belonged to Kleve, who is dead. His other rings are gone, as are the fingers they circled. His body was being readied for the pauper’s fire when he was identified and given decent burning. His murderer is unknown. But take warning: Word in the city is that the father of a son is in danger usually meant for the Desert.’ ” Rohan chewed his lip for a moment, then said, “Kleve was a good man. A good friend to us. Was he here for Andrade’s purposes, do you think?”
“Yes. I didn’t want to attract attention to the baker, so I didn’t go back to his stall. But I could find him again if you like.”
“And place him in danger? No. He or this woman evidently consider this note all we need to know.” He clenched his fist around the gold circle. “Goddess—poor Kleve. It’s barbaric. They cut off his fingers—left him to die and be burned in a common pyre—”
Sioned placed both her hands around his. “Kleve was here in Waes. Kiele’s city. The woman who’s championing Masul. Whatever he found out cost him his life. There’s no other way to read it.”
Rohan moved away from her, still grasping the ring. “It’s not me they’re after—‘usually meant for the Desert.’ That implies the Merida, of course. But ‘the father of a son’?” He swung around suddenly. “Whose son are we concerned with here? Roelstra’s! But he’s already dead—so the threat—”
“Wait, you’ve lost me,” Sioned protested.
“—must be to Masul’s real father! Don’t you see it? Who could provide the most damaging evidence? A man who looked and spoke and moved like Masul, and who isn’t anywhere near dead!”
Sioned’s brows quirked up, then down. “You’re reaching,” she said flatly. “There are dozens of fathers here who have sons—”
“And only one we’re really concerned with,” he reminded her. “But how do we go about finding him?”
“Well, who would he want to find?”
“Presumably the people who’ll pay him the most money—either to talk or not to talk. He hasn’t come to us, so I think we can assume he’s looking for the latter. Who would he go to? Kiele? Miyon? Masul himself?”
“If Kiele ordered someone to murder Kleve—and I think she did—then she wouldn’t hesitate to kill this man, too. Permanent silence.” Sioned began to pace. “Who would he talk to? How familiar is he with the politics of this?”
“I don’t—”
He was interrupted by the entrance of a guard. “Your pardon, Highnesses,” the woman said. “The Princesses Pandsala and Naydra request a moment of your time.”
“Yes, of course,” Rohan said distractedly. Then he stared at Sioned. “Do you think—”
The sisters came in, and Pandsala’s first words confirmed their suspicions. “My lord, my lady, I’m sorry to disturb you, but a man came to Naydra this morning—”
“Let me guess,” Sioned told her. “He claimed to be the real father of this pretender, and wanted money to keep silent about it.”
Naydra’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”
Pandsala turned very pale and whispered, “What a fool I am!”
“You couldn’t have known,” Rohan said. “And you came to me as soon as you learned of it. Princess Naydra, please tell me what happened.”
“He said that as my father’s daughter, I should want you and yours out of Princemarch, and if I didn’t pay him—”
“You sent him away, didn’t you?” he interrupted. “I appreciate your loyalty, my lady, but I wish you’d gotten word to me at once.”
She wrung her hands together. “My lord, I’m sorry, I didn’t think he was—that all he wanted was money—”
“You were right about that part of it,” Rohan said more gently. “I don’t blame you, my lady. Please tell us everything he said.”
“He told me that he’d fathered a child on a woman married to another man, all of them servants at Castle Crag. He was part of the barge crew—I don’t remember him, but that doesn’t mean anything, really. I listened to him as long as I did only because I was so astounded at his impudence.” Naydra pulled herself together with admirable aplomb and told them as much as she knew.
The man had been tall, dark-haired, and green-eyed—as Masul was reported to be. After the barge had burned that night, he had settled for a time in Waes, then worked on various ships. Rumors this spring had brought him back, where he had been waiting for the Rialla to see what his information could get him.
“I went to Pandsala soon after he left, my lord—I was so insulted that he would
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