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Women had been recruited to the Commander’s cause, and they made excellent spies Valek assassinated the key supporters of the King When the King tried to raise an arht the Commander’s army, he had no defenders The Coht, and little blood was shed Most of the nobility had been killed, but a few had escaped to Sitia

Valek and I arrived at a pair of uarded by two soldiers Valek spoke with the guards, instructing them that I was to be allowed access as needed We entered a short hallith two doors on opposite sides Valek unlocked the door on the right and explained to me that the other led to the Co quarters turned out to be an expansive suite of rooloohtness of the er’s stripes allowed sunlight to pour in

Piles of books occupied every corner and tabletop Hand-size gray rocks, streaked hite, and hout

Slinted with silver The statues dotted the room Delicate and intricately detailed, they were similar to the panthers on Valek’s office desk, and were the room’s only decoration

A considerable collection of weapons hung on the walls Some of the weapons were old, dust-covered antiques that hadn’t been used in years, while others shined One long, thin knife still had fresh blood on the blade The cri a chill to snake throughend of that blade

To the left of the entrance was a stairway, and three doors lined the right wall of the living area

Valek pointed to the first door on the right "That rooet some rest" He picked up three books fro you dinner" Valek left, but then came back before the door shut "Lock the door behindthe bolt, was the last thing I could ever feel here Anyone who kne to pick a lock could sneak in, grab a weapon and have at hed with soed hard on a mace, just to be sure

The clutter surrounding my door was thicker than around the other two, and I discovered hen I entered Clean, box-shaped areas were outlined by the thick dust that still coated the floor, bed, bureau and desk The roo must have just ’s minimal as a not so subtle hint of her vast dislike for me Perhaps it would be best to avoid her for a while

Inside the roo was filthy A musty smell permeated I sneezed There was a sed to open it

The furniture was s of leaves and vines curled down chair legs and across drawers When I wiped the dust off the headboard, I uncovered a delicate garden scene with butterflies and flowers

After I stripped the bed of its dirty sheets and stretched out on the rudge evaporated At that e had been written in the dust on the desk

It read, "Murderer The noose waits"

Chapter Nine

Ivaulted froe disappeared from view, but i didn’t feel any better little darts of fear pulsed from my heart as my g warning or threatening ainst oons for a fee?

But arn ain I had overreacted Froe was probably for the satisfaction of seeingto do extra work for ive her any indication that I’d seen or had been affected by her childish note Thinking back on it, I would bet that she had also readit wide open on the desk just to annoy e I went into Valek’s living roo’s note had reminded me to stick to my instincts and not trust a soul Thenfor poisons and avoiding Brazell

If only it was that si Naivet? and blind trust may have been driven out of me by Brazell and Reyad, but deep down in the sht find a true friend

Even a rat needs other rats I could empathize with the rats I, too, scurried around, looked over ht now, I scrambled just to stay alive until the next day, but soe was power, so I planned to sit tight, to listen and learn all I could I started with Valek’s living area Lifting a rock off one of the tables, I began to pickonly because I suspected Valek would booby-trap his drawers

I found a couple of texts on poisons that interested me, but their contents dealt ue Sos and ritten in an archaic language that I couldn’t decipher Valek was either a collector, or he had stolen the books fro’s library