Book 3 - Water Sleeps by Glen Cook Page A

It seems they expected you to be away
from the Palace. Evidently the attack would not have been
undertaken had they known you were here.”
    One of my touches of misdirection. I hoped it did some good.
    “That makes no sense. Where would they get that
idea?” She did not expect an answer and did not wait for one.
“Have you identified any of the burned bodies?”
    “Only three, Protector. Most are barely recognizable as
human.”
    The Radisha asked, “Chandra, how bad was the physical
damage? Do you have an assessment yet?”
    “Yes, Radisha. It was bad. Extremely bad. The wall appears
to have suffered some structural damage. The full extent is being
determined right now. It’s certain to be a weak point for a
while. You might consider putting up a wooden curtain-wall in front
of what is going to become a construction area. And think hard
about bringing in troops.”
    “Troops?” the Protector demanded. “Why
troops?” Her voice, long neutral, became suspicious. When you
have no friends at all, paranoia is an even more natural outlook
than it is for brothers of the Black Company.
    “Because the Palace is too big to defend with the people
you have here now. Even if you arm the household staff. An enemy
doesn’t need to use any of the regular entrances. He could
climb the outside wall where no one is watching and attack from
inside.”
    The Radisha said, “If he tried that, he’d need maps
to get around. I’ve never seen anyone but Smoke, who was our
court wizard a long time ago, who could get around this place
without one. You have to have an instinct.”
    The Inspector-General observed, “If the attack
was
undertaken by elements descended from the old Black Company—and the
employment of fireball weapons would suggest
some
connection, even
though we
know
that the Company was exterminated by the
Protector—then they
may
have access to hallway maps created when
the Liberator and his staff were quartered here.”
    The Radisha insisted, “You can’t chart this place. I
know. I’ve tried.”
    Thank Goblin and One-Eye for that, Princess. Long, long ago the
Captain had those two old men scatter confusion spells liberally,
everywhere. There were things he had not wanted the Radisha to
find. Things that remained hidden still, among them those ancient
volumes of the Annals that supposedly explain the Company’s
secret beginnings but which have been a complete disappointment so
far. Minh Subredil knows how to get to them. Whenever she gets the
chance, Minh Subredil tears out a few pages and smuggles them out
to me. Then I sneak them into the library and when no one is
watching, I translate them a few words at a time, looking for that
one phrase that will show us how to open the way for the
Captured.
    Sawa cleaned brass and silver. Minh Subredil cleaned floor and
furniture. The Privy Council and their associates came and went.
The level of panic declined as no new attacks developed. Too bad we
did not have the numbers to stir them up again every few hours.
    Soulcatcher remained uncharacteristically quiet. She had known
the Company longer than anyone but the Captain, Goblin and One-Eye,
though from the outside. She would accept nothing at face value.
Not yet.
    I hoped she broke a mental sprocket trying to figure it out,
though I feared she had already done so, because she kept wondering
about the burned bodies and Willow Swan. Could I have planned so
obviously that she was confused only because she kept looking for
something beyond the kidnapping?
    I finished the last candlestick. I did not look around, did not
say anything, just sat there. It was difficult to focus my thinking
away from the danger seated across the room when my fingers were
not busy. I gave praise to God, silently, as I had learned was
proper for a woman when I was little. Equal praise was due
Sahra’s insistence on staying in character.
    Both served me well.
    At some point Jaul Barundandi came back. Under the eyes of the
Great Ones, he was not an