Bruni spent more time with the veiled maidens, but learned very little of interest. They had plenty of idle gossip, none of which we could use. I gave up on that particular effort, focusing instead on becoming useful to Dashski. If he let his guard down around me, I might get close enough to kill him.
He never let me near enough to get past the black-crow soldiers, but he did seem to grow used to my presence. One afternoon he was planning the seating chart for a dinner with Rodland, the merchant-lord of Tala Rama. I saw Dashski preparing to seat his guest incorrectly, and I intervened.
“You actually want his wife to your right,” I said. “And put Lord Rodland on your left.”
Dashski looked up and frowned at me. “Wouldn’t he want to sit with his wife?”
“Probably. That’s why you sit betwee
