Free Mistress of the Catacombs by Drake David

two women and Cashel as they passed.
    "That's Captain Mounix calling," Tilphosa said. It was obvious that in a few moments someone would tell the captain that Metra was standing close by.
    "Do you want me to go along when you talk to them?" Cashel said. He swung his staff level and brushed the ferrule clean with the hem of his inner tunic. He felt calm again, both because the subject had changed and because it looked like he'd have a chance to do something he understood.
    "To handle them?" Metra sneered. "No, I'll take care of those fools myself."
    "We're going to Laut because I'm betrothed to Prince Thalemos," Tilphosa said, in explanation but with a hint of understandable pride. "He's the ruler of Laut."
    "Thalemos?" said Cashel. "I thought the ruler was named Echeus. I just saw him in Valles, talking to Garric."
    Metra had started for the bonfire, but she was still close enough to hear Cashel's words. She turned sharply, holding the athame in a fashion that reminded Cashel it was a weapon—though not a material one.
    "What did you say?" she demanded. "What do you know of Echea?"
    "Echeus," Cashel corrected. His hands slid apart on the shaft of the quarterstaff, one to either side of the center where they were ready to make it spin and strike. "And I don't know anything about him, lady, just that he was talking to my friend Garric."
    There was a moment's tense silence. Tilphosa put her hand on Cashel's forearm. "Echea was an enemy of ours," she said calmly. "An enemy of the Mistress, really. But she's dead now. You're sure of that, aren't you, Metra?"
    "I was sure," the priestess said, with slight emphasis on was. "You saw someone named Echeus in Valles, you say? Was he the wizard who sent you here?"
    Cashel made an angry gesture with his right hand, then gripped his quarterstaff again. "I don't know who put me here," he said. "I don't know where I am."
    Instead of shouting, Captain Mounix crunched over the sand toward Metra and her companions. Most of the gathered survivors came with him.
    Cashel looked up at the skewed constellations. "Who's the King of the Isles?" he said. "Do you know?"
    "The king?" Tilphosa repeated. "Why, King Carus, of course. Who did you think it was?"
    The arriving sailors saved Cashel from answering that question.
    CHAPTER FOUR
    Sharina held back instead of plunging into the water ahead of Cashel as she could easily have done. There wasn't time to discuss plans, and having someone Cashel's size land on top of her flailing a quarterstaff wouldn't help the trouble. She knew Cashel couldn't swim, but she trusted him to do the right thing by instinct.
    Now Cashel leaped with all his considerable strength, a graceful arc despite him lookng like a broad-jumper rather than a diver. Garric sprawled limp, sinking slowly on the weight of his sword.
    Cashel should have landed next to him; Sharina paused on the mossy coping stones, waiting for a splash like that of a boulder dropping in the sea. Instead, Cashel vanished the way water soaks into hot sand.
    The look of the pond changed. Sharina hadn't noticed the rosy haze over the water until now, when it disappeared.
    Garric was still sinking. Several guards were dragging Echeus from the bridge. One had jumped into the pool, and others looked ready to follow him. Wearing armor, they wouldn't be able to swim any better than Cashel, and Sharina had no reason at all to trust their judgment.
    Sharina made a clean dive. The water was shockingly cold—she'd forgotten that it had bubbled from the spring-fed fountains only fifty paces away. She reached under and caught the front of her brother's gold-embroidered collar. Her grip rolled Garric's face out of the water as they broke surface.
    Sharina kicked despite her hampering garments and stroked for the shore with her free hand. She wished she'd taken a moment to remove the court robe, though it didn't matter much.
    She didn't let herself think about Cashel. Tenoctris could explain or—
    But anyway, Sharina