“I’ll go ahead of you,” Quint said.
He approached the building but didn’t see any obvious observers before he entered. After walking to the second floor, he stepped into an alcove just past the Danko’s door.
Calee stood at her door and paused before retrieving her key. Quint moved out of the alcove. She slipped inside, leaving the door ajar. Quint slipped inside.
Calee turned around. “You stink! Wash up, first,” she said.
Quint did as he was told, but he didn’t have any clothes to change into. “I need some clothes,” he said from behind the bathroom door.
“Step aside. I’ll give you something of my father’s.”
There was a knock on the door. Quint opened it to a crack and Calee stuffed the clothes inside.
Quint came out wearing clothes too short and too wide.
Calee giggled. “That’s still better. I don’t have to hold my nose while we talk. Where have you been? There was talk about you deserting.”
“I was abducted by Pacci Colleto’s local spies and taken to Nornotta.”
“You have proof of that?”
Quint thought for a moment. “This is all I have,” Quint said. He produced his master wizard certificate. “Colleto wanted me tested. I don’t know why.”
“A master! I hardly believed you were a provost level wizard,” Calee said.
“What?”
“We use different names in Narukun. Novice, Acolyte, Deacon, Provost, Prior. Most of our wizards are administered through a cloister. A master is a prior and a Level 3 is a provost, I believe. My father knows more about that kind of thing than I do.”
“No wizard corps?”
“No. The cloister manages the wizards. If they are seconded to the army, they work within a company or whatever you call them,” Calee said.
“You were kidnapped so he could test you?”
Quint shook his head. “He still wants me to join him,” Quint said. “We took a tour of Vinellia.”
“Pacci Colleto and you?”
“With twenty other soldiers. I think he wanted to show me how easy it would be to invade Racellia. We crossed into Racellia from southern Vinellia and found that someone had slaughtered all the hubites and willots in the hubite districts.”
Calee gasped. “Your parents?”
“Dead,” Quint said. “All I have to remember them by is my father’s prize possession, this knife. It’s an heirloom.” Quint put the knife on the table in front of the couch. “I decided I had enough of Pacci Colleto and took off. I tossed my Gusellian clothes and stole what I had on.”
“What is on your skin?”
“Peat stain,” Quint said. “I can’t cover my eyes, but I can darken my skin.”
“It didn’t come off when you washed,” Calee said.
“I suppose that’s why they call it a stain,” Quint said. He realized he was flirting with her and bit his lip. “They told you I deserted?”
“Father knows more than I do. He has spoken to Colonel Gerocie about it. I haven’t heard a word about the slaughter of your family. Why would anyone do that? Hubites are no threat to willots in Racellia,” Calee said.
Fedor Danko walked through the door. His eyes grew when he saw Quint.
“I didn’t expect to see you in my flat,” Danko said. “You didn’t really desert, did you?”
“I was abducted.” Quint told his story.
Danko gasped when Quint described the hubite carnage, but then he furrowed his brow. “There have been urgent doings at the diplomacy corps. Whisperings and such. It must be that. Colleto is an interesting case. You were with him for almost a week, so he didn’t personally supervise the incursion.”
“If it was him. I personally think it was Baltacco or one of the other generals as a provocation to get Racellians angered so they will fight Colleto’s forces,” Quint said. “Willots were slaughtered along with hubites, but I think that was intentional. If only hubites were killed, there are many in Racellia who would rejoice.”
“You may be right,” Danko said. “But why did you return?”
Quint took a deep breath. “Stupidity. I don’t want to join Colleto as the only hubite in his entourage, even if I was so inclined.”
“You have no future here,” Danko said. “You were tried and found guilty of treason two days after you went missing.”
“Why?” Quint said. “Was it Baltacco’s doing?”
“Your colonel didn’t know. It is all so bizarre.”
“Can we ship him to Narukun?” Calee asked. “He’s been certified as a Prior.”
“A master? You’ve been tested?” Fedor asked.
