Sword of Waters by Hilari Bell

Author:Hilari Bell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 2008-08-14T04:00:00+00:00

She cornered Edoran during their dance class the next morning, as they worked their way through an intricate set. They’d spent the first part of the lesson working on the different moves; only toward the end did they perform, or attempt to perform, the dance.

Both her dance and etiquette lessons had become easier since Weasel and Edoran joined them. Arisa’s tutors had taken the firing of their fellows as a warning, and were now genuinely trying to teach—though they seemed a bit out of practice. Her music teacher was still simply despairing, but even he despaired more politely.

She was finally learning to dance, and Edoran was good at it. In the midst of the music, with the dancing master’s orders and complaints, and the servants who’d been drafted to make up the numbers flowing around them, this was as close to privacy as she could manage.

“I want you to do some extra research for me,” she told Edoran as the dance brought them together. “You, and Weasel.”

Edoran bowed, right on the beat, curse him. Her own curtsy was half a beat behind.

“You should ask Weasel,” Edoran murmured. Both of them were keeping their voices low. “He’s the one who’s good at it.”

“Yes, but you’re…”

The movement of the dance turned him away.

“… you’re the one who can talk and dance at the same time,” Arisa finished, as the pattern brought them together. “Weasel can’t.” In truth, she wasn’t sure she could talk and dance at the same time, but this was her best chance to talk to him. “Listen, we may not have a lot of time. Katrin’s uncle, Master Mimms, owns…”

This time she was whirled off, to dance with another partner for several turns.

“Katrin’s uncle owns a tavern called the King’s Folly. I want to know if he, or someone he cares about, had any trouble with Justice Holis. A judgment that went against them, or a kinsman…”

The sequence of the dance pulled them apart again, but the grand rond was coming up and Edoran would be walking her around the circle. When they met for the beginning of that final promenade, however, he spoke first.

“You shouldn’t worry so much about your maid’s death. No one really thinks—”

“This isn’t about Katrin’s death,” said Arisa. “Or not exactly. It’s about the reason she died. And that reason probably still exists.”

They both turned around. When they were face-to-face once more, Edoran was frowning. “How can the reason she died still exist if she’s dead? Anyway, it’s not the archives you want for that kind of thing. City records stay in the court files for fifty years, before they’re passed into the archives.”

He offered his elbow and Arisa laid her hand on it. “Yes, but you could get access to the city records, couldn’t you? Without anyone finding out about it?”

“I can’t do anything without everyone knowing about it,” Edoran told her. “What do you expect me to do? Sneak out at midnight and break into the Justice Hall? Besides, I’m beginning to make progress with my own search.

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