Rillis grinned through chattering teeth. “Soon, I hope. The watch change—”
The sergeant jabbed him with an elbow. “Quiet, soldier,’ he snapped. Then, to Arvin, “I suppose you expect to see the ambassador now?”
Arvin nodded and pulled out his letter of introduction.
The sergeant took it. “I’ll let him know you’re here.”
After a few moments, he returned and opened the gate. “This way,” he instructed.
As Arvin stepped through the gate, he heard rapid footsteps behind him.
“Vin! I am so sorry!”
Startled, Arvin turned and saw Karrell hurrying toward him. She slipped her hand under Arvin’s arm, grasping him firmly by the elbow. “Please do not be angry with me, Vin,” she said, tugging him toward the front door of the residence. “I did not mean to sleep so late. When I saw that you had left without me, I hurried here as quickly as I could.” She tugged Arvin toward the residence.
The sergeant quickly blocked their way. Rillis was slower to react; he’d been gaping at Karrell. Belatedly, he stepped forward and held up a hand.
Karrell beamed a smile at him. “Was Ambassador Extaminos kept waiting?” She loosened her cloak, as if to cool down from her run. Rillis’s eyes lingered on her breasts, which rose and fell as she panted. “No, lady. He has only just been summoned.”
Arvin glared at Karrell.
She gave him a coy smile. “Come, Vin. Be thankful it’s me who is accompanying you, and not that blue-tongued she-demon. She’d only embarrass you in front of the ambassador.”
Arvin tensed at the thinly veiled reference to Zelia. He wished he’d had the cleric lock Karrell up last night, when he had the chance. What now? If he protested, she would alert Zelia to his presence in Ormpetarr.
“It’s all right,” he told the sergeant. “She’s with me.” He pinched Karrell’s arm, however, as they walked toward the door. “An introduction,” he gritted under his breath. “No more. Then you go.”
She nodded.
Rillis unlocked the front door with cold-stiffened fingers and ushered them through. He was about to close it again when the sergeant motioned him inside. “Go ahead, Rillis,” he said. “Warm up a bit.”
Rillis grinned then followed Arvin and Karrell inside. They stepped through the door into a wide, semicircular hall whose floor tiles glowed with a soft green light. A ramp, its stonework also glowing, curved up the wall on the right to doors on the building’s second floor. The wall to the left had a fireplace in which a fire was roaring; a rolled-up carpet and several boxes lay against the wall next to it. The air in the hall was uncomfortably hot and stank of spice and snake. Arvin unfastened his cloak and wiped his face with a sleeve, blotting away the sweat that was beading on his forehead. Another member of the militia—this one with wide shoulders and watchful eyes—stood just inside the door, dressed in full armor. Arvin wondered how the fellow could stand the oppressive heat.
As Rillis warmed his back at the fire, sighing his relief, Karrell moved toward what Arvin had at first taken to be a painting that rested on the mantle. He saw that it was a hollow pane of glass, filled with viscous red, turquoise, and indigo liquids that rose and fell in a swirl of ever-changing patterns.
“It’s a slitherglow,” Rillis said. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen one before.”
“It is beautiful,” Karrell answered. She held out her hands to the fire, warming them, and stared at the slitherglow as if mesmerized. Arvin shook his head. She certainly wasn’t acting like a rogue casing the residence. Her eyes should have been darting around the room, noting the exits and appraising its contents. The larger boxes, for example, probably held breakables, judging by the sawdust packing that had trickled out of the corner of one of them—ceramics, perhaps, or statuettes. And the rug was bulged slightly; something was rolled inside it. Judging by the boxes and the bare appearance of the room, the ambassador was planning a move from the residence, probably in a few days’ time. Arvin wondered where he was going.
A door at the top of the ramp opened. The militiaman standing next to Arvin stiffened, and Rillis ushered Karrell back to Arvin’s side then stood flanking her. Neither had a weapon in hand, but Arvin didn’t want to make any sudden moves. Rillis was probably new to the militia, but the second man looked tougher, more experienced—and the House Extaminos bodyguards were rumored to coat their weapons with yuan-ti venom.
