And Yet...

Yes, the girl had angered him. She was far too forward - almost impertinent - for her conduct to be fitting for a scion of a compatively minor House on the brink of extinction, especially when one took into account that she was both female and inexperienced. He did not believe that her allegation of a plot to keep the Queen childless had any foundation in fact; any enemy of the Jackals - and they had many - could have fabricated the letter she had shown him. And yet the allegation was too serious to just ignore if there was even the smallest chance of its being true. He took his quill from the inkwell, and began to write a letter to his agent in Caemlyn.

The pirates were being held in several cells within Duke Barnabas's dungeons, pending their probable turning over to the Hespan navy within a few days. [15519] Escorted by the head jailer, Rowena went along the passageway to each cell door in turn, to talk to that cell's occupants through the grille in the door. She tried to ignore the mingled stench of dirt, sweat and worse things; these were men who rarely bathed even at the best of times, and the dungeon's sanitary arrangements did not extend beyond slop-buckets.

The problem she had now was that of how to persuade the sullen prisoners that it was worth their while to talk to her. She knew that she was not permitted to offer them money. Should she tell them who she was, and hint that she might have sufficient influence with the Duke to prevent their being handed over to the Hespans? That would not be true, of course, but was this the time to have moral scruples?

1. One way or another, Rowena managed to gain some useful information.
2. Rowena could find out nothing. Yet another failure in a long line of them, she reflected ruefully.
3. Then, in spite of the dim light, she saw a face amongst the pirates that she was sure she recognised!
4. It is high time that we found out how Astra, Simon and Aethir have been faring.
5. But what about the mysterious midget, Tools?
6. Meanwhile, within the lands of Croix...

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