So last time, Alec learned swordplay and backstory, while Seregil hands a forger who'd been attempting to frame him for a crime some unfinished letters...so she can frame him better?

I'm honestly not sure how this was ever supposed to work, but I can already see how it's going to go very wrong in a chapter or two.



So anyway, the chapter starts with Alec on his last morning at Watermead (Micum's house has a cool name!). He's up before dawn, but Beka's up even earlier. She's just that excited. Alec hopes they'll be able to see more of each other in the city, since Seregil's place isn't terribly far from the palace. Beka likes that, especially if Alec shows her all kinds of secret places.

It makes Alec happy to realize he actually has become pretty familiar with the city by now and CAN show her. Aw.

There's a cute bit where little Illia doesn't want Alec to go, pointing out that Beka still beats him a lot in practice. Micum points out that even being able to beat Beka SOME of the time is pretty good. And Seregil needs Alec back. Alec promises to visit again soon though.

He gets a pretty nice goodbye gift though, the Aurenfaie horse Windrunner! I may not have mentioned that Alec had ridden her last chapter. Cutely, he had felt guilty for neglecting his own horse, Patch, but he understandably wasn't going to pass up the chance to ride a fancy Aurenfaie horse. Now he has one! (And Patch too!)

There's a very sweet goodbye all around, but especially between Kari and Beka and they go off to adventure!

Actually, just to Rhiminee. But it's "Poulterer's Day" in the market, and there's all sorts of birds on display. It's pretty chaotic, but Alec is comfortable now. And even better, he spots someone familiar in the crowd!

Same protuberant teeth, sly grin, and moldy finery. It was Tym, the young thief who’d cut his purse at the Sea Market. Taking advantage of the slowed traffic by the Harvest Gate, he’d latched on to a well-dressed young man, evidently cozening him with the same tricks he’d used on Alec. A girl in a tattered pink gown clung to the mark’s other arm, aiding in the distraction.

I owe him a bit of trouble, thought Alec. Dismounting, he tossed his reins to Beka.

So Alec gets a chance to put some of Seregil's lessons to work. He sneaks in and grabs Tym's arm as he steals the wallet. This doesn't go quite as planned though, as Tym and his compatriot are not too happy with the situation:

Newly honed instincts read the thief’s sudden movement just in time. Alec caught at his wrist, halting the point of Tym’s dagger scant inches from his own belly.

Tym’s eyes narrowed dangerously as he tried to jerk free; easy enough to read the message there. The girl stepped in to screen her compatriot’s knife hand and Alec prayed that she wasn’t ready with a blade of her own. In the press of the crowd, she could easily stab him and disappear before anyone was the wiser. She made no attack, but Alec felt Tym tensing.

“We have a mutual friend, you and I,” Alec said quietly. “He wouldn’t be very pleased if you killed me.”

Alec references "A comely, openhanded fellow from over the sea, handy with a sword in the shadows" and Tym lets him go with a warning. If he'd done that in an alley, Tym would have killed him.

I like this. A lot of what Alec learns maybe comes a little TOO easy. So I like the reminder that he's still got a ways to go. I also like that Alec isn't afraid or embarrassed to call on Seregil when he needs. And my eyebrow raises a little at "comely".

So anyway, he rejoins the others and I only just now realize that Micum is with them. I'm not sure if he was mentioned before or not. But anyway, they see Beka off to the Queen's Park. Micum is worried. He admits that he wouldn't have been worried last year, but this year there's a war brewing. Micum predicts that Beka will only have about five or six months to learn the ropes.

Alec points out how far he's come in six months, and Seregil started from practically nothing with him (I don't know about that. Dragging his sorry ass across a country was pretty good!). Beka, on the other hand, already rocks at the weapon and riding stuff. Micum seems a bit reassured.

So they head into the Cockerel, where everything's rather dark and quiet. Micum manages the wards and stuff with long practice. When they reach the living area, it's even more chaotic than usual. But there's also a very sweet "Welcome Home" banner. Aw.

Seregil is here too, half asleep in a nest of cushions, books and scrolls. His cat is on his chest. He's very happy with the update that Alec is now a rocking swordsman. Especially as he has a job for Alec. A RHIMINEE CAT job.

It's "just an over-the-sill-and-out-again sort of thing" at a place called Wheel Street. Alec is thrilled. He gets another present: a tool roll like Seregil's with lots of thiefy gadgets. Seregil made them for him. Aw!

The banner, by the way, says "Sir Alec", which Micum picks up on. Apparently that's Alec's new identity. "Sir Alec of Ivywell."

“So Lord Seregil will be returning to the city in time to prepare for the Festival of Sakor, as usual?” observed Micum. “And not alone this time?”

Seregil nodded. “I bring young Sir Alec, only child and last surviving heir of Sir Gareth of Ivywell, a genteel but impoverished Mycenian baron. In hopes of giving his scion a chance in life, Sir Gareth has left his son ward to an old and trusted friend, Lord Seregil of Rhíminee.”

“No wonder he died poor,” Micum threw in wryly. “Sir Gareth seems to have been a man of questionable judgment.”

Hee.

Anyway, Seregil explains that Ivywell is a fictitious estate in the most remote region of Mycena. (The third of the three countries and the one that Alec dragged Seregil through to get to Skala, if you recall.) This has a few advantages: any unusual mannerisms or slip ups can be blamed on a "provincial upbringing", and there's far less chance anyone will ask about a likely common acquaintance.

Micum points out a third advantage: being neither Skalan or Aurenfaie, he might be a tempting target for the Lerans who want to get at Seregil himself. Something Alec calls a "jilt" - bait used to trap bigger gain.

“All right, then. You’d be our jilt. If any bears do show up, just be your sweet, innocent self, feed them everything we want them to know, and report everything they say back to me.”

“But how would they get to me?” asked Alec.

“That won’t be difficult. Lord Seregil’s a social sort. His house in the Noble Quarter has already been opened and word’s getting around. I’m sure the news will reach the right ears sooner or later. In a few days we’ll throw a big party to introduce you to society.”

So things are moving!

Seregil fills them in on his own adventures. He's found the main forger - Master Alben. He's pretty sure that Ghemella is the seal forger, and explains that he planted some of his own "stolen papers" with her. She led Seregil to Alben. Seregil figures that Alben may have kept copies of the forged documents, and if they can get them, they can use it to pressure Alben for names.

Alec asks if that's the job tonight. He really wants to clear Seregil's name. But no, that will require more preparation.

We learn a bit more about Wheel Street and the target!

Wheel Street, a quiet, respectable boulevard of modest back garden villas, lay on the fringe of the Noble Quarter. Well dressed so as to attract no attention, Alec strolled along beside Seregil and Micum just after dark—three gentlemen out enjoying the night air.

The narrow houses were decorated Skalan style with mosaics and carvings. The ground level of some had been converted into shops; in the dimness Alec made out the signs of a tailor, a hat maker, and a gem dealer. The street ended in a small circular court in front of a public stable. Riders and carriages bustled in all directions; the sounds of entertainment could be heard here and there as they walked past.

“That’s ours, the one with the grapevine pattern over the door,” whispered Seregil, indicating a brightly lit house across the way. “Belongs to a minor lord with some connection to shipping. No family, three servants: the old manservant, a cook, and the maid.”

The host appears to be having a party. Seregil warns that there could be trouble. if the host engaged extra servants, they might bumble into places that the regular staff wouldn't go. Alec's target is a correspondence case. Nothing fancy.

Alec will have to climb in, and...surprise, he'll be going it alone. Alec is sensible enough to be alarmed, but Seregil reassures him. Though, he does have Alec hand over his sword.

“What?” Alec hissed. “I thought I had to be armed so I could do jobs!”

“Generally speaking, yes. But not this time.”

“What if someone sees me?”

“Honestly, Alec! You can’t just go hacking your way out of every difficult situation that arises. It’s uncivilized,” Seregil replied sternly. “This is a gentleman’s house; you’re dressed as a gentleman. If anyone catches you, just act chagrined and drunk, then claim to have stumbled into the wrong house.”

Hee.

Anyway, there's another complication. A pair of "Zengati" dogs. Apparently snow white and big as bears. But Seregil has a trick for that, which he shows Alec. (Alec is told to say "Peace, friend hound" in the common language rather than Aurenfaie, which Seregil uses.)

So now it's time to go.

Alec makes it over the wall. He meets the giant dog, which closes its jaws firmly on Alec's arm. (It's not quite as big as a bear, but Alec isn't quibbling.) Fortunately, the sign works. (Alec uses a symbolically appropriate mixed translation of the Aurenfaie word "soora" and "friend hound" in his own language.)

Alec gets in. One interesting character beat is his nod to Illior. He's come a long way from his former religious conservatism. He makes it into a spacious yet-plainly furnished (by Rhiminee standards) bedroom, and sneaks his way to the study. The lock is better here, but Alec makes it.

The search is interesting. I enjoy the inventory of the things Alec finds, but I'm not recapping it. Suffice to say, it takes time. But eventually Alec realizes that there's something odd about the desk. He pulls out the drawers and realizes that some are smaller than the others. This leads him to realize there are probably secret compartments.

Alec searches carefully and eventually finds the hidden lever. Et voila! He's got what he needs. He puts everything back and makes to leave but encounters a complication: two very beautiful ladies have been asked to fetch something from the library library.

I like outfits, so here's one:

Jewels winked in the dark coils of the young woman’s hair as she turned Alec’s way. More jewels sparkled in the intricate necklace that covered her chest. In fact, Alec saw, the necklace was very nearly the only thing covering her breasts. The bosom of the dress was cut so low the top of one nipple peeped out from the fretwork of gems and gold.

Aw, Alec's not nearly so freaked out by such things now. The women, an aunt and her niece, gush about their host. The aunt even warning that no woman or man have held his fancy for long. Alec ducks into one of the rooms.

The ladies peek into the same room, a bedroom that the younger girl is excited to see, wondering if it's their host's. The older woman thinks not, noting Mycenean furnishings that aren't his style. They don't spot Alec.

Hah. There are a lot of nice details that I didn't notice in my first read through that I notice now.

Anyway, Alec manages to avoid notice by them, but then is grabbed from the shadows!

He hadn’t gone three paces when a large, callused hand clamped over his mouth. Another seized his right arm, pinning it behind his back as he twisted and struggled.

“Hold him!” a voice hissed from somewhere across the room.

“Got him!” a deep voice rasped next to Alec’s ear. The hand across his mouth clamped tighter. “Not a sound, you. And quit yer wigglin’!”

A lightstone appeared and his captor swung him roughly about to face it. Alec gave another convulsive twist, then froze with a strangled grunt of astonishment.

Standing there, one arm propped on the corner of the mantel, was Seregil. At his waved command, the man holding Alec released him and he spun to find himself facing Micum Cavish.

Micum notes that Alec is worse than an eel to hold onto, while Seregil asks about the case.

And of course, we get the twist:

“Yes, I got it,” Alec whispered, casting a nervous glance in the direction of the door. “But what are you doing in here?”

Seregil shrugged. “And why shouldn’t I be in my own bedroom?”

“Your own—Yours?” sputtered Alec. “I went through all that to burgle your house?”

“Not so loud! Don’t you see? We wanted to make sure you had a proper challenge.”

It was pretty clever. It makes sense that "Lord Seregil" wouldn't live in an inn full time. And the cute details, like the Mycenean chest (obviously the room for Alec) and the party goers' description of Seregil.

Alec is irked, understandably!

Alec glared at the two of them, cheeks aflame, all his careful work reduced to a ridiculous charade. “By breaking into your own house? What kind of a challenge is that?”

“Don’t take on so,” Seregil said in honest consternation. “You just got into one of the most difficult houses in the city! I admit, I removed a few of the more deadly wards, but do you think just any common tickler could have gotten past those locks you found?”

“This is the last place we’d send you into if we didn’t think you were ready,” added Micum.

Alec is somewhat mollified, admitting that the study door nearly got him. Seregil meanwhile compliments him on his means of entry (which I hadn't mentioned: a small window above the main door that was "scarcely large enough to admit a child"), as they hadn't expected that and it's a genuine hole in Seregil's security.

Of course Seregil sent the ladies, or rather it was Micum's idea, since Alec was having too easy a time. But they're happy with Alec's quick thinking. And they ask Alec how he likes his own room.

So now, it's time to join the party! Happily, they're all dressed for the occasion. (Better to wear nice clothes if you're breaking into a noble's house after all.)

And it's a swanky shindig!

Dozens of thick candles lit the room, their honeyed scent like the distillation of long-dead summers. Their radiance was given back everywhere in the flash of jewels and the sheen of silks and polished leather.

The salon itself was no less elegant than those who occupied it. The high walls of the room had been painted to look like a forest glade, the tops of life-size oaks extending up across the vaulted ceiling overhead. Garlands of brightly flowering vines adorned the trees, and between their trunks distant mountains and ocean vistas were visible. Musicians played on a carved balcony overhead.

Seregil makes a production of introducing Alec, who's caught off guard and nervous. Micum gives him some reassuring words before slipping away. And now Alec gets to socialize with his new peers. And among them, he gets to meet the ladies from earlier: Lady Kylith of Rhiminee and her niece, Lady Ysmay of Orutan.

We get to see Lady Kylith's outfit too:

Executing his best courtly bow, Alec felt his cheeks go warm. Lady Kylith’s velvet gown draped a form still slender and elegant; like those worn by most other women of fashion present, it left her bosom nearly bare beneath a tissue of thinnest silk and a heavily jeweled necklace.

Well, maybe Alec isn't completely worldly yet. It's interesting actually that it's the older, "langorously dark-eyed" aunt that affects Alec more than the pretty young niece. With Seregil's urging, they go to dance.

We switch viewpoint to Seregil and see that he has a reason beyond just mischief for having Kylith dance with Alec:

Seregil set about a playful flirtation with Ysmay while keeping one eye on Alec. As expected, Kylith put the boy at ease in no time. Another dance or two under her influence, and Alec would feel like he’d moved in such society his whole life. She’d had that same affect on Seregil years before.

Beginning as a courtesan in the Street of Lights, Kylith had risen to nobility when a headstrong young lord had brooked the strenuous opposition of family and class to marry her. Over the years her beauty, discretion, and lancing wit had earned her a degree of acceptance and drawn in the best of Rhíminee society to her famous gatherings. The finest artists and musicians of the day were to be found in her house, mingling with adventurers, wizards, and ministers of the highest offices. Few outside of the Queen’s Park knew more than she of what went on in the council chambers and bedrooms of Rhíminee.

Kylith is pretty neat actually! Nysander had been the one to introduce Seregil and Kylith when it became clear that Seregil wasn't going to be able to keep with the magic thing. They'd even been lovers for a time (after the death of her husband). He's not sure if she knows he's the Rhiminee Cat, or just thinks he's an intermediary, but she does relay requests for services.

And she's discreet, so it gives Alec a safe place to mess up a little.

But then things go a little sideways, as Micum interrupts the second dance to pull Alec aside. Seregil's getting arrested.

WAIT.

YOU MEAN!

HE'S BEEN FRAMED? BY THE PERSON WHO TRIED TO FRAME HIM ALREADY WHO HAPPENED TO GET SOME UNFINISHED DOCUMENTS?

YOU DON'T SAY.

Anyway, Alec gets instructed not to leave the city. (Eyeing the man with chilly dignity, Micum asked quietly, “Am I to understand he is under suspicion as well?” Aw, I definitely like it when Micum is protective!) He's not under suspicion yet, but orders are orders.

Anyway, Seregil's being arrested under the Queen's Warrant, which means the Red Tower Prison. And not even Seregil can get out of that. Eep.

The chapter ends here!