Page 72 of Sea of Stars

The first death, Isolda knew, would belong to her youngest son, Terric. He wasn't going to take a lance through the heart or partake in illegal gambling...at least, she hoped he hadn't gotten into such things. No, his death was of a different variety. He was to take the Oath of Arwin on the final day of the tournament, and with that oath, his dreams of becoming a knight would be snuffed out.

The second death would belong to Isolda's eldest daughter, Oriana. She was of marrying age, and with so many young lords and knights coming to town, it was inevitable that a betrothal would be arranged. Whether it would be to Prince Rixin or some other noble, Isolda was not sure, but either way, the second death would be that of her daughter's childhood.

The third death...Isolda didn't know what the third death would be. She hoped it wouldn't happen at all, but if it had to, she prayed it wouldn't belong to her eldest son, Marcus. His wouldn't be the death of a childhood dream or the death of his youth. He was competing in the tournament, so if the third death belonged to him, surely it would be death in the simplest sense of the word: the end of his life.

A knock on her chamber door took Isolda out of her thoughts. A page handed her a letter sealed with the symbol of a Gargamulan man trap pressed into pale green wax - the mark of Axion Tobias Crane. She broke the seal and scanned the letter. If someone had intercepted it, they would have thought that it was an update on Tobias' tutelage of Terric. He was progressing well in mathematics and showed a great enthusiasm for history and cartography. That was good news, but Isolda suspected that the letter served another purpose. She walked over to the fire and held the paper as close as possible to it without it catching fire. Within seconds, a note written in fire ink became visible in the left margin. New Market, third alley on the left, second right, one hour. Isolda committed the directions to memory and tossed the letter into the fire.

What does he want? wondered Isolda. Tobias knew to only summon Isolda for matters of the utmost importance, which meant one of two things. Either her husband's inspectors were dangerously close to exposing the truth about one of her establishments, or Tobias had finally uncovered a clue... No, Isolda refused to let herself dream of such things.

The guard at the front gate of Vulture Keep snapped to attention at the sight of Isolda approaching.

"Good morning, my lady," he said. "I would have had a carriage and escort waiting if I had known you planned on venturing out today."

"That's not necessary," said Isolda. "It's a lovely morning for a stroll around the city."

"That it is," agreed the guard. "Just give me a moment to call for Michael..."

Before the guard could finish, Isolda smiled at him and walked through the gate. She didn't need guards to follow her around the city. She was quite capable of handling herself.

She made it across the bridge and through Sir Garus' square before she noticed the two men watching her. They were both dressed in hooded roughspun cloaks that covered them from head to toe, and by the look of it, they were both armed.

Isolda turned left and headed toward the switchbacks that divided the upper and lower halves of the city. The men followed.

The quickest path to the new market would have been to go straight at the bottom of the cliff, but instead Isolda took a left. The men followed.

Two more right turns brought her back to the main street, the one she would have been on if she had not gone left. Again, the men followed. She quickened her pace. They quickened theirs. She had no doubt that they were following her.

She weighed her options. She could turn down an alley, but they would easily see her and follow. If she ducked into a crowd...no, there were no crowds. With the tournament only a few weeks away, the streets of Arwin's Gate were more crowded than usual, but that still meant that there were only half a dozen people rather than the one or two people that would have been present a month ago. She had no chance of escaping until she reached a busier part of town.

As she approached the new market, the crowds seem to double in size with every step she took. Before construction had begun on the new arena, this part of town had been almost entirely empty, save for unsavory characters that met in crumbling buildings in the wee hours of the morning to sell crossbows, scorpium, and any other contraband they could find. But now it was teeming with merchants hoping to sell their wares to nobles coming to town for the joust and...

"Watch out!" shrieked a woman behind her.

Isolda jumped back. The wagon swerved. It went up on two wheels. Isolda thought for sure that its cargo of colorful carpets would spill out and crush a fruit stand, but the driver was able to stabilize it just before it tipped past the point of no return. He shouted a few choice words not at all appropriate for the ears of a duchess as he turned onto a side alleyway that seemed much too narrow for his wagon.

Isolda let out a sigh and looked down to make sure her foot hadn't been run over. It hadn't, but she was standing on the tail of a very angry looking squirrel. It chirped at her and scurried away as soon as she lifted her foot.

She turned to locate her pursuers and found that they were pushing through the crowd headed straight towards her. As they approached, they pulled off their cloaks to reveal black and grey quartered tunics with a golden rhino head emblazoned on the front.

"Are you harmed, my lady?" asked one of the men.

"N...no," stuttered Isolda. "No, I don't think I am. Just a bit shaken up." She let out a dramatic sigh.

The guard nodded and gripped the hilt of his sword. "How shall we handle that reckless driver? Lord Garrion will surely banish him if you'd have it so."

Isolda considered it for a moment. "I can't help but feel partially responsible. He was going too fast, but if I had been watching where I was going, it all could have been avoided."

The guard frowned. "Then just a fine?"

"If you think that's best," said Isolda.

One of the guards started off down the alleyway in pursuit of the wagon. The other stayed with her.

"Are you sure he knows where he's going?" Isolda asked. "I could have sworn the wagon went over there." She pointed at an alley further down the street.

"Are you certain?" asked the guard.

"No, but what harm would it do to check?" Isolda suppressed a smile as she watched the second guard run off into a dead-end.

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