Page 125 of The Priory of the Orange Tree

This belongs to you, child, he had said, even as he had ached to take it.Your lady grandmother gave it to you.

I think it was supposed to be for you. I would like you to have it. Only write to me and tell me if you work out what it means.

He had never been able to send her good news. Based on the script and material, the fragment was certainly from the ancient East, but that was all Jannart had gleaned from it at the time of his death. Years had passed, and still Niclays did not know why he had been clutching it on his deathbed.

He rolled it now, carefully, and slotted it into the ornate case Eizaru had gifted him. He dried his eyes, breathed in deeply, and openedThe Price of Goldonce again.

That evening, Niclays supped with Eizaru and Purumé before feigning sleep. As night fell, he crept from his room and put on a hat that belonged to Eizaru. Then he stole into the dark.

He knew his way to the beach. Evading the sentinels, he hurried past the night markets, head down and cane in hand.

There were no lantems to betray his arrival on the beach. It was empty of everyone but her.

Tané Miduchi waited beside a rock pool. The brim of a helm cast her face into shadow. Niclays sat at a distance.

“You honor me with your presence, Lady Tané.”

It was some time before she answered. “You speak Seiikinese.”

“Of course.”

“What do you want?”

“A favor.”

“I owe you no favors.” Her voice was cold and soft. “I could kill you here.”

“I suspected you might threaten me, which is why I left a note about your crime with the learnèd Doctor Moyaka.” A lie, but she had no way of knowing that. “His household is asleep now—but if I do not return to burned that note, all of them will know what you have done. I doubt the Sea General will allow you to keep your place among the riders—you, who might have let the red sickness into Seiiki.”

“You misjudge what I would do to keep that place.”

Niclays chuckled. “You left an innocent man and a young woman to die in the shit and piss of a jailhouse, all so your special ceremony would go just as you wanted,” he reminded her. “No, Lady Tané. I have not misjudged you. I feel as if I know you very well.”

She was quiet for some time. Then: “You saidyoung woman.”

Of course, she could have no idea. “I doubt you care for poor Sulyard,” Niclays said, “but your friend from the theatre was arrested, too. I shudder to think of what they might have done to try to draw your name from her.”

“You are lying.”

Niclays watched her lips press together. They were all he could see of her face.

“I offer you a fair bargain,” he said. “I will leave here tonight and say nothing of your involvement with Sulyard. In exchange for my silence, you will bring me blood and scale from your dragon.”

She moved like a bird taking wing. Suddenly a keen-edged blade was pressed against his throat.

“Blood,” she whispered, “and scale.”

Her hand was shaking. Instinct screamed at Niclays to recoil, but he found himself anchored in place.

“You would have me mutilate a dragon. Defile the flesh of a god,” the dragonrider said. He could see her eyes now, and they cut deeper than her blade. “The authorities will do worse to you than beheading. You will be burned alive. The water in you is too polluted to cleanse.”

“I wonder if they will burnyoufor your crimes. Abetting a trespasser. Contempt of the sea ban. Putting the whole of Seiiki at risk.” Niclays gritted his teeth when her knife bit into his neck. “Sulyard will confirm what I say. He remembered your face in great detail, I’m afraid, down to that scar of yours. No one listened, of course, but if I join my voice to his . . .”

She was shivering now.

“So,” she said, “you are threatening me.” She withdrew the knife. “But not to save Sulyard. You use the suffering of others for your own gain. You are a servant of the Nameless One.”

“Oh, nothing as exciting as that, Lady Tané. Just a lonely old man, trying to get off this island so I can die in my own country.” Warmth dampened his collar. “I understand you may need some time to obtain what I need. I will be on this beach four days from now, at dusk. If you do not come, I advise you to leave Ginura with all speed.”

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