Since I wasn’t paying for the horses, I didn’t bother to haggle over price. The guy said fifty, so that’s what I gave him. Lysander found a hulking brown stallion that seemed able to bear his weight without groaning. I settled on a gray-and-white mare with a wild eye and a nasty bite, for obvious reasons.
A trip like this would be expensive with the cost of supplies and inns along the way, so the necessity of getting more money from Lord Edmund was no longer a question.
“Or we could camp out,” I said as we cantered down the winding forest road that led to Ariel House.
Lysander looked over at me in horror. “Tell me that’s just one of your meaner jokes.”
I gave him a sinister smile. “Probably. But who knows. There’s always a chance that one or two nights along the way we won’t find an inn.”
He shuddered. “So many bugs…”
“Which reminds me, you should be more worried about what we eat than where we sleep.”
“What does that mean?”
“We may go for days without seeing a place big enough to have a market or even a farm, so we might have to catch our own food.”
“Like hunting?”
“If we’re lucky. Otherwise, we’ll have to eat the bugs.”
He stared at me for a moment, then his eyes narrowed. “Fuck you, Roz.”
I got a good laugh out of that. In fact, teasing Lysander about his nature phobia was such a great way to pass the time that I was almost sad when we reached Ariel House. It was dusk now, and there were spirit lights lining the path through the gardens. Several windows of the mansion already glowed a merry yellow light as well. We slowed our horses to a walk and let them pick their way carefully down the path to the entrance. The last thing we needed was one of our new mounts turning an ankle in the dim light.
When I glanced off to the far side of the garden, I noticed there were no lights on in the gardener’s cottage. I thought that was strange but figured he might be in the mansion. I wasn’t sure how that worked. Maybe he took his meals in the kitchens or, hell, even slept there. There certainly were enough empty rooms, and if I had the choice between a tiny rustic cottage and a sumptuous mansion, I knew which one I’d pick.
We hitched our horses in front of the mansion, then knocked on the door. It was opened by a servant I hadn’t seen before. He had broad shoulders that seemed impractical for the confining black suit he wore. Like all he’d have to do was flex and the whole thing would peel off like the shell of a boiled egg.
“Rosalind Featherstone and Lysander Tunning,” I told him. “We work for Lord Edmund. He around?”
“Ah yes. I was told you might call.” He sounded more posh than I’d expected. “Unfortunately, his lordship is currently away from home.”
“Oh yeah? Where is he?”
“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say.”
“How about Quince?” I asked. “He here?”
“Mr. Quince is in the billiards room. Shall I take you there?”
“Nah, we know where it is.”
I pushed past him and into the mansion, with Lysander following. It was immediately apparent that the place had been fully restocked with servants. They were everywhere. Cleaning things, straightening things, moving things from one place to another. It was impressive, really. Most of them weren’t actually doing anything useful, but I supposed looking busy was an important skill for house servants.
An older woman in a maid uniform hurried past with a pile of linens in her arms.
“Excuse me.” I stepped into her path. “How long have you been working here?”
“Just started this morning, miss,” she said.
I looked around at the other servants bustling past us. “And everybody else?”
“Same, near as I can tell, miss,” she said.
I nodded and stepped out of her way. “Thanks.”
She continued on to wherever it was that so desperately needed clean linens.
I looked at Lysander. “Interesting, huh?”
He shrugged. “Quince’ll tell us about it, I’m sure.”
“He’ll tell us something, anyway.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means I don’t trust him, and you shouldn’t either.”
“You think he’s the one who gave up the details on those lock sigils?”
“I haven’t ruled it out yet,” I said.
We found the man in question at the pool table. He was alone, leaning over to take a shot at the corner pocket with a finely polished mahogany stick.
“You like playing with yourself, Quince?” I asked just as he was shooting.
His shoulders bounced, and the ball caromed off the bumper and right back to him. He turned and gave me a distasteful look.
“Don’t you have a job to do?”
“Don’t you?” I asked.
He lifted his chin up, which unfortunately gave me a clear view of his hairy nostrils. I wondered how someone so refined could forget to do a little trimming now and then. “I do whatever his lordship requires, and at the moment, he doesn’t require anything. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a little time off for myself.”
“Yeah, where is his lordship, anyway? Chuckles at the door wouldn’t give me any details.”
“The stress of his son’s disappearance and the illness of his wife have understandably taken its toll on his lordship. Mr. Shandy and I recommended he retire to his cabin in Hergotis for some restful quiet until this dreadful business has been sorted out.”
“Hergotis, huh?” I asked. “Interesting.”
“How so?” asked Quince.
“No reason.”
Quince gave me that pained smile he was so good at. “Well then, Miss Featherstone, in his lordship’s absence, is there anything I can do for you?”
“Yeah, we have to head out of town for a few days. Had to buy some horses, so we need more money for expenses.”
“You think young Edward has been taken out of Drusiel?”
“Edgar, you mean? That’s the kid’s name, isn’t it?”
Quince froze. “Yes, of course, that’s what I meant.”
“Uh-huh.” I suppose it could have been an honest mistake, but it was an odd thing to forget, considering how dedicated he seemed to Edmund. “Anyway, it’s likely he’s been taken out of town, but we won’t know for sure until we get there.”
“I see. Fortunately, I am authorized to get you the money.” He laid the pool stick down on the table. “If you’ll be kind enough to wait here, I’ll fetch it for you. Will another fifty silver suffice?”
“That should be good,” I said.
We watched him leave. Once he was gone, Lysander turned to me.
“You don’t even trust him enough to tell him we’re going to the same place as Lord Edmund?”
“There’s too many loose corners flapping around for my taste. From here on in, I want to tighten up everything. Don’t tell anyone anything unless we absolutely have to.”
“Maybe you’re getting too paranoid? This is the guy who hired us, after all.”
I shrugged. It was an old argument between us. As far as I was concerned, Lysander wasn’t paranoid enough. The truth was usually somewhere in between.
Then his eyes fell on the dart board, and he smiled. “How about a game while we wait?”
Quince returned a little later with another jingling bag of coins. By that time, I’d already beaten Lysander twice, although I still hadn’t managed to get him to put down a wager.
“So what’s with the servant turnover?” I asked Quince as Lysander took the money from him.
“His lordship is quite convinced that the Alath Guild had some help from the inside, and insisted I let everyone go.” His expression grew mournful. “You have no idea how difficult it is to restaff an entire mansion. And of course, the whole time I was looking for new staff, his lordship still expected to be waited on.”
“With only you, Shandy, and the gardener around?”
“Precisely.”
“Where is the old guy, anyway?”
“Shandy?”
“The gardener.”
Quince seemed surprised I was asking. “In his home at the back of the gardens, I suppose. Where else would he be at this hour?”
“Yeah, good point.” I kept to myself the fact that the cottage was dark. I’d check for him on our way out. “Is Shandy up with Lady Celia?”
“I assume so. He’s been tremendously solicitous of her health.”
“She getting any better?” Lysander asked.
He shook his head. “I haven’t seen any improvement.”
“We’ll check with Shandy all the same,” I said.
“Of course,” said Quince. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Yeah, actually. You know why Lord Edmund didn’t announce Edgar’s birth in the news sheets? Seems unusual.”
“I… didn’t realize he hadn’t.” Quince looked very unsettled all of a sudden. “It does seem surprising, doesn’t it.”
“Sure does,” I agreed, my eyes boring into his.
His smile curled up, but it looked like it took a lot of effort. “I’m afraid you’d have to ask his lordship why he chose to keep the news private.”
“Except he’s indisposed right now,” I said.
His head nodded with a jerk. “Just so. If you’d like, I’d be happy to ask him when he returns from Hergotis.”
“Don’t bother.” I turned to Lysander. “Let’s head upstairs and see Shandy.”