It was due to its location that the Ministry of Superintendence ignored what could potentially be a health hazard. What did they care if everyone in the Codpiece died from exposure to filth and disease as long as they could barricade the people inside until the disease had run its course? It had happened in the past and could very well happen again.

  Geller stuck her finger into her tankard and fished out a leaf that had fallen from the branch overhanging the courtyard. “Blasted tree. I don’t know how many times I’ve told ‘em to cut th’ damn thing down. Doesn’t give much shade in th’ heat and doesn’t hold in th’ heat in th cold.”

  Terrowyn had just forked in a mouthful of sausage covered in egg when she heard the distinctive three-whistle tone that she only used to get Ghost’s attention. Surprised, she swung around and searched the rooftops, hoping to see Ghost’s lively eyes peering out from beneath the mop of unruly brown hair. She turned back to Geller. “That’s Ghost. She’s never whistled fer me before. I’ll be back right quick. Don’t ya dare eat my sausage and eggs.”

  Geller grimaced down at the plate. “I wouldn’t even think of it. I can’t imagine what’s in that sausage. I haven’t seen old Tomer have any good meat in th’ last fortnight. Could be rat, or dog, or….”

  Terrowyn held up her hand. “Stop, stop, stop. I don’t need to hear what kind of meat ya think I’m eatin’. He spices it up real good, and as long as I don’t think about it, I’m fine.” She pivoted on her heel, ready to go find Ghost, but at the last minute, turned back and grabbed one of Geller’s uneaten biscuits.

  “Hey. I didn’t say ya can have that.”

  Terrowyn gave her a toothy grin and started down the road into the Codpiece. She walked about a block and then called for Ghost with her three short whistles. As usual, she heard the thump of Ghost’s feet as she landed after jumping off the roof before she actually saw her. There was an alley to her right, and as she peered into the dimly lit space, Ghost walked forward and motioned her into the alley. “Well, there ya are. Never heard ya whistle before, and I’m right glad ya started. I’d like it if ya started callin’ me instead of me always callin’ you.”

  Ghost grinned, but then her brows pulled down low, and she became serious. She stepped to the far end of the alley and motioned for Terrowyn to follow.

  Terrowyn stepped up next to her and looked to where she was pointing down a narrow side street. It was one that led straight to the docks, and mostly only sailors and lollies tended to walk along the uneven, unkempt cobblestone paths. “What ya pointin’ at? I don’t see nothin’ but two sailors headin’ down to th’ docks. Well, and th’ lolli.” Terro didn’t begrudge the women who had to sell their bodies to buy food, and this one didn’t look like she’d been mistreated lately.

  Ghost looked up and nodded emphatically. She pointed at the sailors again.

  “What? Did those two nobs do somethin’ to some pidge or skelli? Or to th’ lolli? Or you? Use yer words, Lass. If I need to talk to them, they’re getting close to th’ docks, and I don’t have time to do a guessing game with ya.”

  Ghost looked down and scratched her cheek while she thought about how to say what she needed to say. She looked up and pointed at the men again. Then she pointed directly at Terrowyn’s chest and said, “Use yer words…t’ nobs.”

  “You want me to talk to th’ nobs, but you can’t tell me why? They didn’t hurt a pidge or skelli?”

  Ghost shook her head and ground her teeth in frustration. When Terrowyn had first come back to deadnight after her visit, one of the first things she’d done was seek out Ghost to see if maybe she’d seen what had happened in the alley. It was a long shot but had been worth a try.

  Ghost hadn’t seen anything, and she’d said so at the time. But a short while ago, she’d overheard the two nobs saying something she didn’t quite understand. But she’d heard the words fight and Blade and shiv and thought maybe it was something Terrowyn needed to hear. “Fight.”

  “Th’ two nobs got into a fight?”

  Shaking her head, Ghost tried again. “Use yer words t’ th’ nobs. Fight.”

  Terrowyn tried to piece together what Ghost was saying. “You want me to talk to them about a fight?” The thought struck her like a lightning bolt to the head. “Th’ fight in th’ alley? Th’ one I was asking about?”

  Ghost enthusiastically nodded. “Aye!”

  Terrowyn didn’t waste any time. She ran back to the other end of the alley and waved at Geller, asking her to come.

  Knowing Terro never asked for help without an excellent reason, Geller immediately abandoned their food and came at the run.

  When the Prime was nearly at the opening to the alley, Terrowyn ran back to the other end. Ghost was just shimmying over the edge of the roof, and Terrowyn called to her. “Ghost!” She reached into her pocket, and when Ghost stuck her head over the edge, Terrowyn lobbed the biscuit up to her. “Ya did good, Ghost.” She was gratified to see the grin on the child’s face before she disappeared over the edge of the roof.

  Having rewarded her little skelli for a job well done, Terrowyn took off running without any explanation to Geller. Geller had worked the streets long enough to understand the need for speed and didn’t ask any questions. They caught up to the two nobs who’d almost made it back to the docks. “Wait, we need to talk to th’ two of ya.”

  The sailors turned, surprised to see two Temple Blades running towards them. They looked at each other, wondering whether they should make a run for their ship. No one wanted to get mixed up with the Blades, especially at this time of the morning. The older one put a hand on the younger one’s arm and said, “Wait. We ain’t done nothin’ wrong. Let’s see what they got to say.”

  Terrowyn didn’t waste any time. “Were th’ two of ya talking about th’ fight in th’ alley two fortnights ago?”

  The younger lad shifted nervously, and the older one hesitated before answering, “Aye… we didn’t mean nothing by it. Just talk is all.”

  “And what was this, ‘just talk’ about then?”

  “T’weren’t nothin’, Guard Lady. We was just watchin’ a couple of yer Blades and some shivs inside th’ Rusty Barnacle. We just thought….” He stuck his hands in his pocket and shrugged.

  “Ya thought what?” Terrowyn’s impatience to find out what they knew gave her words more bite than she intended.

  The younger nob glanced out from beneath shaggy bangs at the older one. There was fear in his eyes now, and he was close to running no matter that his friend thought they should stay.

  Geller put her hand on the senior guardian’s shoulder to quiet her. “Yer not in trouble, lads. We just want to know what ya heard, and what ya tell us won’t get ya in any trouble neither.”

  This seemed to calm the men, and the younger nob found his voice. Even though it was shaky, there was a note of confusion in there as well. “We just couldn’t figure why th’ older Blades was buying that coward her drinks and food. They was pattin’ her on th’ back and—”

  Terrowyn knew when she was coming up on something important, and her heart practically leapt into her throat. “Wait. Ya said th’ coward?” Once again, Terrowyn’s eagerness made her words come out clipped and angry, and she involuntarily took a step closer.

  The lad blushed, looked at the older man, and took an equivalent step back.

  Geller stepped in again. She was more than a little confused because she knew for a fact Ailith was still confined to the stables. “Look, lads. I told ya that what ya tell us won’t get ya in any kind of trouble. Which one was th’ coward? And why do ya call her that?”

  The older one found his voice again. “I, well, that young shiv what run from th’ fight.”

  Terrowyn tamped down her growing sense of urgency. “Which fight?”

  “Th’ one in th’ alley, where that Blade were killed and that other shiv, she were like a demon she were.”

  The younger man nodded emphatically. “I’ve never seen no one twirl and slash and kill th’ way she done. I’m no talkin’ about th’ one they was buyin’ drinks fer in th’ Barnacle, that ’un took off. When th’ shiv who was crazy good with th’ sword went to check on th’ Blade, Grady here, he runs up and heard th’ Blade tell th’ shiv to go look for th’ knocks?” He scrunched up his eyes and shrugged. “Whatever that was, I don’t rightly know, but….” He wasn’t sure whether it was a name or something else, so he just let the sentence hang.

  Terrowyn stared intently at the nob. “Aye. Th’ other shiv’s name was Nox. What happened?”

  Grady filled in what he knew. “Well, I told th’ crazy good shiv I’d look after th’ Blade until help arrived. I took off me vest and wrapped it around th’ Blade’s arm real tight to stop th’ bleeding like, and when that other Blade showed up, me’n Milo here had to run fer th’ ship cuz it were leavin’ on th’ morning tide, don’t ya know?”

  Now the younger one saw that the two women were interested in the story, he was anxious to get his part in too. “Aye. And it were me who saw yer Blades pattin’ th’ coward on th’ back, and I just don’t get why you’d give her such a hero’s welcome when th’ lass ran and left others to die but... I mean, on board ship, one of us runs from a fight, and we’d be strapped to th’ mainmast and whipped ‘til we’re dead. But I guess…with yer Blades, it’s different?”

  Terrowyn grabbed the older man by the tunic and pulled him close. “And why didn’t ya come forward before this?”

  “We just docked on th’ evenin’ tide, didn’t we? There weren’t no way we could say nothin’ to no one, were there? We was sailin’ between here and Tuviste, weren’t we?”

  Without thinking, Terrowyn turned back towards the Market District, dragging the older nob behind her.

  Geller grabbed the younger lad’s arm and pulled him along as well.

  The older nob pulled back, trying to stop the forward motion.

  Terrowyn tightened her grip, intending to take him directly to Sábria.

  “Where ya takin’ me? Where ya takin’ us? Ya said we weren’t in no trouble, that we ain’t done nothin’ wrong, so where ya draggin’ us to?”

  “To see th’ Arch Priestess. She needs to hear what ya saw. Because yer right, they shouldn’t be treatin’ th’ coward th way they were. I don’t want to say more than that. I want yer story to be exactly as ya told it to me. Do ya ken?”

  “Aye, Guardian. But ya can let go of me arm. We’ll come along with ya, no worries. I always wanted to meet th’ Arch Priestess, and now I can tell me wife I done just that!”

  The younger lad called up to his friend. “Can you believe th’ story we're gonna have to tell th’ crew? No one’s gonna believe this.” When Geller released his arm, the grin he turned on her was missing two side teeth, but his eyes betrayed just exactly how excited he was to be going with two Guardians to the Temple.

  The guards at the gate brought their fists to their chests when Terrowyn and Geller approached. It was rare for men to be allowed inside the Temple compound, but since it was a Prime and Senior Guardian escorting them, they allowed them through without comment.

  At this time of day, Sábria would be in her office inside the Citadel, and Terro led the two men directly there. They climbed the stairs two at a time, and when they got to the top, Terrowyn strode directly into the anteroom where Shirin was sitting behind her desk. Terro was too excited to stand on protocol, and she blurted out, “I have what Sábria was looking for. I have to see her. Now.”

  Shirin caught and held her gaze. “You have…?”

  “Yes.”

  The news hit Shirin like a bolt between her eyes, but not wanting to let the two nobs know how excited she was to hear their news, she blinked several times before slowly rising and walking softly into Sábria’s office, shutting the door behind her.

  Terrowyn and Geller waited with the two men, anxious now that the Arch Priestess hear exactly what the nobs had told them.

  Sábria came through the door first. She stared into Terrowyn’s eyes, and when her Blade nodded, she pulled in a deep breath and collected herself. It wouldn’t do to have these two men see her as anything other than what they expected from the Arch Priestess of the Daughters of Elyon. “Gentlemen. Am I to understand that you have something you need to tell me?”

  Both men had been staring with their mouths hanging open. To see the Arch Priestess in person had rendered them speechless. The old man grabbed his cap off his head and went down on one knee. The younger man, seeing what his friend had done, knelt as well and then belatedly pulled his cap down into his lap.

  Even though Sábria could hardly contain herself, she understood that protocol needed to be observed. “Please stand. Why doesn’t everyone come into my office where we can be more comfortable?”

  Sábria and Shirin retreated through the door, and Terrowyn and Geller each took an arm of a nob and pulled them in after. Once inside, Geller looked at Sábria and asked, “Would you like me to stay or leave, Milady?”

  Sábria’s sharp gaze met and held Geller’s troubled one. She hadn’t yet forgiven the Prime for not making sure Ailith was well treated while everyone waited for Sábria’s return. On the other hand, Shirin’s argument had been on target, as well. If Geller had known, she wouldn’t have allowed any of the abuse to happen. Sábria had no doubt the Prime would have put a stop to it immediately. Relenting, the Priestess softened her gaze. “Stay, Ursuna. I assume you’ve already heard what these gentlemen have to say?”

  “I have, Milady.” Some of the tension left Geller's shoulders. “And…thank you.”

  Sábria nodded and then indicated the sofa. “Please, gentlemen, take a seat.”

  The older man shook his head. “Nai, Milady, it’s no right for us to be sittin’ in yer holy presence.” He kneaded his cap so tightly the entire thing fit neatly into one hand. “If’n it’s all th’ same to yer Blessed Holiness, we’d rather stand.”

  Sábria leaned back against her desk and crossed her arms. So much was riding on what these men had to say, but wanting to appear calm and nonchalant, she crossed her legs as well.

  Terrowyn turned to the older man. All Blades had to take classes in manners and deportment, and the irascible Senior Guardian was no exception. “Sábria, Arch Priestess of the Daughters of Elyon, these two men are Grady and Milo off th’ sailing ship…?”

  Grady supplied the answer, “The Pelican, Milady.”

  “Off of th’ sailing ship, Pelican. Grady, please start with what you saw tonight, and then we’ll move into what you saw on th’ night of th’ fight in th’ alley.”

  Realizing they might have eyewitnesses to what had actually happened, it took all of Sábria’s willpower not to react. When Grady looked up at her, she calmly lifted her brows and nodded, encouraging him to speak.

  “Well, it were me mate, Milo here, what saw what happened a bit ago. Were about five bells this mornin’ weren’t it?” He turned to his friend. “Milo, ya saw them Blades this mornin’, aye?”

  Milo nodded so enthusiastically part of his mop of bleached blonde hair flopped down over his eyes. He absently swiped it out of his face and then looked directly into Sábria’s eyes. “Aye, yer Grace.”

  She wasn’t referred to as Your Grace, but at that moment, Sábria didn’t care to correct him.

  “I elbowed me mate Grady here because I saw them Blades buy that coward shiv her drinks and food, like. They was slappin’ her on th’ back, and I don’t know, it didn’t seem right her bein’ a coward and all. Like I told yer friends here, if that’d happened on th’ Pelican, or any ship fer that matter, if someone had run from a fight, they’d be strapped to th’ mainmast and whipped to death. So, we was talkin’ amongst ourselves, me ‘n Grady, about how strange it were that th’ Temple would honor someone who ran by buyin’ ‘em drinks and givin’ ‘em food ‘n pats on th’ back an’ all. And then we was on th’ road goin’ back to th’ docks, and th’ two Guardians here stopped us.”

  Sábria’s brows lowered. “The coward? What do you mean, the coward?”

  Terrowyn looked at Grady again. “Grady, this is where I want you to go back to what happened in th’ alley.”

  “Well, a while back, Milo and me were walkin’ past th’ alley and we heard swords clangin’ like, and we saw three of yer guards, well, one were a full Blade, th’ other two had th’ gray stripes down th’ sleeves, tellin’ us they was shivs. So th’ one shiv were fightin’ one of th’ nobs, and she seen th’ Blade go down, and it’s like somethin’ went crazy inside her because all of a sudden she got this terrible look on her face, and she started twirlin’ and slicin’ and slashin’ and cuttin’. She cut down the nob she were fightin’, and then just like that…” he snapped his fingers, “…she ran over to th’ Blade what was on th’ ground and sliced up th’ other nobs like they was sharks hangin’ from a line.”

  The younger man nodded, “Aye! It were like they was sharks, and she were slicing them this way and that, and they went down, and th’ last nob, he took off runnin’.”

  Grady held up his hand, “Oh, I left out somethin’. When the fightin’ started, th’ other shiv ducked under th’ nob’s sword and took off runnin’. She left th’ rest of ‘em to die. And that’s the one they were buyin’ th’ drinks fer.”

  “And th’ food, don’t forget they was buyin’ th’ food.”

  Sábria’s arms were still crossed, and when her knuckles began to ache, she realized she’d inadvertently wadded up the material on her sleeves. “Why didn’t you come forward before now?”

  Terrowyn answered for them. “Jenx ordered—” she almost said Ailith, but changed at the last moment, “th’ shiv who’d saved her to go find th’ shiv who ran, and Grady had come over by that time to help tend to Jenx. He told th’ shiv he’d stay with Jenx, and when Soirin arrived, Grady and Milo had to run to catch their ship. They’ve been out of port ever since and just got back.”

  Sábria looked at the men. “If we took you down into the courtyard and brought the two shivs out, do you think you’d recognize which was the coward and which was the one who fought to save the Blade?”