Casket of Souls

but there’s boiled leeks out of the garden to go with it.”
    “Don’t trouble yourself. We’re going out again,” Alec told her.
    Hopefully Thero would offer them something to eat later; Ema was a good soul, but they liked her more for her discretion than her cooking, which was worse than usual with the shortages. At least she hadn’t boiled salt cod and onions today, or pickled any more beets, the smells of which made Seregil queasy.
    Alec fetched a bucket of water from the cistern while Seregil lit a candle to light their way up the staircase that led from the lading room to the box room on the second floor. A hidden panel in the far wall concealed the narrow staircase that led up to their chambers. Thero frequently changed the passwords on the hidden glyphs that guarded the stairs for them.
    “Scera,”
Seregil said at the first one—Aurënfaie for “cold.” He always used ’faie words, figuring any Skalan who blundered in here was less likely to guess in that language.Only once, when the Cockerel Inn had stood on this site, had anyone gotten past them, with tragic results. The current ones were wishful thinking in the summer heat.
    “Por.”
Snow.
“Taka.”
Cool water.
“Ura teshil.”
Miserable bastard.
    Reaching the landing, he spoke the last.
“Temi.”
Ice.
    The large sitting room was hot and stale. There were, in fact, windows, but obscured with Thero’s magic, which rendered them invisible from the outside even when Alec opened the shutters to catch what breeze he could. Seregil lit several lamps with the candle and carried the bucket into the bedchamber across the room.
    They’d used the place sporadically since the spring. A layer of dust had settled over the workbench under the east window, the old sheets covering the couch and dining table, and the clutter of letters, locks, jewel caskets, and oddities on the marble mantelpiece, including three Plenimaran slave collars propped up there, one sized for a child.
    Pain closed around Alec’s heart again. Two reminders in one day, and this one his own doing. He had no doubt that the little
rhekaro
was better off among the Hâzadriëlfaie—safe from harm and from causing it—but the loss was still a raw, throbbing wound in Alec’s heart. The sight of the collar, and the tiny braid of silver-white hair with it, kept the wound bloody, but he couldn’t bring himself to part with either.
    “Alec?” Bare to the waist already, Seregil leaned out the bedroom doorway, framed in golden lamplight. Alec’s expression must have given away his thoughts. “
Talí
, shouldn’t we at least pack them away?”
    “No.” Forcing a smile, he went to the bedroom, pulling his sweat-soaked shirt over his head as he went, then sat on the wide, velvet-hung bed to pull off his shoes and rank socks.
    Seregil filled the washbasin from the bucket and gave himself a quick but thorough scrub.
    As he waited, Alec absently counted Seregil’s various scars; he knew them by heart. The imprint of the cursed disk just over his breastbone—an object that had nearly cost them both their lives—was obscured by magic. Alec carried the mark of that same disk, burned into the palm of his left hand.Of the wounds that had killed him and nearly taken Seregil’s life as well, there were no traces—thanks to Sebrahn.
    Seregil turned and caught his eye. “What’s wrong, talí?”
    Alec just shook his head.
    Seregil rinsed the flannel and wrung it out, then gently washed the day’s grime from Alec’s face and neck. “Come on now,” he said, kissing him on the top of the head and draping the wet cloth over Alec’s shoulder.
    When they were both reasonably presentable, they set off for the Orëska House.
    The stars were out and it was cool enough now that light cloaks and drawn hoods didn’t attract much notice as they made their way through the Harvest Market and on into the Noble Quarter to the Orëska House.
    “My lords!” Thero’s man, Wethis, waved to them from one of the mezzanines and hurried down the stairs to greet them as they crossed the atrium. “He’s upstairs.” He halted at a respectful distance and Seregil saw the man’s nostrils quiver just a bit, though he was far too polite to say anything.
    Seregil gave him a knowing grin. “The baths first, I think.”
    “I’ll inform Master Thero that you are here.” Wethis bowed and returned the way he’d come, knowing Seregil needed no guide.
    Bath chamber
would be an understatement. The vaulted