that arced gracefully up from the sitting room.
When she was almost to the second floor, Mirage stopped.
She could feel Eclipse freeze behind her. "Don't worry," she said, speaking for the first time since they had entered the house. "I think I've found something, is all."
She lifted her right foot very cautiously from the step it had just come to rest on. Reaching down with one gloved finger, she touched the nails that held the board in place. They showed patches of brighter metal as if they'd been hammered recently. And the board, when she pressed gently on it, gave beneath her hand.
Four steps in sequence showed the same. Mirage looked to Eclipse for confirmation; he nodded, and she stamped on the lowest one. It splintered beneath her foot without much force.
Eclipse moved up beside her and examined one of the fragments. "Termite damage."
"But not accidental." Not with those nails recently hammered in. Mirage glanced at the line of the staircase, calculating. "We were going slowly. Someone at normal speed, especially if they weighed enough—" She put one hand on the banister, heard it creak.
Eclipse bent to examine the near end of that section. "Some nails missing. This gives way, and she falls to her death. Or so our assassin friend hoped. He's running a risk, though—Tari-nakana would have looked a little accident-prone, after the horse and then this."
"But lucky for us, he didn't have a chance to come back and replace the nails and the original boards." Mirage broke out the other three damaged steps. She and Eclipse had to edge their way past the gap along the wall, but it was safer than risking that they might forget where the trap was. And the rest of the staircase was safe.
They found the upstairs destroyed.
No trap had gone off there; the chaos they found had been caused by someone searching Tarinakana's belongings. Whoever it was had been thorough, if not particularly methodical. Papers were strewn everywhere. Mirage and Eclipse picked their way through the mess, not disturbing anything yet. No part of the bedroom, bath, or study had remained untouched; even floorboards and pieces of wall had been torn out.
"Well," Mirage said at last, "someone certainly didn't care if we found
this
."
"Must have happened recently, too," Eclipse said. "Our contact would have mentioned it, otherwise."
Mirage crouched to scan the scattered papers, then picked up a single sheet. Under it lay a small pile of ash. "Whoever it was already burned at least one thing."
Eclipse glanced out the window at the rapidly lightening sky. "It's almost dawn. I say we pull back to the woods. We can watch the house in turn and get some rest, then come back when it's dark again and search this mess."
Assuming there's anything left to find
. Mirage sighed, but her interest was piqued. Who was responsible for this destruction? The assassin? Or someone else?
"Agreed," she said at last. "We'll come back at dusk."
Mirage took the first watch again, but this time she explored a bit. She never went far enough to miss anything that might happen at the house, but she did climb up to the valley's lip, to where it ended abruptly in a crumbling cliff. From there she could see down into a lower, wider valley, more sparsely forested, with fields between patches of trees. Just before noon she saw figures out there, too far to be distinguished. She guessed them to be Cousins, farming the land.
Watching them drive a wagon across the valley, Mirage found herself grinning. People thought her one of
those
creatures? A tame pet of the witches? Not for all the money in the world. There was a reason she had chosen not to train at Cloudhawk or Stoneshadow. Mirage would no more want to be bound to a single employer than she would want to live her whole life in the same place.
The Cousins' situation seemed even creepier. In her few encounters with them over the years, they'd hardly spoken. Maybe their reticence only applied in front of strangers, but
When she was almost to the second floor, Mirage stopped.
She could feel Eclipse freeze behind her. "Don't worry," she said, speaking for the first time since they had entered the house. "I think I've found something, is all."
She lifted her right foot very cautiously from the step it had just come to rest on. Reaching down with one gloved finger, she touched the nails that held the board in place. They showed patches of brighter metal as if they'd been hammered recently. And the board, when she pressed gently on it, gave beneath her hand.
Four steps in sequence showed the same. Mirage looked to Eclipse for confirmation; he nodded, and she stamped on the lowest one. It splintered beneath her foot without much force.
Eclipse moved up beside her and examined one of the fragments. "Termite damage."
"But not accidental." Not with those nails recently hammered in. Mirage glanced at the line of the staircase, calculating. "We were going slowly. Someone at normal speed, especially if they weighed enough—" She put one hand on the banister, heard it creak.
Eclipse bent to examine the near end of that section. "Some nails missing. This gives way, and she falls to her death. Or so our assassin friend hoped. He's running a risk, though—Tari-nakana would have looked a little accident-prone, after the horse and then this."
"But lucky for us, he didn't have a chance to come back and replace the nails and the original boards." Mirage broke out the other three damaged steps. She and Eclipse had to edge their way past the gap along the wall, but it was safer than risking that they might forget where the trap was. And the rest of the staircase was safe.
They found the upstairs destroyed.
No trap had gone off there; the chaos they found had been caused by someone searching Tarinakana's belongings. Whoever it was had been thorough, if not particularly methodical. Papers were strewn everywhere. Mirage and Eclipse picked their way through the mess, not disturbing anything yet. No part of the bedroom, bath, or study had remained untouched; even floorboards and pieces of wall had been torn out.
"Well," Mirage said at last, "someone certainly didn't care if we found
this
."
"Must have happened recently, too," Eclipse said. "Our contact would have mentioned it, otherwise."
Mirage crouched to scan the scattered papers, then picked up a single sheet. Under it lay a small pile of ash. "Whoever it was already burned at least one thing."
Eclipse glanced out the window at the rapidly lightening sky. "It's almost dawn. I say we pull back to the woods. We can watch the house in turn and get some rest, then come back when it's dark again and search this mess."
Assuming there's anything left to find
. Mirage sighed, but her interest was piqued. Who was responsible for this destruction? The assassin? Or someone else?
"Agreed," she said at last. "We'll come back at dusk."
Mirage took the first watch again, but this time she explored a bit. She never went far enough to miss anything that might happen at the house, but she did climb up to the valley's lip, to where it ended abruptly in a crumbling cliff. From there she could see down into a lower, wider valley, more sparsely forested, with fields between patches of trees. Just before noon she saw figures out there, too far to be distinguished. She guessed them to be Cousins, farming the land.
Watching them drive a wagon across the valley, Mirage found herself grinning. People thought her one of
those
creatures? A tame pet of the witches? Not for all the money in the world. There was a reason she had chosen not to train at Cloudhawk or Stoneshadow. Mirage would no more want to be bound to a single employer than she would want to live her whole life in the same place.
The Cousins' situation seemed even creepier. In her few encounters with them over the years, they'd hardly spoken. Maybe their reticence only applied in front of strangers, but
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