But the carpenter surrendered some of his advantage. He stepped outside, closed the door behind him. "We aren't interested in the games being playedaround here, old man. By you or anybody else. Leave us alone."
"Qushmarrah ..."
The carpenter spat at his feet. "You're not Qushmarrah. Thieves andextortioners, torturers of women and stealers of children, claiming they speakfor Qushmarrah?" He spat again.
Bel-Sidek could not restrain his anger. It had been piling up all day. "Aaron, we've never touched a child!"
"If you believe that, you're a fool. A fool without an idea what those who owehim allegiance are doing in his name. And for that I fear you more than I fearyou for all the knives you can send in the dark. A knife can kill a man but afool can kill a city."
"Aaron ..."
"Ask yourself, if you truly believe the Living aren't stealing children, howit is that they can show a man the child that was taken from him. When youhave an answer, if you care to share it with me, you might find me moreinclined toward conversation."
Bel-Sidek did not know what to say. The carpenter was behaving so far out ofcharacter, was so upset, that anything might make him do something crazy.
"Aaron ..."
"Just stay away and leave us alone. You ignore me and I'll ignore you."
"All right, Aaron. I'm a reasonable man." And it was no time to press.
"I'm glad to hear that. If it's true. One thing I might owe you. A Dartar warrior who spent the night hiding in Tosh Alley saw a woman pass in themiddle of the night. He didn't know her. He described her as the mostbeautiful woman he'd ever seen. Dartars are strange but I don't think they'restrange enough to confuse my wife's friend Reyha with beauty. Good night."
Bel-Sidek stood there a minute after the door closed behind the carpenter, theonly thought in his mind the certain fact that the Living were losing the warof the heart even where men had the most cause to hate the conqueror.
He turned away and began to labor uphill. This might be somethinginstructional he might mention during his confrontation with the khadifas.
Azel left Muma's Place soon after sundown. A few experimental maneuvers showedhim that Colonel Bruda's men were still on him. He spotted four. That big aneffort suggested there might be more, less easily spotted. He must havestumbled good.
He took only the routine precautions of a man who did not expect to befollowed. Let them get comfortable and confident. He would shake them later, when he needed to.
He drifted into the Blessed Way, a waterfront to acropolis avenue a quartermile north of Char Street, but left it immediately. Herodian soldiers werebusy there, questioning anyone who ventured into the street. He wondered whatwas up but had no time to find out.
The watchers tracked him through the narrow ways only because he did not carewhether they stayed with him or not. They would not leam anything interesting.
Shortly before he reached the place where bel-Shaduk stayed, he did lose themsimply by stepping around a corner, then scrambling to a rooftop. He scurriedacross the tops of several houses, to a point from which he could watch belShaduk's place.
It leaked a lot of light.
Most Qushmarrahans went to sleep soon after nightfall, their working hoursdictated by economics and the availability of natural light. Ishabal's placebeing so lighted suggested that all Azel's guesswork was adding up the way heexpected.
"I thought he had better sense," Azel muttered.
The lights faded soon after he took his position. A man stuck his headoutside. He saw nothing. He came out. A whole squad, seven more men, followed.
They scattered but it looked like they had some common destination.
Azel thought he knew what that was. He set off across the rooftops, headedsouth. Easier to do that than try to follow somebody and maybe get spotted. Aslong as he'd guessed right about where they were going.
"The damn fool," he grumbled to himself. "She must have offered him afortune."
He ran into no trouble. The lords of the roofs were lying low tonight. Hewondered if that was an omen. He hoped it was just the weather. The drizzlemade the footing troublesome.
He found himself a perfect position overlooking Char Street long beforeIshabal's gang arrived. He even had time to scout his, and their, most likelyavenues of retreat.
The damn fool was going to try it.
Ought to be interesting.
He settled down to watch. His vantage was perfect, tactically, but it wasdamned wet.
General Cado went over Rose's letter for the third time, almost character bycharacter this time. Colonel Bruda stared out a window, toward the harbor, pleased that there was an overcast and an unseasonable chill. That would keepsome people off the streets tonight. Maybe the troops could be moved withoutbeing noticed at all.
Cado asked, "How much of this do you buy?"
"All of it and none of it. I think Rose is telling us the truths he believes.
That doesn't mean somebody hasn't been lying to him."
"I grow more curious about our Rose by the hour. He told me he learned tospeak Herodian when he was a sailor, before the conquest. But how manymerchants can read and write their native tongue, let alone a foreign one?"
"He's done great work for us."
"I know. I know. This is an example if only half is true." He tapped theletter, leaned forward, glared down at it. "General Hanno bel-Karba, presumeddead for six years, murdered, by witchcraft, the same night the Livingslaughtered Sullo s More-tians on the estate of the woman who believed herselfto be bel-Karba's widow. Our man Rose actually gets to see and identify thebody because by lot he gets chosen to be a guard at the funeral. Do you buythat?"
"I can't refute it. His reported movements are consistent with his claims."
"But you didn't have him under observation every minute."
"No. He's a cautious man. He takes extensive precautions routinely."
"And he says he thinks somebody is watching him and if it's us would we kindlylay off and stop attracting attention because his bosses in the Living arenever going to believe we think he's important enough to rate that muchtrouble."
Bruda smiled. "He's always been a brassy bastard."
"He's always been a bastard who doesn't add up."
"But useful."
"No matter how useful I'll never completely trust a man who won't accept acommission in the army. He's the only Qushmar-rahan agent we have who hasn'tenlisted and converted."
Bruda stared into the night.
"Keep watching him."
"I intend to. If only because I've never been able to find out who he is orwhere he came from. I have to satisfy my own curiosity."