The Magehound - Elaine Cunningham [116]
"Humble!" The king's counselor sniffed. "That is probably the first time someone's listed that quality among your many virtues."
"Yet I owe my current position to my many failings," Matteo said wryly.
Cassia lifted one hand in the gesture of a fencer acknowledging a hit. "I am seldom wrong. Would you like to hear me admit that I misjudged you? Help me in this matter, and I will consider my error to be a fortunate thing."
He studied the woman's pale, serene face for signs of duplicity. "I was imprisoned in the same chamber as Tzigone. At your command?"
"Of course. The thief claimed that you had let her into the palace."
"I did not bolt my shutters," he said dryly. "Tzigone no doubt took that as an invitation. Let me rephrase my question. Would you be gratified to hear that Tzigone stole my medallion of office?"
Her intelligent black eyes narrowed as she tried to follow his meaning. "Not particularly. Speak plainly!"
Matteo took the message from his bag and handed it to her. As Cassia skimmed it, her lips thinned and her pale face turned nearly gray.
"You thought I sent this message to you, expecting that the girl would steal it?"
"A reasonable assumption," Matteo said.
"Entirely reasonable," she agreed. "Tell me, where is she now?"
"I do not know. She told me she planned to leave the city immediately."
Cassia's smile was mocking but brittle. "And you believed her? As a jordain, you are constrained to tell the truth. But surely you are not such a fool that you think everyone follows the same code?"
He met her mocking gaze and gave away nothing of what was in his heart.
"No, my lady, I am not such a fool as that."
The second note from Cassia came late that night and was not such a surprise as the first. Matteo thanked the messenger and smoothed out the parchment. Written in the counselor's emerald ink was a brief message commanding that he come to her chambers at once.
Commanding. Matteo noted this turn of phrase with deep consternation. In her first message, Cassia had admitted that she could not command him.
Perhaps now she felt differently. Perhaps he was now her hound to call. All she had to do was speak the word, and his life as a jordain was over. He could continue being an honored servant of truth as long as he was willing to place Cassia's demands above personal integrity. But what of his promise to Tzigone?
How could he learn what secrets Cassia held if he did not play her game for at least a little while longer?
It was a complex problem, and not at all like the sciences he had devoted his life to learning. With a sigh, Matteo tucked the message into his tunic and made his way through the palace to the luxurious apartment of the king's counselor.
He tapped at the door, which swung open slightly. This did not surprise himafter all, Cassia was expecting him.
Softly calling the jordain's name, he eased into the room. The sight before him stopped him cold. Cassia lay on the floor, her pale face a sickly bluish gray and her black eyes bulging.
Matteo knelt beside her. Her skin was cool to the touch.
He guessed that she had been dead for several hours. The cause of death was immediately apparent. A silver chain had been twisted tightly around her neck so that it dug deep into the skin.
For a horrible moment, he thought the pendant was his.
He gingerly reached out and turned the small silver disk.
The markings on the back was the emblem of Cassia, jordain in the service of King Zalathorm.
Matteo's sigh spoke of relief and self-reproach. Why did his first thought go to Tzigone? She had said she would leave the city, did she not? She agreed to let him get the information from Cassia. And never had she given him any reason to think of her as a murderer.
But what of the crimes Cassia hinted at? Tzigone was an admitted thief.
What else might she be?
The need to know raised him to his feet and prompted him to invade the counselor's study. Matteo carefully went through Cassia's writing table, and then went through the shelves, book by book. He checked for