Affinities were dangerous, Mother had told me, and untrustworthy—as were those who used them. And the ability to move in shadow seemed the least trustworthy of all.
“Who are you really? And what do you want with me?”
He took a small step back, and bowed. “Patrick Ladran Foley,” he said. “At your service. Or something like it.”
Ladran.
“You’reLadran?”
“Some call me that.”
I looked about wildly, feeling like some kind of trap was closing in. Mieka had told me Ladran owned half the city—the taverns, the gambling hells. Sheworkedfor him in some capacity, didn’t she?Ladran’s lapdog, Grizel had spat at her.
“Did Mieka bring me here because of you? Is she …?”
“She does not know I am here,” he said quickly. “My intentions are nothing but good.” Somehow he had taken my hands again without my noticing and was spinning me round as the crowd continued to dance. There was some kind of magic in it, that dance, and I was caught up in it and could not pull myself free.
“And what are those intentions?” I managed to say.
“I want to help you.”
“Out of the goodness of your heart.”
He shrugged. The bird mask tilted.
“I’m not going to pretend I don’t have a vested interest. I am loyal to the king. I look out for the good of Virelith. I work with others like you—those who don’t want to bend the knee to the Temple and see the kingdom fall to the One-Eyed God, or become little more than a tool for the high lords to wield. Those like your mother, as well. She rejected the Temple, I think?”
“What do you know about my mother?”
“Very little, I’m afraid, but I would like to know more. I would like to help you find her—and her spellbook. That book is of great significance to the kingdom’s future. Many have heard of its existence. Many have been looking for it. I like to … pay attention to such things.”
“Are you a spy?”
“A spy, a businessman, a merchant, a diplomat …”
“A traveling magician in a patched coat?”
“Whatever the king finds necessary. Sometimes the best way to observe is to be invisible, in the shadows—and sometimes being a colorful distraction and putting on a show is even more effective.”
“What were you doing that day near the Tower?”
“I was simply trying to help you.”
My voice trembled, but I forced it to be strong. “Forgive me if I am not immediately overwhelmed with gratitude.”
He spun me round again. “I heard tell that an attack was planned on the Tower.”
“Heard tell from whom?”
“I am not quite ready to reveal that, my dear. After all, a large part of my business is secrets.”
“Thenwhy didn’t you stop it?”
“I was on my way to the Tower when I heard I was too late. But I also heard that you had survived, so I made sure I was there to …”
I glared at the blank eyeholes of the mask. “Interfere?”
He pulled me in closer, so his voice sounded right in my ear, warm and intimate. “Interfere?That’s uncharitable. If I hadn’tinterfered, your pursuers would have had you twice over by now, and you would have lost all your coin,” he said.
