Page 64 of A Trade of Blood

A Tala man. Young, strong. Had a beard. Dressed like a drover or field hand.

Of course,I miserably thought to myself. This was the second time during this investigation that I should have realized who I was about to meet.

Ippeas Armenta looked up as I exited. His countenance was haggard and exhausted—very much as if he’d been up all night—and when he saw the shocked expression on my face, he sighed and said, “Well. I wondered when you’d be here.”

Chapter 17

It had been a powerfullyawkward thing to meet my sister’s betrothed the other night without any preparation—yet it was less awkward than the process of taking young Ippeas Armenta to the canton custodi office, shepherding him through its many warded walls and barred doors, and finally seating him at the small, bland table in the small, bland induction room, where common criminals, purse-cutters, and stumbling drunks were processed before being sent to the cells.

Neither of us looked at each other as Seriv went about his work, filling out the proper records and removing Ippeas’s valuables from his person. I felt rather like a medikker might when it is their friend who is forced to strip nude and shave a delicate spot before an invasive procedure. When Ana finally sat down before him, it felt like a blessing: we now had someone to stare at besides each other.

Ana smiled a particularly smug smile as she sat, as if she’d just caught a child sneaking sweets from a jar, and cheerily said, “So!”

Ippeas sighed. “So.”

“Not a very great sign for the noble and prestigious clan of the Armentas! Two of their young sons, both imprisoned in this jailhouse, both having been present when a Burav perished—if not the whole damned lot of them. I expect the washerfolk of Lacanthim have much to titter about, yes?”

Ippeas remained silent, which I grudgingly respected.

“Why not start at the beginning?” she asked. “How was it, MasterIppeas, that you came to be present at the Burav mansion on the night of the fire?”

Ippeas thought about this. He appeared to slowly deflate. “By being an idiot,” he said.

“An understandable sentiment,” said Ana. “And an accurate one, I suspect. But I will need the whole story.”

“It was a letter I got, ma’am.”

“What letter? When? From where?”

“At my drover’s station post yesterday. It was brought by scribe-hawk. Very expensive. And it was addressed to me and markedvery urgent.Was written right there on the package front.”

“Who was it from?” I asked.

“It didn’t say. Or, at least, it didn’t say thename.But it claimed to be from a servant at the Burav mansion, one who had been close to Zansay. They said they’d taken the risk of commandeering one of their master’s hawks to send me the message—because they were offering me evidence that would prove Castus was innocent.” He fumbled with a button on his shirtfront. “I had been so troubled by what had happened to Castus, you see…”

“Did you keep this message?” asked Ana.

“Ahh. No.”

“And why not?”

“The message told me to burn it once I had read it. Which, ah, I did.”

“Oh, dear,” she muttered. “So—you, I take it,believedthis message?”

“Well. Iwouldn’thave, normally,” he said slowly. “But Signum Kol here had said just the other night that he believed Castus didn’t do it. So I paid it a great deal of attention.”

Seriv turned to stare atme.

“I said I didnotsay that!” I sputtered. “I was very careful to say no such thing!”

Ana waved a hand. “Enough! That was surely not all. I feel there must be another reason you trusted this letter, sir.”

“Well. Yes. Because the message included…details. About me,”said Ippeas. He colored and looked down at his lap. “And my betrothed. Things only Castus would know.”

“I see…” said Ana. “Things only Castus would know…orZansay, I take it? For he’d tell his lover, and she would then tell this servant. Which would indicate that this servant was trusted by Zansay, at least? And thus worth believing.”

“Y-yes,” said Ippeas. He shot a furtive look atme.