Page 19 of The King's Man 4

“Dimos, of course.”

I visit all the vitalians in the city, carrying the handkerchief alongside mounting frustration. None can firmly identify the scent. Swiftleaf, earthbloom, thundergrass—these are all familiar, but the other components elude them all. By nightfall, my search ends on a final shrug and closed door.

I meander as I think through an encyclopaedia of possible herbs and their possible combinations with the known elements... I’ll look through my books—

“Oof. Sorry.” I lift my head to the man I’ve ploughed into. “Eparch Valerius!”

The eparch straightens himself and takes me in. He’s not wearing his uniform; his fine but dark attire had made him difficult to see.

“Ah, Prince Nicostratus’s friend. No harm, no harm.”

Behind him, a few dozen yards away, is a spectacularly decorated house brimming with laughter. Men in various states of drunkenness mill outside, ornately dressed ladies fawning over them and encouraging them in. Hinsard’s infamous dance house.

Eparch Valerius notices my glance, lifts a pouch from his waist, and laughs. “They’re more generous when they’re drunk. Anything for donations.” He laughs and clamps a hand on my shoulder. “Have you received your invitation to the drakopagon match? Soldiers against the nobles. I’ve shamelessly asked Prince Nicostratus to play alongside me.”

“You’re playing yourself? Against soldiers? Would that be much of a game to watch?”

He smiles. “Don’t underestimate us on a pitch. We’re born playing the sport.”

Fair. The nobles I saw play in the royal city had been rather ruthless... “When is it?”

“Two days, midday, in the outpost training fields.” He starts to move on and only then my brain catches up with me.

“Just a moment.”

He turns with a pleasant smile and an expectant expression.

“Thinking Hall has a library, may I have permission to visit it?”

“Your soldad will give you access to any library.”

My soldad. Currently in Quin’s hands—swinging from his belt as if to taunt me. I grimace and thank him. He turns away, throwing over his shoulder a reminder that I can use my soldad to join the Medicus Contest if I find a team to join.

While contemplating how best to ask Quin for the soldad back, I catch sight of a white lace robe. My senses prickle, and I pivot towards the lights and heavily perfumed women. Is it her white robe that I always see? If so, why was she at the outpost? Why again was she at the sanctuary?

A silk scarf flutters around my neck and I’m swept deep into the house on a wave of perfume and giggles. It’s a fight to scan the rooms as I pass. No white.

I’m led into a curtained nook and steered to a table. A jar of wine lands in front of me, and whispers fill my ears.Haven’t met such beauty in years. Your bright blue eyes! That blonde hair! Flawless skin, so soft!

I resist a pair of lips heading towards my cheek and gently push the dancer back, tucking a coin into her hand, and then the others’. “I’m not here for company.”

Three women giggle behind fans, and one of them calls for ‘Sparkles’.

“Sparkles?” I ask.

“Ariadne Aureliana. You’ll understand when you see—there she is.”

An elegant woman in a sparkling dress and sparkling earrings and a sparkling headpiece sweeps into our nook and takes me in with a sparkly smile. “Another one after information? What do you want to know?”

I shake my head. “I—” The curtain stirs and I glimpse two figures walking past the nook. Commander Thalassios, and the other—my figure in white lace.Her face turns in my direction; half is covered by a delicate mask. My figure in white lace is the mysterious Eparchess Juliana.

“You’re curious about something,” Sparkles says.

I down three shots of startlingly strong wine. Should I follow further? Or find Quin and share my suspicions?

I slide past Sparkles and the others and down the hall; it takes only a few moments before I spy the commander and Juliana entering a room upstairs. Finding Quin will take too much time. They might’ve left by then.

My hoard of dolled-up entertainers tug my sleeves, halting me at the bottom of the stairs. “Only important guests and performers can enter that room.”

---