The Palace of Lost Memories

Chapter 14

"Josie?" Hammer said. "What is it?"

I stared at the guard as he passed, trying to think, to understand what it meant. If that guard had been watching Tam's house, did he know the poison seller that Tam had met at the pier? Was he watching Tam on his behalf?

And if he knew the poison seller, did the captain know him too?

The guard suddenly stopped and spun round. "You!" He wagged a finger at me. "You're her."

My lips parted in a silent gasp and I shrank away from him, away from the captain.

"Oh no you don't." The guard caught my wrist. "You're not going anywhere until you explain how you got away and what you were doing at Tao's in the first place."

"Unhand her, Zeke," Hammer barked. "What is this about?"

The guard released me. "Sir, this is the woman I followed from Tao's house. She could be the poisoner, or working for him."

"I am not!" I cried.

"Then why run away from me?"

"You're a stranger, a man, and you were chasing me! Any respectable woman would run off."

"I wasn't chasing you, I was following you."

"There's no difference."

"Yes, there is," several men chimed from the garrison.

Hammer ushered me back into the garrison and shut the door. He looked angry but I wasn't sure if it was directed at me or the guard. "Why did you visit Tao?"

"To ask him if he knew who imported traitor's ease from Zemaya," I said.

"I already asked. Since he imports herbs and spices, I thought it wise to place a watch outside his house."

"Tam isn't the poison seller!"

"He might be."

"He isn't," I said. "He's a good man. Did anyone suspicious visit him?" I asked the guard.

"Only you," the guard said.

I ignored the implication and turned to Hammer. He still looked angry. "I learned something from Tam, as it happens. Something I assume you did not, Captain, or you wouldn't have bothered setting a watch on him."

"Go on," Hammer said flatly.

"He told me of a Zemayan he met at the pier and the suspicious package he collected from a ship that came from Zemaya. It was labeled as powder but it was heavy, like the poisonous roots of the plant from which traitor's ease comes. You should go to the taverns and ask about him. Tell them you're looking for a man from Zemaya, but not Tam Tao."

The captain stared at me a moment then nodded at Max. "Take a small team into Mull."

"Aye, sir," Max said.

"And you, Zeke, need to identify yourself next time you're spotted by the person you're following."

"But then they'll know we're onto them, sir, and lead us astray," Zeke said.

"If they see they're being followed, they'll lead you astray anyway, as Josie did by entering The Row."

"Where she lost you," Quentin said from the chair Max vacated a second time. "Well done, Josie." The entire group of guards scowled at him and he shrugged sheepishly.

Hammer held the door open for me and we once again set off through the maze of service corridors.

"You're angry with me," I said to Hammer.