* * *
Maliar left the compound of the House of Nau a week later. Sariell had told her more than she wanted to know, and none of it, not a little bit of it, could be passed on.
Not without inviting the Queen's anger.
She travelled on foot, greeted the gurites and siabra she saw. They, in turn, made her way just a little easier.
Resting by the shores of Lough Gur, her scry stone shivered. Magnoliah. Danu preserve us, why could she not have forgotten?
"Greetings, have you had any word of what has happened to Khairra?"
"Not that I may say." Ambiguous, yet truthful. Let her take it the wrong way-
"What exactly does that mean, Maliar?"
Maliar simply deactivated her scry stone. There was nothing more she could say to the girl. Not without lying. Truth is more dangerous than lies, but lies can destroy trust in a way truth never could.
She did not weep for what she was doing. Politics were politics. She had learned what she could, and had spent most of her favors to do so. She would wait now.