Page 93 of The Tainted Cup

I RETURNED TOthe coterie and informed them of what I’d found. “Don’t use or tamper with or touch any of the bathing mechanisms,” I told Fayazi. “I frankly shouldn’t have looked into the water tank. I’ll call the Apoths when I return, and they’ll dispose of the contagion accordingly.”

For the first time, Fayazi looked rattled. “But…but how did it get in there at all? We had guards at all the hallways, and…and for the love of Sanctum, we had telltales at the entries to the estate! We made all the attendees march past them as they entered! That’s how we keep contagionout!”

“Calm,” said the axiom quietly. “Calm yourself, mistress…” Again, her hand returned to Fayazi’s arm, gripping her tight.

I considered the situation. The estate was a giant place. And despite what Fayazi had just said, I knew such a giant place would offer many points of entry—but where to start?

I remembered what Ana had told me after catching Uxos:Projecting motives is a fool’s game. Buthowthey do it—that’s a matter ofmatter,moving real things about in real space.

“How do the servants get up here?” I asked. “Do they take the same route we did?”

“They use the servants’ passages,” said the engraver. He pointed east along the walls. “The entrance is there, out of sight, but it is kept locked.”

I went to where he pointed and found a small, bland little door that had been built to blend in with the wall. I tried the knob, but it was locked tight.

“It was locked the day of the party?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said.

“And it was only unlocked before Kaygi took his bath?”

“Correct.”

“Is this the only servants’ door to this part of the house?”

“There is another servants’ door inside,” he said slowly. “Just past where we entered. But it is not well used.”

We crossed the parapet, reentered the hall, and came to the little door, which had been disguised as a stretch of wall. I tried the knob—and the door fell open, revealing a narrow, dark little passageway.

I peered at the knob. The bolt had been broken from its housing, like someone had pried at it with a length of iron.

The axiom stared at the broken knob, then turned to hiss at the engraver, “How did this escape your notice?”

I interrupted as he stammered to answer. “It’s possible the poisoner knew this door was little used,” I said. “But this must be how they came up. Does this passageway connect to the halls where the party was held?”

“Of course!” the axiom snapped. “How else might the servants move about the house unseen?”

“But much of the passageways are unlit,” said the engraver. “Servants and porters usually carry lanterns with them while attending to their duties. I’m sure they would have noticed if one of the guests was running about in the servants’ passageways with a lantern.”

I gazed into the darkened passageway. “I’d like to see for myself, please.”

They had a servant with a lantern lead me through the passageways, which were often tight and cramped. I couldn’t imagine how the Haza servants maneuvered within them carrying bundles of linens or trays of food. Yet though I moved slowly, descending always down to where the party had occurred, I could spy no sign of any trespasser’s passage—or at least, any sign that was distinguishable from the servants’ own.

The servant finally led me to the vast halls on the ground floor,where I found Fayazi and her coterie waiting forme.

She cocked an eyebrow at me as I exited. “Well? Did you find any evidence indicating how this was done? Or how that damned poison was smuggled into our home?”

I dusted myself off and tried to think. It seemed unlikely that the poisoner would have been able to improvise that trip through the passageways—which would mean they’d have to at least have known the passages existed, and where they exited.

“Signum?” Fayazi said. “Are you listening?”

“Still tracing it, ma’am,” I said. “Tell me—were these doors locked during the party?”

“Not the ones down here, no. It would have been tremendously awkward if the servants had been forced to lock and unlock doors as they went.”

“So anyone could have slipped into one?”

“Yes,” said the engraver. “But there were guards stationed in the halls. And the servants, as we’ve pointed out, would have noticed someone navigating the passageways with a lantern.”