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meant to live at all. All the Elite Guard was cut down in a precise attack. I escaped by the most hapless of chance. I think the swift and organized campaign to flush me out and see to my capture is an attempt to rectify that error in allowing me to live. Any authority might bring me in once captured, but once I am within the reach of someone in the know, I will surely be cut down to stop me from telling my story to anyone else.”
    “So, the threat must be within our kingdom and from our side,” Arianne figured.
    Nisero turned back toward her. “I have thought so, but explain your meaning to me – as you see it.”
    Her eyes traveled around his face before she spoke. “If they can coordinate so swift an attack, spur so swift and complete a search, and believe they can reach you once captured, then they must be in power within our kingdom.”
    Nisero’s eyes lost focus and he stared beyond the blur of Arianne’s shape. “Money is power. Most anyone with wealth enough and any manner of title might potentially be behind this corruption.”
    “If it was just anyone, they would not have let your picture be pasted up anywhere. They would have tried to hunt you down that night at all costs, to keep you from telling your story and potentially getting out of their reach. They must believe with confidence that they have the reach within the existing system of authority.”
    Nisero nodded and walked away from the counter. “I had not pieced that together. You are truly your father’s daughter. Perhaps if you had been part of the Elite Guard we would have been wise enough to avoid our own demise.”
    “If I had been, I suppose I would be dead too like all the rest… including my mother and brother.”
    Nisero’s eyes stung and he bowed his head.
    He heard the stool bark along the flagstones but he did not turn. When she touched his back, his body shook like her touch carried some powerful form of magic. He fought to remain still.
    “I spoke too harshly,” she said softly. “My emotions are tied up in all of this. Even more so with the pregnancy.”
    “You have nothing to apologize for,” Nisero stated. “Truth is truth no matter how harsh it may sound. Your father blames himself and his years in the Guard for the death of your mother and brother. Part of his effort to hide himself is to protect you as well, I know. It is a terrible thing I ask to expose him by letting him attach himself to my doomed mission, but this is bigger than saving my own skin. If it were just that, I would cast myself to the mercy of the King and let my enemies come at me. I think there is greater danger for all the kingdom and allowing myself, the only true witness, to be cut down would serve the purposes of our enemies. I need Berengar. The kingdom needs him just as you feared.”
    Her hand pulled away from his back and he missed the touch. Nisero still did not turn.
    When she spoke her voice came from a distance that told him she was a few steps farther away. “When my father found our village and our family burned, you joined his doomed mission and saw it through to success. In so doing, you saw that I was still alive and now my unborn child. If I had perished, my father would likely have never recovered, so you are responsible for his continued life as well. It would be a terrible disservice to not help you in seeking my father’s council in this. You have earned that much and more.”
    “I thank you, Arianne.”
    “I will map it out and give you detailed instructions on how to get a message to him where he resides,” she said. “He has made locating him complicated as you can imagine. But I will get you there, Nisero.”
    Nisero turned and faced her where she leaned against the counter. “Thank you again.”
    “You’ll stay the night and leave before light in the morning. You can be on the road before any workers or travelers would see you.”
    “I should go now, Arianne. My presence here puts you in grave danger. I do not know