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Botello&039;s Black Roo to say for awhile Fili her nose for the uular feat for hied looks, then looked at Filiine what it had been like during the big fight And how it had been for Fili to haul her dead husband up to their roo up the show of the fiction she&039;d invented about hi peacefully in his bed, all the tirim reminder

"Whooh," I muttered, full of fresh respect for her

Shankey echoed me

She continued, her voice subdued "After that it seemed best to keep quiet and hope the mess would resolve itself Each sunset I&039;d pray for the Hell-river not to appear, but it kept co for a solution, asking for a cure, asking to find a way to put it all back and retrieve the lost Talents Then when I asked to be shown soe"

Lucky me, I said to myself

Shankeyone thingif Lord Botello was pulled into the mirror hoas his body still here?"

"I don&039;t know" Her head was down as she stood over that bare spot on the floor

"That&039;s easy," said Terrin "What got dragged off was his astral for "I heard those were invisible Not tangible"

"Hardly ever on this side of Reality, but back then this place was so charged up with y his astral self would have been more solid than Gibraltar"

"Who&039;s that?"

"Sort of a &039;rock&039; star," I explained

Terrin snarled Good He did his best hile annoyed "Hush up with yourself, I&039;m on a roll Botello&039;s astral bod and all the brain and soul and the spirit luggage that goes with it got sucked in When the mirror shattered that chopped his connection, as left on this side - his physical self - died"

"I didn&039;t mean for that to happen," said Fili in with a co ar to cop a feel "He brought it onto hiht not have died if I hadn&039;t interfered"

"True," said Terrin "But you did and it was supposed to turn out that way" He was a great one for Fate and kar no such thing as a coincidence "The big question is as he trying to do? I don&039;t mess around with de around with them in a dumb-ass way Don&039;t you have any idea what he was up to?"

Filima shook her head "I&039;ve been over it a hundred tih his papers and notes, but he used a personal code that would only ot that stuff?"

"It&039;s up in his other Black Room"

"I wanna see And why for is it always a &039;Black Rooic here? Why can&039;t it be purple? Maybe soreen polka dots I never saw such a sorry-ass cliche world You people gotta lighten up with yourselves, no wonder you got a black river That&039;s depressing as hell Po-loo-shun all over the das of all kinds

Shankey stuck a thuht?"

"Oh, yeah, couldn&039;t be better It&039;s a sign he&039;s in a really good mood The more he complains, the better for us In case you hadn&039;t noticed, he sucked off the leftover y in here"

"When? Was it like what he did upstairs?"

"Nah Just a little finger waggling here and there, like licking the bowl to get the last of the cake frosting" Only in this case the bowl had been briiven one now Still didn&039;t make this place any friendlier

"Da pardon, my lady!" He snapped to abrupt attention

Filii of one eyebrow She had both raised at us, evidently wanting to go after Terrin She was all recovered froreat confession, thank you veryelse

"Uhyeah," I added, and escorted her toward the tunnel door

The Overduke&039;s Palace, a Hallway

Cads were not right and not right in a bloody serious way For one, he was only partly conscious, yet walking Not the sort of activity that becoentleman even when he&039;s drunk One tended to stu but detriossip for acquaintances to chew over for weeks on end No, if one was drinking it was best done under circu wasn&039;t required

But he was not drunk Exhausted and suffering the ill-effects of overeating at a rich table, but not drunk Pity He wanted a good drink, because instinct told hi on and it was bad Very bad indeed, as in a bloody, bloody serious way So whathelped along The assistance spared him from collisions with furniture and walls, but he was rather puzzled as to o people were engaged in such a triplet exercise with hi fire fellows In the overduke&039;s black-and-silver colors

What the devil was going on?

Cadmus tried to work that one out, and at the saraphic location, deterht, as it was dark - and how he had come to be in such a state of affairs It was quite a lot to do all in one go, and frankly he was not at his best He was still diligently at it when a very beautiful young wo his escorts

"Captain Rockbush, what are you doing?" she asked of one of the men

Excellent The very question Cad again

"Orders from Lord Anton, ma&039;am," was the pro in the - "

"Confined?"

" - in the dungeon, until - "

"The dungeon?"

" - until Lord Anton calls for hiain"

"Why?" She was very shocked Cadmus felt the same way Hardly any of the overduke&039;s friends were ever tossed into dungeons The ood reason

Goodness, what could have happened to put the overduke off to such a degree? He always likedhis lordship&039;s orders Seemed very keen about it, he was"

"Has Lord Cad?

"Wouldn&039;t know, ma&039;am We was just called to his lordship&039;s Black Roo really awful had happened there

"Lord Cad him now Who was - oh, yes, Velirl, just not his type Needed to have ht as well be gallant to her, maybe she&039;d turn out to be an eccentric heiress run away froed to straighten, then swayed into a droopy bow Not his finest effort, he critically chided hiain It put her very finely shaped breasts within his i else to complain about

"Cadmus? Are you drunk?"

He discovered he could speak Good show "F-f-far froh P&039;rhaps if you could direct rateful for a nice lie-down"

She bent to peer at hiawds, you&039;re cold as ice!"

Now that she&039;d mentioned it, he was a trifle chilled Her hand was lovely and warhed and leaned into her touch, but overbalanced and the two chaps next to hi hi someplace

"Sorry, ma&039;am, we&039;re under orders"

"He&039;s sick and in need of help I&039;m sure Lord Anton won&039;t mind a little detour"

The captain hesitated

"Oh, do bring him, Captain, he&039;s obviously in no condition to escape"

"No, ives an order it&039;s my duty to obey"

"I don&039;t question that, I&039; Lord Cad the house bell for the doctor"

More hesitation Vel any actual authority was the probleirlfriend that would make a difference On the other hand, Anton had a (usually) lenient manner about him, was known to be a kindunreasonable, and it did help that she was pretty Cadet to know her better She could help him with his conquest of Filima

Filimathere was some sort of trouble connected with her Had to do with somebody or other she&039;d been married to

"In here," Vel about it

Captain Rockbush yielded Couldn&039;t blaainst her eyes Cad half carried into one of the many palace parlors A nice one with lots of co settee M Very soft Now if he could just shut his eyes for a little he&039;d sleep off this not-hangover and sort the rest out in thehis face and shaking him awake What was it o man sleep? "Yes? Ad yer serv&039;ce, lady What d&039;ye need?" He&039;d be polite if it killed hi, too Was it that wizard he&039;d planned to skewer earlier today? No, he&039;d changed his one back to Burkus House to dress for dinner with the overduke

"Wake up, man, and tell oing to try an experio to the palace? He&039;d just been up in his rooht stay He was going to make a quick call on Filima so she could see how splendid he looked in his dress clothes on his charger, off to see the overduke hihty matters That would have to impress her Cadreat chain with - no, of course he&039;d rejected the heavy gold and gone with the black pearlu had interrupted

"Yes, you tent up there not half an hour ago Why does Anton suddenly want you in the dungeon?" Velent voice yanked him into the present

"Oh, it&039;s not Anton, but Botello ants aas he on about?

Vel for the doctor again and to hurry "What do you mean about Lord Botello? He&039;s dead"

"Only bodily displaced," Cad an evilpsychically shocked by a not-so-dead man whose present residence was Hell Pity the bastard couldn&039;t stay there Hadn&039;t stayed there Leaping about like a locust he was And as hungry "He&039;s being very difficult about it, too Wish he&039;d leave h it&039;s mostly Botello You haven&039;t any cold mint tea have you? Dinner was lovely, but leftabout, Cadestion I do beg your pardon Didn&039;t ive ested Captain Rockbush somewhere above him "It&039;s that or drunk and he don&039;t sot that, too?" Velain "It&039;s all over his clothes"

Sweet of her to be so concerned about his scent, especially since it wasn&039;t very pleasant Cadmus really must send her soratitude Nothing too elaborate, ive the overduke cause for jealousy or Filima the idea that she had been displaced

Displacednow Filima&039;s husband was quite another matter on that topic But Botello wasn&039;t her husband now that he was - for all practical purposes on this side of Reality - dead The mourners stuffed his body in the Darmo crypt, had a drink to his memory, and that should have been the end of the business, but the bastard just couldn&039;t leave well enough alone He should stay decently dead and let his dearmove on with her life If she was called his hat was Botello&039;s designation of relation to her now? Was there a nahtJust not with Filiht here, at yer serv&039;ce"

"What&039;s that rotten egg s Riddle or Diddle? He always liked the gaoodness!"

Someone else had joined the party Cad circle so he could nap, but it was not to be He found hi poked, thumped, his heart listened to, his eyelids pried open, and his ears assaulted with questions Shouted questions

"Not so loud, if you please, I&039;m not deaf," he complained

"Then wake yourself, Lord Cadmus," the man bellowed

Damned if I will, so there! Cadmus purposely shut his eyes The intrusion abated for a moment then he abruptly and nastily breathed in the et-that-away-froh! Foo!" he cried, trying to wave it off He sat bolt upright and stared around The inventory of the roouards, and a bald young man with a squint who happened to be the doctor in residence for the ducal palace The four of the expressions of concern, puzzlement, suspicion, and squinty satisfaction

"Wonderful stuff," said the doctor, putting a cork stopper on a glass vial, the source of the save me the recipe Good for all kinds of hystericals"

"I aiven to hysterics," Cadmus said, a trifle archly

"No, but you weren&039;t at all well Bit ofin polite society"

"Oh, that&039;s different, then" Cadmus instantly understood This doctor fellow seemed a man after his own heart Perhaps he&039;d had siraces

"You said so thehted, sir And lady" He nodded at Vel e will do" He hoped Sohtmare, only he&039;d been awake Overduke Anton was - was

Cadawds!"

Darmo House, Botello&039;s Other Black Rooh candles for a pope&039;s birthday cake When you&039;re cut off from a culture with electricity all over the place, you htbulbs We could have employed a bank of thealooround, it was just as dark and see behind an ordinary door