Page 28 of Quest of Fools

"Old snobs, the kind that vow their ancestors helped to build the city, so on and so forth.There are rumors the good earl has at least one lover, possibly more.Lady Willow is said to amuse herself sleeping with the odd servant, mostly chamber maids.The heir is much like the father, and there's a sister who lives abroad, I don't recall where.All the usual gossip, I'm afraid, nothing that stands out."

Warf sighed."That's about what I expected."He smiled faintly."You seem to know all the ins and outs of High City."

Kaltin shrugged his good shoulder."You can't help but pick up the information when you're sent running around the city all day, or waiting endlessly for parties to end, running errands and delivering messages.I also enjoy it, after a fashion, knowing all the bits and pieces that keep the High City running like a gaudy clock.Servants are invisible, you know?So I hear a lot, gettolda lot, because telling a servant something isn't the same as telling a real person."He laughed sourly.

"Know a bit about that," Warf said quietly."My size makes people think I'm stupid the moment they see me.I'm just the dumb grunt who moves crates and barrels all day.Not a single real thought or feeling in my head.Was surprised they didn't contrive a reason to disqualify me from the tournament."

"Oh!That I know!"Kaltin said, brightening."It's because the royal family takes the Tournament of Charlet so seriously.Like, ridiculously seriously.If they catch even a whiff of someone trying to cheat or manipulate the games, the consequences are no trifling thing.Not just during the tournament either, they keep an eye on things in the years leading up to it.No one catches everything, of course, but you should have seen what happened to some of the families whowerecaught."

"That doesn't bode well for the winners."

"They'll keep an eye on that too.It's one of the reasons for the three month trial period before the marriages actually take place.Most of High City I could give a toss about it, but I've never heard anything bad about the royal family, save from the spiteful bastards mad they got caught and called out."

Warf smiled."That makes good hearing, as one of my oldest friends is marrying Prince Isambard."

Kaltin's face lit up."You mean Rath!The way he told them off about the money in the first challenge!I heard crazy rumors he fell off a cliff saving a boy for another challenge and utterly charmed the king and queen.He was so brave that last day, when he showed up covered in blood.They tried to stop him, even kill him, and he still fought them off and showed up."

"Rath has always been that kind of person, though he'd tell you otherwise.If anyone deserves to become royalty, it's him."

They slowed to a stop as they came to a fork in the road.Off in the distance was a slow-moving cart surrounded by sheep.Warf sipped from his waterskin and looked around in hopes of seeing Viletti, but there was still no sign of her.Hopefully she was just having poor luck in the hunt, because he had no idea how they'd find her if something else had gone wrong.

He and Kaltin waved politely to the men on the cart as they rolled on by with their little herd of sheep.The girls would love it out here, with the endless green and endless sky, so many ways to play that simply didn't exist in the city.

Were they all right?What would happen if one of them got hurt or sick, and he wasn't there?He'd already lost too many loved ones to illness; if one of his children died while he was too far away to know, Warf would lose his fucking mind?

The sound of a horse moving quickly drew his attention, and he turned his own horse to see a figure racing toward them—Viletti.Relief ran through Warf."There you are."

"Sorry to take so long.The rabbits werenotcooperating today," Viletti said."I've got four of the bastards, though, all properly dressed.We can cook it all up tonight and have food good for a couple of days.Shall we get going?"

"Yes, and thank you for doing that," Warf said, as Kaltin heeled his horse into motion and led them along the leftmost path and into the woods they'd been riding parallel to all day.

It was chillier there where the sun couldn't reach, with only patches of it slipping through to dapple along the road."Surprised we haven't seen more people."

"This time of year they're all starting to focus on settling in for the winter.Less travel, more bulking up stores and firewood.Not sure what was happening with that man and his sheep," Kaltin replied."Maybe off to slaughter, especially since they haven't grown out their coats enough to survive winter.Hmm."

Warf cast him an amused look."You seem to know at least a little about just about everything."

Kaltin froze, flushed, and looked away with a weak, sheepish laugh."I like to keep busy, and I pick up things.I think I've read every book that Her Ladyship owned."

"Wasn't an insult.I think it's admirable.I'd give anything to have learned to read, learn more of the world than I'll ever be able to without that skill."

"I can teach you to read," Kaltin said."You'll likely never be an academic using obscure words that nobody but them understands, but we can get you fit for general correspondence."

A pang twisted in Warf's chest, a desperate longing that those words could be true.He was too old to learn such a thing, though, and knew it."That's kind of you, but I think we've more important things to worry about right now."

Kaltin's gaze lingered on him, but he only nodded and turned his attention back to the road.

Thankfully, they rode in silence after that, until they crested a steep hill and looked down upon a house that was larger than every house on Warf's old street combined."Who needs that much house?Is it meant for multiple families?"

"Multiple generations of a single family, if you want to get particular," Kaltin said."If you think it's ostentatious now, wait until you see the inside.I've yet to meet a duke or duchess that had good taste."

Behind them, Vitelli made a strangled noise like she'd tried to muffle her laughter and nearly killed herself in the process.Giving up, her laughter spilled through the air, down into the valley below."You're not wrong, Master Kaltin, but I don't advise saying that where they can hear you."

"I'm stupid, but not that stupid," Kaltin said with a snorting laugh of his own."Shall we?"

Only minutes later they had reached the house, where it wasn't hard to see evidence of recent visitors, from earth torn up by speeding horses to the door someone hadn't bothered to properly close and a dropped handkerchief soaked in mud and rainwater.

Dismounting awkwardly, Warf crouched to retrieve the handkerchief.It was plain, trimmed around the edges in dark blue ribbon, and letters sewn into the corner.He thought they were M and W, but could not be remotely certain.That blue, that he knew; Marian had used the very same kind of handkerchief to staunch his bloody nose."This is Marian's."Despite its filthy state, he bundled it up and shoved it into a pocket."If only we'd been able to catch up to them here."He waved off the apology Kaltin started to offer."This isn't your fault.Lady Clarkson is the only guilty party in this mess.Come on, we'd best look inside and see if there's anything worth seeing."

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