Read By Divine Right for Free Online Page B

“Later. I’ve got to get you away from here for a while.”
    He looked at me, waiting for me to explain. I was tempted to write it down so he would read it and never forget it. “The people who killed Ian Kells got their information from this room.”
    His eyes widened, and he looked over each shoulder even though we’d closed the door behind us. “Foolish of me,” he muttered, ducking his head. “Always looking for the facts without thinking about the consequences.” He locked gazes with me, and the abstraction lifted from him for a moment. “You’re right, of course, but what if they’re watching now.”
    I nodded. “If they try to follow us, we’ll have to lose them.”
    Custos brushed the spine of the nearest codex with the tips of his fingers. “I’ve never left the cathedral for any real length of time. Even my sleeping quarters are here. How long will we be gone?”
    “Until I can unmask whoever is trying to duplicate the right of kings,” I said. Out loud, it sounded as if I meant to take on Owmead’s army single-handed, and I felt my stomach drop a bit closer to my legs. “We’ll go out to the market as if I’m treating you to more of those dates you love. Hopefully, that will allay any suspicion that we suspect we’re being followed. If they think we’re coming back, they might just stay here.”
    He nodded, but I didn’t believe my words for a moment. I was dealing with a noble who was amassing gifts, and I could only think of one reason they’d want to: they meant to be king. Men who took those kinds of risks wouldn’t countenance even a slight chance ofdiscovery. I tried to think past the surging rhythm of my heart. They’d seen me. Even if they didn’t know me, the reeve’s badge I wore at my shoulder would make me easy to identify. Custos wasn’t the only one who needed to hide.
    “Let’s go.” I tried to nod confidently, but my head jerked as if I’d been blindsided. “Do what I tell you, and if I say run, go—and don’t waste time looking back.”
    We left the room, and a few paces later I drew to a sudden stop to adjust my cloak. There were a dozen people in the room besides the two of us—too many for me to remember. I turned my back to them as if I’d forgotten something. “Custos, can you remember everyone who’s in here?”
    He blinked at me. “It doesn’t work that way,” he said with a smile. “It’s more like I can’t keep from it.” His shoulders lifted a fraction and then settled back. “It’s already done.”
    I couldn’t decide whether to gape or smile, so I gave up. “Let’s go to the market,” I said out loud.
    We worked our way through the visitors and acolytes toward the exit. None of them seemed to take any notice of us, but once we were outside on the flagstones, I dropped to one knee to adjust a boot. A moment later, an acolyte exited, his eyes sharp and searching.
    “The hair,” Custos muttered. He did a good job of fumbling in his robe for another date. I never saw him look toward the young man following us. “Niels cuts the hair of all the acolytes who come to us.”
    Niels had been old a decade ago. Even then his hands had been less than steady. None of the acolytes he barbered came out with such a neat cut. Those who came from nobility or wealth usually passed on the old man’s particular form of charity. “Let’s get to the market in the lower merchants’ section,” I said. “We’re just two men out for a stroll.”
    I was counting on the fact that the man following us wouldn’t risk anything in public, but was hoping as well that whoever had killed Ian hadn’t set more than one person to watching the library. I needed that well-groomed acolyte to follow us.
    To get to the lower merchants’ market we would have to walk the length of the nobles’ quarter and the higher merchants’ section as well. The expansive walls of the estates of the rich and powerful with their gatehouses and ironwork impressed, as always, but