A Flight of Ravens by John Conroe (thriller books to read TXT) 📗

that showed where Welton had learned his own method of embracing.  She kissed his head and lifted her eyes to mine, the relief in them.  “We were starting to worry.”

“Busy night, Treena, but Welton was great.”

Sissa’s eyes were locked on me, her gaze metal hard.  Uh-oh.  Looked like I was in for it.

“Welton, get some sleep.  I need to talk to your aunt,” I said.  His mother pulled him deeper into the house, leaving me with Sissa.

She turned and watched them go and I suddenly felt eyes watching us.  I started to tense, but these eyes had a familiar feel.  The watcher was outside, high up, probably roof level—but not, or so it felt, hostile.  Ahh.

Sissa turned back and fixed me in her gaze like Soshi sighting a target.

“What the hell is going on?  Why would you ask me for a bunch of stuff, why was Jella on my roof, and why is my nephew out at all hours of the night?”

I sighed, shoving a hand through my hair.  Then inspiration struck.  I stepped backward two steps and waved her to follow me.  Her glare deepened but she took the same two steps I had.  We were now exposed to the night, me almost in the street and Sissa just outside her door, standing in the light spilling from inside.  Baiting my trap.

“I want to tell you,” I said, raising my voice deliberately. “But I am held to another’s confidence.  This other is… stupidly stubborn.  Gravel-headed is the term that you would use, I believe.”

Her face changed, shock flooding her features.  “You can’t mean…”

“I can’t say.  He’s… this other is worried about appearances,” I said, tilting my head to the right to listen.  A soft scraping sound from above, as of hard claw on stone.  Many buildings in Haven are roofed with slate shingles, the stone being one of the kingdom’s principal exports.

Sissa heard it too and noted my head angle.  She snapped around and stared up at the roof of the house next door—and gasped.

I looked quickly, catching just a glimpse of a furry form slipping away.  When I turned back to her, she was alarmed but watching me.

“That was a woldling!”

“That wasn’t exactly what it appeared to be.  That was a gravel-headed thing which won’t let me speak to you about it,” I said.  I couldn’t count how many times I had heard her call her husband gravel head.

Her hand rose to her mouth as understanding hit.  “How?”

“We don’t know.  Something new… Something meant to terrify us.  But something that didn’t go exactly as the Paul planned. Not at all.”

“He’s still him?”

“Inside?  Yes.  For how long?  No idea.  He was supposed to stay hidden, at his own insistence, while I brought Welton home, but curiosity killed that cat.”

Her strong face crumpled, and her eyes glimmered with tears.  I rushed in to fill the gap.  “He is terrified of what you’ll think—that you’ll reject him.”

The crumpling stopped and the wet eyes went a little hard.  “Oh really?  And Welton knows?”

“Both boys know. Both have had a chance to see and talk to him, but Welton the most.  Sissa, your brother didn’t make it—only Ash.”

“So this is why I donated my second-best scarf and two of my healing poultices.”

“Yup.  We drugged the poultices so we could get a hold of him. Your scent overwhelmed all of his professional caution. He has shown he still has his RRS abilities by leading Jella on a merry chase around the city, then when we tracked him here, his damned uncle almost killed him and he escaped.  But we found him again and used the drugs to catch him.  He woke up and became somewhat reasonable.  He helped us with a case today, with Welton at his side.  But he’s terrified of how you’ll respond.  I pushed and pushed, but he’s an idiot.  Then he gave himself away just now and there you have it.”

She studied me, her mind clearly going like a runaway horse.  The unshed tears were wiped away and she seemed of two emotions—a joyous relief mixed with a hurt anger.

“He’s always been a little worried you were out of his league.”

“We’re all out of all of your leagues,” she said, putting a hand on her hip.  “But that’s what we have to work with.  I’m mad at you.  Unbelievably grateful that you caught him and kept him alive, but I’m still mad.”

“Valid,” I said.

“Can Welton find where he is tomorrow?”

“Ash duty is Welton’s only job right now.”

“Okay then.  Good night, Savid.”

“Goodnight, Sissa Newberry,” I said.  She smiled at her last name, nodded, and closed the door.  I listened for the sound of the bolt dropping into its brackets before I headed home to the Knife and Needle.  Maybe tonight I could get four or five whole hours of sleep.

Chapter 18

I actually got a full seven hours of sleep, with nothing waking me and not a single dream that I could recall.  Dressed and armed, I headed downstairs, finding my inn already busy.

“Well, there he is,” Brin said, coming out of the kitchen.  “A message came by courier for you a half hour ago.  From the castle.  It’s in your office.  Tina, bring Savid some food and caffe, would you now?” she asked as one of our other servers came out of the dining room with a tray.

“Of course,” Tina said with a quick smile and without slowing down on her way to the kitchen.

Tina was relatively new to us—just a year or so, but she was Drew’s younger sister.  She had witnessed our formal graduation from Despair, just a little girl standing alongside her parents and grandmother as the Squadron commander had welcomed us to the RRS and issued our placement orders.

I headed into my office and found a packet secured with wax and stamped with the castle’s seal.  It was dated for today.

Captain Savid DelaCrotia,

You are henceforth summoned to attend his Royal Majesty, King Helat Warcan at the end of this morning’s court session.

Calpin Torqness,

Seneschal of Havensheart