Doppelganger (22 page)

"Beautiful," Miryo murmured, momentarily entranced by the sight. The Cousins, as usual, said nothing.

The vantage given by the ridge was deceptive; it was nearing full dark by the time they passed through the gates and into the bustling evening activity of the city.

Haira was not a place that went to sleep with the sun, particularly not in the summer, when the nights were pleasant. Hawkers continued to cry their wares, often in Miryo's face, and the taverns and gambling halls along this main road overflowed with light and laughter. She debated dismounting to lead her horse, but there were other mounted people in the streets, and she feared being crushed by the crowd if she went on foot. This was a far cry from Star-fall, or the rural quiet of the previous days.

A woman careened out of a doorway to Miryo's right and almost fell under her horse. Miryo grabbed the woman's arm to pull her to her feet, and got drunken thanks in return.

"Tell me, where can I get a room?" she asked the woman, although by the looks of her she'd had enough beer to forget her own name.

The woman peered up at Miryo and grabbed the stirrup to steady herself. Miryo's horse sidled until she controlled it. "North," the woman said at last, having finished her examination of Miryo's face. "Not around here. In the bit between the Nuna and the Tufa. We like to keep our gambling and our housing separate, here." She grinned, and Miryo saw that she had lost two teeth at some point in her life. "Want me to show you?"

Miryo agreed warily. Having a guide through this crowd would be useful, but she knew that such offers were sometimes traps.
Well, if it comes to a scuffle, that's what I have two Cousins along for
.

The woman took her horse's bridle and began to lead the animal deftly through the streets. Miryo checked back periodically to make certain neither of the Cousins had gotten cut off by the crowd, but mostly she watched the woman for any sign of trouble.

She'd be a fool to try. No one knows I can't use my magic. All the people here look at me and see a witch. With two Cousins who, by
their
looks, are quite competent with their swords
. Miryo shivered, although the air was warm.
Mother, I do hope they're competent. I assume they are, and if I'm wrong, I
don't
want to find out in the middle of an attack
.

They soon left the main crush behind, and
Kan
and Sai moved up closer to Miryo's sides. She began to breathe easier. The streets they were on were less crowded, but not deserted. It didn't feel like they were headed into an ambush.

A bridge loomed in the uncertain light ahead. The
Tufa
River
rushed underneath, white-capped and energetic. Miryo's guide had released her horse's bridle; now she gestured for the three of them to follow her over the bridge. On the other side, they found themselves amid buildings with signs marking them as inns.

"Here you are," the woman said, indicating the buildings with a sweep of her arm.

"Any recommendations?" Miryo asked, having decided the woman was not a thief.

She shrugged. "I live here. I don't know." She scanned the street less drunkenly than she had Miryo's face a while before. "That one over there, I've heard it mentioned once or twice. Decent food. I could use a bite myself."

Miryo looked to the one she had indicated, THE DANCING FLAME, the sign read, with a cozy hearth painted above the words. She glanced back at
Kan
, who shrugged. Sai looked blank.

"Sounds good," she said at last.

Neither room nor food was too expensive, and by the time their bags were upstairs, the woman had ordered supper for all of them, a dish of rice mixed with vegetables. Miryo poked through hers cautiously, then took a bite; it was acceptable.

"What's your name?" she asked the woman, who was devouring her own food at a good rate.

"Anthia," she mumbled, wiping a drip of sauce off her chin.

"Thank you, Anthia. Are all of the folk here so helpful?"

The woman swallowed and flashed a quick grin at her. "Some of them. You kept me from falling under your horse, and so saved me from bruises, maybe broken bones. I figured you deserved something in return."

Miryo gave her a sharp look. Her voice had cleared of its slur with remarkable speed. "Somehow," she said, "I don't think that's quite true."

Anthia looked puzzled.

"You're not as drunk as you pretended to be. And you weren't as off-balance as you looked; I could tell that as soon as I grabbed you."

Anthia saluted with her mug of cider. "Sharp of you."

"So the question is," Miryo said, studying the woman closely, "did you fall into me on purpose, and if so, why?"

A shrug. "I wanted a better look at you, and it seems less strange if you pretend to be drunk. Drunk people act oddly."

"Why did you want a better look?"

Anthia gave her a half grin and took a sip of cider. "Tell you later."

"Tell me
now
," Miryo said.

"Not here," the woman said, still with that half grin, and flicked her eyes toward the few other patrons in the room.

Miryo stood. "Upstairs, then."

The Hairan seemed about to protest, but
Kan
had her arm by then, and propelled her firmly up the stairs.

Up in the room,
Kan
and Sai bracketed Anthia, but not too threateningly. The Hairan leaned against the wall and seemed much more amused than she had any right to be.

"I must say," Anthia murmured, looking at the Cousins on either side of her, "I didn't expect
this
out of you. I must be getting careless in my old age. Most people take far longer to get this paranoid."

"What are you after?" Miryo asked, her voice hard.

"Haven't you checked yet?" Anthia asked, cocking her head to one side.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Odd," Anthia murmured, her eyes narrowing. "Well, you look wet behind the ears still; you must not be in the habit yet." Abruptly Anthia was gone, and in her place stood a younger, cockier-looking woman with red hair and a triskele pendant.

"Oh, Lady," Miryo murmured, sitting down hard on the bed.

"No, Terica's the Lady here. I'm Edame, adviser to her and her Lord husband."

"Miryo," she replied, standing once more. "I didn't realize."

"You weren't meant to. That was the point of the illusion. A tip, oh green one: If someone seems odd, check them for any kind of magic. Sometimes it'll be a fellow witch in disguise. Sometimes it'll be someone spelled by a witch, for any one of a number of purposes. Sometimes it'll just be somebody odd. But it's always good to know."

Edame didn't look much less green than Miryo herself; if the woman was a day over thirty, Miryo would eat her shoes. How she had gotten to be adviser to the rulers of a domain was a mystery, but Miryo recognized her name and knew she wasn't lying. "I'll keep that in mind. Now, what exactly
were
you doing?"

The witch shrugged. "The more feckless of Lord Mimre's two sons was gambling in that hall tonight. I was keeping an eye on him, at my Lord Iseman's request. Then, as I was leaving, I saw you, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to investigate what a sister of mine was doing in town."

She's as prying as Morisuke
—
and she's not even a Head
! "Well, my business is my own."

"Certainly," Edame said easily. "Still, can I offer you lodgings at the keep? The beds up there don't have lice."

"Kind of you, to point me to an inn with lice."

"All of the inns have them, except for the ridiculously expensive ones patronized by fat merchants. And even some of those."

Miryo found herself glancing at
Kan
and Sai. Both of them had on their usual faces, impassive and wary, but neither seemed to see a danger in the offer. Miryo didn't see any, either. And it would be good to save the money. "All right."

Edame nodded. "Excellent." She gestured perempto-rily for the Cousins to take the bags. "Let's not waste any time; it'll take a while to get to the keep."

The Fire Hand took them through the northern and southeastern districts rather than fight the crowds in the southwest again. The central keep was just south of the fork in the river, nestled right up against the bank.

Not much of a "keep
," Miryo thought, looking up at it.
I don't know much about warfare, but it doesn't look very defensible to me. Not with buildings crowded right up against its walls. I guess they're not worried about an attack
.

Edame roused a pair of stable boys to care for the horses and swept right on into the keep proper. Miryo tried not to scurry at the woman's heels, but she had a very swift stride. They whipped through one high-ceilinged hallway after another until Edame stopped dead and made an irritated noise. "Blasted woman. I can never find her when I need her." She sang a quick seeking spell, then set off again at the same brisk pace. Miryo felt the power move—primarily Air, and little enough that Edame didn't need a focus to handle it—and swallowed. Narika's warning was becoming more real to her. She
wanted
to be able to do what Edame had, wanted to disguise herself and find people she was looking for with the power that was her birthright.

Not yet
, she said to herself, and gritted her teeth.
Not yet
.

She didn't realize how grim her expression had become until they came across Edame's target, and the woman flinched visibly at her look. Miryo smoothed her face hastily and attended to what the Fire Hand was saying.

"I
know
you don't have anything prepared," Edame said impatiently. "But you can put something together, surely. We're always housing visitors here. This is the domain capital, for Crone's sake! Don't tell me that you can't find a room for one of my sisters!"

The woman set her mouth in a sour line and managed a grudging curtsy. "I shall see to it, Edame-nai. If your guest could wait in the small salon, I shall send a servant to her shortly." Then she retreated, back stiff, before the witch could say anything further.

Edame made another sound of vexation. "I swear, that woman lives to make my life difficult. She hates me."

Miryo shot her a startled look.

Edame noticed; her scowl vanished, and she grinned at Miryo. "Lionra's really not that bad. I just give her a hard time. Come, I'll take you to the salon."

They had barely settled themselves on the comfortable divans in the salon when, as if summoned by magic, a servant appeared with iced fruit juice. Edame waved him away as soon as he was finished pouring. Then, toying with the stem of her goblet, she eyed Miryo. "I never did accomplish my original goal, did I? What
are
you in town for?"

Miryo sipped her own juice to buy herself time to think. Edame continued to watch her intently, which did not make it any easier. "Well," she said at last, taking a gamble, "I'm afraid you're just going to have to live with your curiosity."

Edame looked sour. "In other words, you're not going to tell me." Miryo nodded, and she sighed heavily. "You, I think, are trying to take all the fun out of my life. I bet you're going to end up in Air. You've got their habits already."

Miryo tried not to breathe a visible sigh of relief. Judging by her behavior so far, Edame was mercurial enough that she might have reacted much worse. How someone so seemingly unstable had gotten to such an important position was baffling.

"I'm assuming," Edame continued, "that you're not in a Ray yet. Yes?" Miryo nodded. "I thought so. You don't look as overwhelmed as most of the newly fledged do, but you've still got that faint air of 'just out of Starfall.' Whatever you're doing, enjoy this while you can; after you join a Ray you might not get to wander around very much. Unless you do pick Air, of course. Do you have any idea what you'll choose?"

The torrent of words was hard for Miryo to sort through, as tired as she was. She stifled a yawn and forced her mind to focus. Just because Edame hadn't pressed her earlier question didn't mean she wouldn't still try to get information.

"Not really," she said as soon as the threat of the yawn had passed. "I have quite a while before I need to choose."

"Wise child. You can change Paths, you know, although some Rays are more lenient about that than others. But I'd have to ask a Void Head to remember the last woman who convinced the Primes to let her switch Rays. They
really
don't like letting you do that. So be certain you know which one you want before you commit. Take the whole time if you have to, but be certain."

Miryo sipped her juice and wondered if Edame regretted her own choice. She certainly didn't seem to have the temperament for playing at politics—but she
was
a domain adviser.

She did not get a chance to investigate this. A servant entered then and curtsied. "Katsu, Nai, if you will follow me, the room is ready."