‘It doesn’t bother you now? What Hest might say when he goes back to Bingtown?’

‘After Sedric spoke up? No. I think he will say as little as he possibly can and hope others do the same. Before he leaves, I will speak to him and ask him to give me my nullification. We can draw it up, and there are plenty of possible witnesses. It will happen quietly here. I will send my explanations to my family, and he will have to deal with his.’ She took a breath and met his gaze with clear eyes. ‘I’ve finished with him, Leftrin. Did you doubt it?’

He dropped his gaze. ‘Worst thing I ever heard in my life was him calling you “my darling”. I wanted to rip the tongue out of his mouth. Wanted to tear him into pieces with my hands and feed the bits to Spit.’

He spoke with a low vehemence she had never heard before from him. ‘My dear!’ she exclaimed, torn between shock and laughter.

‘He was frightening you. I could see that, I could feel it. I wanted to destroy anything that could scare you like that.’

‘I was scaring myself. Giving him power he didn’t really have. Just like I used to do.’ She smiled almost sadly. ‘It’s done, Leftrin. All done.’ She stood up and walked around the galley table to stand behind him. She leaned forward to embrace him and spoke by his ear. ‘I’m looking forward to sailing away with you.’

‘Won’t be much privacy aboard for a time until we off-load all those intruders in Trehaug.’ He shook his head. ‘I’ll be glad to give over the judging of the Chalcedeans to someone else. Poor bastards, caught between the mortar and the pestle. Doubt there’s anything left for them to go home to. But I’m not looking forward to having a whole boatload of them all the way to Trehaug.’

She gave him a quick kiss and as he pulled her closer, she said, ‘So perhaps we should use this quiet time well, now.’

‘I can’t be gone long. I’m off watch now, but my uncle will have more work for me. As always.’

‘Keeps you busy, does he?’ Hest was amused. ‘Probably thinks you are too young to manage your own life. That’s often the case with men who take on the care of young boys. They don’t see when they’ve become young men, ready to take wing on their own.’

Davvie’s eyes flickered to Hest’s, neither confirming nor denying that he resented Carson’s control of him. He cleared his throat. ‘I’m surprised you haven’t gone up the tower yourself to take a look around. It’s allowed to any of you. We decided that at the meeting.’

‘Indeed,’ Hest agreed. ‘But looking around from a tower isn’t the same as having someone explain the layout of the city.’ He was letting the lad do most of the talking, and he was talking himself into far more than Hest had thought he could persuade him to. Today, a visit to the tower together. Tomorrow, perhaps, a brief stroll outside. The boy preceded him up the stairs and he had a fine view of the lad’s hips and legs. He was young, younger even than Sedric had been, and even more green to the ways of the world. He’d break easily, Hest decided. Entice him with elegant and sophisticated pleasures he had never even imagined. Tempt his young hunger for adventure and worldliness. Make him see that only Hest could introduce him to that wonderful world.

‘Let me catch my breath, Davvie. An old man like me doesn’t take these stairs as easily as you do.’

The young Elderling halted obediently on the next landing. ‘There’s a fine view from here if the steps are taxing you,’ he offered. ‘You needn’t climb the whole way to the tower top.’

Hest stepped to the window and looked out over the city silently. He had expected the boy quickly to refute the notion that he was an old man. It pricked his vanity that he had not. Don’t let it show. He looked out of the window to feign interest but as his eyes took in the full extent of the city, even his worldly soul was amazed. The view from the river was no way to comprehend the vastness of Kelsingra. From this vantage, the city spread out in every direction. He saw a few collapsed buildings and scattered areas of damage but for the most part, the city seemed intact and unplundered. He could not begin to imagine the riches of the place. His eye marked half a dozen statues presiding over empty fountains. He knew a collector in Jamaillia who would beggar himself to add even one of them to his collection. He ran his fingers along the tiles that framed the windows. Each featured a dragon in a different posture. The lad saw him admiring them.

‘Oh, those are great fun. Watch!’

The boy ran his hand along the line of dragons and they cavorted at his touch. When he stopped, they froze as they were.