Page 59 of The Priory of the Orange Tree

Niclays swallowed. His saliva felt as thick as pottage.

Honesty be damned. No matter how far away she was, he could not implicate Truyde.

“No,” he lied. “He would not say.”

The Governor glanced over the tops of his eyeglasses. His small, dark eyes had pouches beneath them.

“Learnèd Doctor Roos,” he said, grinding an inkstick with water, “I respect your knowledge, so I will be frank. If you can tell me nothing more, this woman will be tortured.”

The woman began to tremble.

“It is not our custom to use such methods except under the most serious circumstances. We have enough evidence to prove that she is involved in a conspiracy that may threaten the whole of Seiiki. If she brought the outsider to Orisima, she must know where he came from in the first place. Therefore, she must either be in league with smugglers, which is punishable by death . . . or she is protecting someone else, someone who has yet to be revealed.” The Governor selected a brush from his box. “If she has been used, the all-honored Warlord may show mercy. Are you certain you know nothing more about Sulyard’s purpose here, or who might have helped him enter?”

Niclays looked at the woman on the floor. One dark eye stared up from behind her hair.

“I am certain.”

The moment he said it, he felt as if another truncheon had struck the breath from him.

“Take her to the jailhouse,” the Governor said. As the soldiers hauled her up, the woman began to gasp in panic. For the first time, Niclays saw how young she was. No older than Truyde.

Jannart would have been ashamed. He bowed his head, disgusted at the feel of his own skin.

“Thank you, learnèd Doctor Roos,” the Governor said. “I suspected this state of affairs, but I required your confirmation.”

When the footsteps had receded from the corridor outside, the Governor spent several minutes with his head bent over his letter, during which Niclays dared not speak.

“Your Seiikinese is very good. I understand you taught anatomy in Orisima,” the Governor finally remarked, making Niclays start. “How did you find our students?”

It was as if the woman had never existed.

“I learned as much from them as they did from me,” Niclays said truthfully, and the Governor smiled. Seizing the opportunity, Niclays added, “I am, however, very short on ingredients for . . . other work, which the long-honored High Prince of Mentendon assured me would be provided. I also fear that the honored Chief Officer of Orisima has destroyed my apparatus.”

“The honorable Chief Officer can be . . . overzealous.” The Governor set down his brush. “You cannot return to Orisima until this matter is closed. It must not be known that a trespasser was able to breach its walls, and we must cleanse the trading post to ensure there is no trace of the red sickness. I’m afraid I must place you under house arrest in Ginura while we conduct our investigation.”

Niclays stared at him.

He could not be this fortunate. Instead of torture, they were giving him freedom.

“Ginura,” he repeated.

“For a few weeks. It is best if we remove you from the situation.”

Niclays sensed the issue was diplomatic. He had sheltered a trespasser. A Seiikinese citizen in his position would be put to death for that crime, but the execution of a Mentish settler would sour the delicate alliance with the House of Lievelyn.

“Yes.” He tried to look contrite. “Yes, honored Governor, of course. I understand.”

“By the time you return, I pray all this will be resolved. To thank you for your information, I will make sure you receive the ingredients you need,” the Governor said, “but you must be silent about all that has occurred.” He dealt Niclays a penetrating look. “Is this acceptable to you, learnèd Doctor Roos?”

“Perfectly. I thank you for your kindness.” Niclays hesitated. “And Sulyard?”

“The trespasser is in the jailhouse. We were waiting for him to display any symptoms of the red sickness,” the Governor said. “If he does not reveal who helped him reach Seiiki, he will also be tortured.”

Niclays wet his lips.

“Perhaps I could help you,” he said, even as he wondered why he was willingly asking for deeper entanglement in this mess. “As a fellow man of Virtudom, I may be able to make Sulyard see the sense in confessing—if you would let me visit him before I go.”

The Governor appeared to consider this.

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