‘Were you here when the murders took place?’ she asked. The girl shook her head.
‘Did you want more food?’ she enquired.
‘Yes. Another slice of pie. Were any of the serving maids here that night?’
‘Yes. Dilian.’
Ts she here today?’
‘No. She went away with Pavik.’
Tavik?’
‘The tavern keeper,’ answered the girl, moving away.
Moments later a thick set woman in her early fifties strode to where Ulmenetha sat. ‘Why are you pestering my staff?’ she asked, belligerently, her large arms folded across her ample bosom. ‘And why should you be interested in the whereabouts of my husband?’
‘I am investigating the murders,’ said Ulmenetha. The woman gave a scornful laugh.
‘Oh, I see. Now the army has gone the city police have
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turned power over to you, eh? Is that right, you fat cow?’
Ulmenetha gave a sweet smile. ‘Perhaps you would prefer to answer my questions in the city dungeon, you raddled slut. One more foul word from you and I shall send the Watch to arrest you.’ Ulmenetha spoke the threat softly, and with quiet confidence, and the power of the words lanced through the woman’s bluster.
‘Who are you?’ she asked, licking her lips.
‘Sit down,’ ordered Ulmenetha. The woman sank to the seat opposite.
‘I have been sent here by someone in a very high place – someone who could cause you great harm. Now tell me all you know of the killings.’
‘I wasn’t here. My husband saw it all.’
‘What did he tell you?’
This is not fair,’ whined the woman. ‘We’ve been told what to say. And we’ve said it. We’ve done our duty, Pavik and me. We don’t want to be involved in … in politics.’
‘Who told you what to say?’
‘Someone in a very high place who could do me considerable harm,’ spat the woman, regaining some of her courage.
Ulmenetha nodded. ‘I understand your fear,’ she said. ‘And you are quite right in your desire to avoid becoming enmeshed in the intrigues of the nobility. But you have already told me much.’
‘I’ve told you nothing.’
Ulmenetha looked into the woman’s frightened eyes. ‘You have told me that your husband lied about the murders. Therefore I must assume that the officer, Dagorian, did not commit them. This means that you have accused an innocent man of a crime. Whatever the intrigue you are now facing the death penalty.’
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‘No! Pavik told the truth to the first man. Absolutely the truth. Then this other man came and made him change his story. Then he told Pavik to leave the city for a few days.’
This other man has a name?’
‘Who are you?’
‘I dwell at the palace,’ said Ulmenetha, softly. ‘Now, give me the name.’
‘Antikas Karios,’ whispered the woman.
‘What really happened that night?’
‘The policeman, Zani, was murdered as he left the tavern. Then three men tried to kill the Drenai. He slew one, wounded another, and they fled. That’s all I know. But please, for pity’s sake, tell no-one I told you. Say you heard it from someone in the tavern that night. Will you do that?’
‘Indeed I will. You say your husband and the serving maid have left the city. Do you know where they went?’
‘No. Antikas Karios sent a carriage for them.’
‘I see. Thank you for your help.’ Ulmenetha rose. The woman pushed herself to her feet and grabbed the priestess by the arm.
‘You won’t say. You promise!’
‘I promise.’
Ulmenetha left the tavern. She glanced back once to see the woman’s fearful face at the window.
She will never see her husband again, thought Ulmenetha.
When Dagorian left the tavern that night he ran back to his rooms at the new barracks, changed his clothing, leaving his armour, breastplate and greaves behind, gathered what money he had saved and walked away into the city night.
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The death of Zani had been shocking enough, but to discover that the assassins had been sent by Antikas Karios was a bitter blow. Dagorian knew that his life was in far greater peril than he had feared. Antikas Karios had no reason to order him killed, and this meant that the order must have come from Malikada himself. And, as Banelion had pointed out, Dagorian did not have the power to withstand such an enemy.