There was murky darkness, black with a hint of green. Blocky shapes. Motion flicked past, drifted back more slowly. Too dark to see, but Karskon sensed something looking back at him. A fish? A ghost?
Karskon opened his good eye.
Durily was at the window, looking out to sea. Leftward, waves washed the spike of island that had been Crown Hill. "There was grass almost to the top," Durily said, "but the peak was always a bare knob. We picnicked there once, the whole family..."
"What else do you remember? Anything we can use?"
"Two flights of stairs," Durily said. "You've seen the one that winds up the outside of the tower, like a snake. Snake-headed, it used to be, but the quake must have knocked off the head."
"Animated?"
"No, just a big carving ... um. It could have been animated once. The magic was going out of everything. The merpeople were all gone; the mainlanders were trying to learn to catch their own fish, and we had trouble getting food. Nihilil was thinking of moving the whole court to Beesh. Am I rambling too much, darling?"
"No telling what we can use. Keep it up."
"The inside stairs lead down from the kitchen, through the laundry room on this floor and through Thone's room on the lower floor."
"Thone." Karskon's hand strayed to his belt buckle, which was silver and massive--which was in fact the hilt of a concealed dagger. "He's not as big as Lion, but I'd hate to have him angry with me. They're all too big. We'd best not be caught ... unless we, or you, can find a legitimate reason for being in Thone's room?"
Durily scowled. "He's just not interested. He sees me, he knows I'm a woman, but he doesn't seem to care ... or else he's very stupid about suggestions. That's possible."
"If he's part of a were-lion family--"
"He wouldn't mate with human beings?" Durily laughed, and it sounded like silver coins falling. No, he thought, she wouldn't have had trouble seducing a young man ... or anything male. I gave her no trouble. Even now, knowing the truth...
"Our host isn't a were-lion," she said. "Lions eat red meat. We've brought red meat to his table, but he was eating fish. Lions don't lust for a varied diet, and they aren't particular about what they eat. Our host has exquisite taste. If I'd known how fine a cook he is, I'd have come for that alone."
"He shows some other signs. The whole family's big, but he's a lot bigger. Why does he shave his face and clip his hair short? Is it to hide a mane?"
"Does it matter if they're lions? We don't want to be caught," Durily said. "Any one of them is big enough to be a threat. Stop fondling that canapé sticker, dear. On this trip we use stealth and magic."
Oddly reluctant, Karskon said, "Speaking of magic..."
"Yes. It's time."
)
