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Up the Hill to Darmo House

"Are we there yet?" asked Velma She sounded , not hiking"

"Not toosince he wore siear They workedover cobbled streets Mostly cobbled streets Their hasty jaunt toward Darmo House required detours intosounds he did not care for at all Normally he would have a lantern in hand to keep clear of them, but these were not normal times

"You hear that?" she whispered

Cad to this sneaking around business rather well They listened ato be quiet and not succeeding "Next street over, I think," he et"

He wholly concurred; they pressed forith some speed

Debreban had been the first to notice they were no longer the only people abroad after the curfew, spying in the distancethat Botello had discovered Caduard to pursue and recapture, they were forced to take a oal Debreban volunteered to lay a false trail and had cut away toward Burkus House, pro to catch up with theh of the guard to cover the myriad byways of Rumpock They were very efficient, too, and had obviously been informed of their quarry&039;s potential destinations When Cadroup of men in black-and-silver livery were already there

"If I had one of their helht be able to bluff past them in this cloak," Cad tree," Vel of the estate, ducking onto narrow paths and behind hedges when necessary No convenient foliage of a suitable height presented itself on their side of the tall boundary walls, though

"That little gate has possibilities," Cadardens On informal visits to Botello, Cadmus had occasionally found it a useful entry

"Except for those two left on watch"

True A couple of exceptionally large specimens of ducal power paced alertly before the white-painted wrought iron gap in the wall Cadmus, armed with Captain Rockbush&039;s sword, had no doubt he could outfight the the fellows Not their fault they were following orders fro overduke A distraction was needed to remove them

"I say," he said into Vel plan"

It was very gratifying when she readily agreed to his idea Theyhiate, ready to dart forhen the tiuards came even more alert, their attention drawn to a deeply shadowed patch of trees some yards away On the still air, Cadiggling of a woh the copse

"This spot&039;s good," she said in a loud whisper Then cahter

"That&039;s it, nice an&039; coles Then deepening sighs

"Gawds, you&039;ve done this before, haven&039;t you?"

Caded each other, grinning

"Oh! Ahh!" went Vel rhythm that threatened to break branches "Gawds, yes! Dofro their necks in a futile effort to see the source of the exciteawd, ohhh, gads!" she caroled

Velradually worked up to what promised to be a monumental peak

Curiosity and lust finally overcame duty The ate He tossed his sword through, then used the crosspieces like a ladder, going up and over, ni the spear-shaped points of the vertical bars Once inside he felt along the wall for the long metal rod and catchthe catch, he gently swung the gate open, peering through the dark for Veluards, whoever appeared first He had the sword in hand again, just in case

Happily, it was Veled froone in Cadmus half-expected her to be in an advanced state of undress, but she was yet securely clad in her riding costued past hiht her hand, and they tiptoed fast over the grounds toward the house No alarums erupted behind them

"I say," he whispered "That was brilliantly done!"

She huffed out a thank you "Had to work fro"

"Yrrgh!" He tripped, falling flat on his face "Sorry Foot caught on so" They were on uncluttered open lawn She did not point that out, for which he was profoundly grateful as he picked hi re his odd lapse into clumsiness, but an authoritarian voice cut hiht there! Move and you&039;re dead!"

The Street Outside Cadmus House

Debreban was pleased with hi people, but he was exceptional at getting theht the attention of a whole pack of the overduke&039;s guard, at least twenty, and was leading theh the immediate area around his master&039;s estate The fact that he did not plan to effect an entry there had not yet dawned on theular intervals outside the wall As for the rest, all he had to do was et inside

This uards into the area, which meant fewer men would be available to hunt Lord Cad silently up the exterior stairs of a neighboring building, Debreban crouched in the shadows, holding his sword close to keep it fro Black-and-silver capes fluttered about below like a swarrown very noisy and, s open to take advantage of the cool night air, people aking to the disturbance Lights showed and doors creaked and, despite the curfew, annoyed and curious citizens clad in sleep clothes began to trickle into the streets The guards now had to talk theain It was too funny Debreban couldn&039;t wait to tell Shankey what he&039;d missed

Then a door behind him opened He nearly tumbled backwards into the sudden space An old lady with a rolling pin in one hand stood over him " &039;Ere! &039;O&039;er you?"

"City watch," Debreban proenuously up at her "There&039;s a thief loose we&039;re trying to catch Lock yourself in, quick!"

"Wotch? My eye! Yer that feller what marches aroun&039; fer &039;is lordship over there I seen yer ever day, don&039;t I?"

"Madam - "

"Wotcher fink yer doin&039; sneakin&039; up my steps an&039; callin&039; me maderm? I ain&039;t one ar&039; them fancy ladies wot &039;is lordship ennertains, so be orf wif ya, &039;fore I calls the real Wotch!" Her voice got inconveniently loud

"Who&039;s up there?" So an interest

"An&039; &039;onest woed &039;er rest, that&039;s &039;oo! You lot be orf an&039; leave lawful folk in peace An&039; take this &039;un wif yer!" She poked Debreban in the ribs with her rolling pin

"There he is!" the so a quick exit, which required that he cla, which led to the roof He&039;d planned to go there anyway, just not be seen while he was about it Too late now, da fine with old ladies; why did this one have to be i s language not befitting her dignity - and shot across the slanted roof, dodging chi not to slip His leather boots, so practical for the street, worked against hiood balance to compensate

"Get him!" cried several ed he had an excellent chance of a clean escape since he knehere he wanted to go and they didn&039;t And all he had to do to vanish was pick a dense shadow and hold very still within it None were at hand, though, so he keptthe chimneys for cover as he worked his way across the roofs In this section of Rus were crowded close upon one another, but they didn&039;t go on forever He&039;d have to descend sooner or later

"He&039;s over this way!"

This from an unexpected quarter, the bell tower The people there weren&039;t Watch or guards, but so watch on the Hell-river Why weren&039;t they doing that instead of bothering hi south!"

"West, now He&039;s turned west!"

Bloody tattles Tihts He had a better chance in the street But where? He was following the edge of a building a good thirty feet up Over therea narrowing alley between this one and the next If he got a good run of speed, he could jump it He hoped

But people were already on the roofs with hied on by the bell tower babblers He ran flat out as best he could over the uneven surface, then before he was quite ready the gap was under hih space

Too short!

He slarappling desperately for purchase on its raised lip, his legs dangling over an awful drop Panic swelled in his chest for an instant, then he realized he wasn&039;t falling just yet His boots scraped bricks, found crevices, and he pushed for all he orth Not enough to put hiainst his ankles, threatening to co, he hauled, pushed, pulled, and heaved Somewhat dazed, he rolled onto a welcome horizontal surface

That was close He was still in one piece, not smashed on the cobbles like a rotten apple

"Here! That ain&039;t Lord Cad he&039;d just leapt from "Who are you?" he de a flat city accent He kept down behind the lip to hide the distinctive colors of his cloak "Free Aruard Why are you running?"

"Thought you lot were some of them Hell-river demons"

"Hell-river demons? What are those?"

"You mean you ain&039;t heard of the about, the Talents, that is They seen &039;eht There was a man tore to bits by the east wall, but they hushed it all up"

"Tore to bits?" This sparked soht up

"It&039;s true, I saith s They toldhis head off," put in a secondabout no demons"

"Well, of course not," Debreban said "Theet about You ask any of the Talents on watch and they&039;ll lie till they&039;re blue, but I knohat I saw"

"Then what are you doing up and about with demons all over an&039; a curfew on?"

"I reckon what business I had out was none of yours, &039;cause it ain&039;t polite for a s I was onain if you&039;ll allow it"

"We should take you in for wasting our tie in subject was in order "Who are you after? Lord Cadht"

"Why didn&039;t you say so? I passed him down by the river Can&039;t miss him in those dandy clothes"

"What part?"

"The docks Seemed to want a boat but didn&039;t kno to find an oars"

"The docks Hop it, boys!"

"What about him?" The first man pointed across the alley

Debreban held his breath

"Sod hieneral rout and Debreban was abandoned to his own devices Perfect He was thirty feet up and on the wrong end of town, but in no iuard would be on a north-bound chase to futility All he had to do noas head for Dar even better luck

Debreban found a lower roof to drop to, then a lower one, until he felt confident of landing on the ground without breaking anything This he htened and dusted off, then set out onceforward like a man with a mission, which was somewhat true

"Halt, there!"

Bloody hell More of the overduke&039;s minions Hadn&039;t they heard the news? A few carried dark lanterns and opened the ht

"He&039;s at the docks," he said to the figures closing on hi to hire a boat to escape by river"

"Then he will be caught You are to halt, though" This cae The backwash of the lanterns picked out the silver trilint of his close-cropped pale hair Debreban froze in his boots as the aze fell on hi out hunting with his men? But they weren&039;t his ht, then this was Dar the overduke&039;s body like a cloak Debreban stared, trying to see any sign of the impostor beneath the shell

"What an observant fellow you are A bit h it wouldn&039;t take oing to tell me where Cadmus has taken himself"

"His lordship&039;s at the docks"

"Where you would be were that so He&039;s gotten you to lead us away from him Don&039;t mistake me for the idiot he is Where is he really headed? Darmo House? Does he think that bitch will be able to protect hiulped It was true The , the way he pronounced "idiot," were identical to the nae drive when he&039;d been in possession of Lord Cadmus&039;s body Didn&039;t any of these others know the difference? Apparently not Why should they? And it wasn&039;t sonored as a lunatic, but Botello would shut hieon cell Or kill hi, Botello disentler animal than the sleek and restive Whitestone, and ; wouldn&039;t know the real overduke frouards Debreban had never been comfortable about the overduke, so e visions, but for all that he was known as a friendly sort This impostor was a definite threat To everyone

Botello approached Debreban, squinting The others took a pace closer, but aved back Debreban instinctively knew soation Botello set answers to his questions and would enjoy the process

I won&039;t talk, and he ical means to force me? Debreban felt in his bones the absolute certainty of that suspicion He possessed no Talent himself, but held a deep, wary respect for those who did Suddenly heavy on his hip, he felt the weight of the cold iron sword But if I kill Botello, I&039;ll kill the overduke, and even if he&039;s not really Lord Anton, I&039;ll be killed for raising a weapon against him Times were peaceful, but treason was yet a capital crih toward Debreban, fingers spread wide That couldn&039;t be good Debreban took his cue frolances of the men around them Apparently this wasn&039;t typical custody procedure He did not feel bound to discover what ca it in a defense position

"This is made of cold iron, wizard Do you want to risk it?" he asked

Botello flinched back, his eyes wide "You dare?"

"I have to"

Bafflenant fury "You know the penalty for treason?" he hissed

"I think we both do Sir" Mutual understanding flashed between the

"Take him!" Botello ordered

But before thethe tip of his blade level with Botello&039;s throat "I&039;ll split him! I mean it! Stand clear!"

They held their distance Barely

"Over there," he said, jerking his head to his right "All of you face that wall and put your hands on it Now!"

None of thelared at Botello and applied enough pressure to dent his skin

"Do what he says!" Botello snapped, then utted for this You&039;ll be days dying"

Debreban paid hi the men to obey his instructions When they were lined up with their hands in plain sight, he forced Botello backwards a few steps "Your turn, the wall"

Botello seee of the blade While he was busy e reins, ju over its back The quick ht No ti in smartly with both heels, and they launched forward like the favorite at a racinghis ride into a full-blown and dangerous gallop He had to trust the horse kne to run on cobblestones

Behind hie It was the overduke&039;s voice, but such an unearthly sound could never before have passed his lips Then a terrific flash of blue-white light bathed the alley Debreban felt a scorching on his back and knew it ht the flat of his sword down on the horse&039;s ruht grew stronger, the heatfilled his ears like a rush of water at a cataract

Heat, appalling heat His cloak was on fire He clawed at the knot under his chin It tore loose, and the heavy fabric went flying off in his wake Thank gawds for that, but he nearly lost the reins and his seat He leaned low over the horse&039;s neck, and kicked again

Another gust of fla his way to the opening of the alley It served aIn scant yards he&039;d have to bring the horse sharp around without sending the, but it was that or be roasted

They burst fro into the turn The horse&039;s hooves skidded on the stones, but his legs keptProbably panicked hiht shi from the alley He and the horse barely cleared fro into the side of the building Tongues of red shot out fro hold of the old wood

"Fire!" someone cried Others chorused in

"Fire!" he bellowed as well It was the coe on that spot to put it out, hindering pursuit "Fire!" he called again and again He continued long after leaving the immediate area The more confusion, the better for his escape Debreban felt fierce satisfaction knowing that Botello had brought the delay onto hih, and he already suspected Lord Cadet there, first and fast, to warn theht

Darmo House