylin looked at the kitchen with its three hearths and multiple stoves, then waved in the direction of the study, the office, and the scriptorium.
“Castle,” Rylana corrected. “I’despeciallygo into hiding after vandalizing a castle.”
