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She’d stepped into an alternate world where everyone was some variation on the theme of Mandir. But of course he looked like Mandir; this would be another half-brother. He stood out as being a little older than the others, probably in his thirties, and he had a scar on his left cheek, over an inch long and white in color—a handy identifying marker.
    “Mandir’s back,” said Shardali.
    “Oh.” Recognition lit the new man’s eyes. “Mandir—of course! Have you come for Setsi?”
    “Yes, Runawir, and that’s all we’re here for.” Mandir touched fingers with him. “This is my Coalition partner, Taya.”
    Runawir touched fingers with her but directed his words to Mandir. “You’d better keep an eye on her if you want her for yourself.”
    “Taya’s a Coalition fire seer. Anyone who touches her can expect to be burnt to a cinder.”
    Runawir snorted. “Then you’d better hope Tufan doesn’t see her. Don’t want trouble with the crown, do you? I suggest you complete your business with Setsi and leave this place as quickly as you can.”

Chapter 5
     
    Mandir followed his half-brother Runawir deeper into the main house. As they moved through a narrow hallway toward the dining hall, he took Taya’s hand in his own, more for his benefit than for hers. Every corner of this house held unpleasant memories. “Who’s still here?” he asked Runawir. “Give me the lay of the land.”
    “You saw Shardali,” said Runawir.
    “Yes.” Mandir judged Shardali to be of low-to-moderate threat. Mandir and Shardali had been boys in this household together. The younger Shardali had been a coward, easily bullied into submission, and his cringing and stammering suggested he was largely the same as a grown man.
    But Shardali could be sneaky and underhanded. He would cower and simper in public, while secretly putting ants in Mandir’s bed. Now that he was older, he had the potential to be more lethal, especially if he had it in mind to get back at Mandir for past offenses. Perhaps Mandir could mollify Shardali with an apology for the things he’d done when they were boys. But he wasn’t certain how Shardali would respond. He might interpret an apology as a sign of weakness and become more aggressive. Mandir would have to keep an eye on him and see what developed. Or get out of here before anything could develop.
    As for Runawir, it was early yet but Mandir considered him a serious threat, as he’d always been the smartest of the brothers.
    “You saw Nindar already, and you know about Setsi, since you came here to see him,” said Runawir.
    “Who’s Nindar?” asked Mandir.
    “The stable boy.”
    “Oh,” said Mandir. “Is something wrong with his leg?”
    “Broke it as a lad, and it didn’t heal properly,” said Runawir. “He stays mostly in the stables, since he’s good with the horses, and he’s great friends with Setsi.”
    “Hmm.” Nindar didn’t sound like a threat. “Who else?”
    “There’s a woman here, Shala. She’s pregnant and due any day.”
    “Pregnant by whom?”
    “Tufan,” said Runawir.
    Mandir doubted it. Tufan had been impotent for years, and while it was not impossible he might occasionally impregnate a woman on a lucky night, it was far more likely that one of his sons had done it. In fact, Mandir suspected that both Setsi and Nindar had been sired by one of his brothers and not by Tufan. “What about Haban and Yanzu?”
    “Yanzu’s still here. Haban left a few years back.”
    “Where’d he go?” asked Mandir.
    “Don’t know,” said Runawir. “He just left.”
    “And Tufan let him go?”
    “Oh, no,” said Runawir. “He sent men and dogs, but never found him.”
    Haban was one of the few decent people who’d lived here. Good for him for getting away, but Mandir had hoped to get some information out of him about Setsi if the boy proved hard to persuade. And he wasn’t pleased that Yanzu was still here. Yanzu, like Runawir, was among the more dangerous of Mandir’s