Telli and Setisia left for the fat merchant Sestakis's mansion at dawn the next morning. Keoch had been up when they returned the night before, and after hearing the news concerning Grenwald, had offered the pair the use of his canoe for the day. They paddled along the 'water-roads', as the Kellers called their canals, checking the landmarks they had noted the evening before, and reaching the stretch of water on which the house stood before the sun was visible above the rooftops of the city. Keoch had advised them that people going any distance were more likely to leave their homes by canal than on foot. They had therefore decided to watch the wooden doors opening onto the water, rather than any other exit from the mansion.

"We had better be discreet," said Telli, as he paddled slowly along the continuous wall separating several large properties from the waterway. They stopped a little way up from the doorway, waiting for any signs of life. After about twenty minutes on the canal, deserted in the early morning, another small canoe appeared from the direction of the city centre, and they watched with interest as it made for the steps below the entrance to Sestakis's house. They recognised the blue cap and white sash of a post-boy on the canoe's only occupant. The boy leant over the steps, staying seated in the boat, and knocked on the wooden door with his paddle. He waited a while before doing this again. A minute passed, and there was still no response from the mansion's occupants.

"Paddle slowly past him, and continue on if someone opens the door, but stop if they don't," captain Setisia ordered. As they came alongside the other canoe, she called out a good morning to the post-boy.

"Your customers sleep late, I fear, and slow you in your duties," she said, flashing him a friendly smile.

" 'Tis true, miss, and I have many houses awaiting their morning messages, but there are always those with lazy servants who sleep late."

"We too wait for late sleepers to emerge from the house up there, and I fear we shall have to sit around for an hour or more. I would take your messages for you, and pass them on, except for the fact that you will be needing the pay for them." Setisia then acted as though a thought had just struck her. "I suppose I could do you a kind favour, and pass you the pennies for your letters, as the owners would then pay me on receiving them. If it is only one house you deliver to on this water-road this morning, then it is hardly worth you waiting around when I must do so anyway." She smiled again at the boy, about her own age. Telli could not believe the audacity of what he was hearing, but kept a straight face, as the boy considered the proposition, made to him by such a pretty and innocent looking stranger.

"Well, if you have the change, I would be most thankful," he said, after a moment's thought. "There are no less than seven letters at the standard charge, meaning I would receive twenty-eight pence if these idlers were up and about." The others looked through their change, trying to appear casual and unhurried, and were fortunate to find three coins worth ten pence each. The boy passed them the letters, and two penny pieces, then thanked them for their kindness before returning the way he had come. Telli paddled back to their watching place, laughing at Setisia, and shaking his head.

"Have you no principles, witch, that you take advantage of poor innocents, and break the King's law at the same time as professing your loyalty to him."

"We are dealing with a stealer of children, do not forget, and these are extreme circumstances where exceptions must be made." Setisia was smiling, pleased that Telli had witnessed her clever acting, and it had indeed been very well done. "Seven letters!" She patted the pocket where she had concealed the bundle of papers. "If we make no other progress in our investigations this morning, we must find something here."

They watched the door for another two hours, but the only activity came just half an hour after the post-boy had left. A man opened one side of the door and stepped out, looking up and down the canal. He took no notice of the youngsters in their canoe some distance away but, after a moment, called out to an old woman who had hobbled up a path on the bank opposite a few minutes earlier and had seated herself on a bench there to rest.

"Mother, you have not seen a post-boy pass this way, have you?"

"Why, son, I have only been here a minute, and no-one has passed in that time. Can you not spare an old woman a crust, kind sir?"

"Go to the Duke, mother, he claims to look after the city's poor." With this curt dismissal, the servant withdrew behind the wall.

"I hope he is blamed for the missing letters," said Setisia.

When the two hours were up, they decided to head for the port, both wanting to be there when the boat carrying Grenwald arrived. As they set off, the old beggar woman was still seated opposite Sestakis's door, and Telli slowed the canoe while Setisia threw a few pennies onto the bank at her feet, wishing her a good day as she did so. As they moved out of earshot, Setisia started laughing, and asked Telli if he had seen the woman's face.

"No, I was watching where we were going, captain, as someone must. What about it?"

"She had green eyes, one thing Mendai cannot easily disguise; and I know there is no such thing as a Mendai beggar, as the clans look after their own." Setisia waited while this sunk in.

"Old Abhyll is having the house watched, you mean, or perhaps Sabhytt, as Rhyll would surely have told us if he is responsible." Telli chuckled as well, thinking that begging the servant of the house being watched would appeal to a Mendai sense of humour.

"Very quick, slave, and as a reward you may rest for a while, and I shall paddle you to the port if I can find the way through this genteel marsh of a town."

It was mid-morning when they reached the harbour, and made their way to the Treochim tavern where they had met Keoch and Mhyfait two nights before. Both were there, in the same upstairs room overlooking the lake.

"No sign of the boat yet, but we have found out that it always ties up at the dock just over there." Mhyfait pointed, indicating an area only a short distance from where they sat. "Rhyll and your giant of a cousin are drinking their wine at a tavern just beside it, and no doubt enjoying themselves. We do not need to watch too carefully as Abhyll has runners at the end of the north wall, where you can see furthest upriver, and they will be here long before our quarry enters the harbour. So, we eat and drink, and make merry 'til the bastard arrives!"

"What shall we do when he does?" asked Setisia.

"All we can really do is follow him and watch him until such a time as he is alone. Rhyll is then in favour of grabbing him and getting the answers to some questions from him, before handing him to the authorities, or perhaps disposing of him by less legitimate means," said Keoch. "You may use my canoe to follow him if you have brought it here, but you must be careful not to alert him to danger. That pretty red hair must stay under your hat, princess, as I assume it was during your spying this morning. How did that go?" Setisia had taken her hat off on entering the tavern, and now shook the long waves of her hair as she replied.

"We had no sighting of this Fostak, so I cannot confirm his identity. But it may be that our visit to the neighbourhood of the rich was not in vain." She took out the bundle of letters, and untied them, then laid them on the table before her.

"My captain behaved more like a thief than a princess this morning," smiled Telli. "She has taken all of Sestakis's post as evidence against him, and it was cleverly done, I can tell you." He recounted how Setisia had taken the letters, and the two men laughed.

"Sestakis is a known criminal, and I doubt he would be careless enough to incriminate himself in a plot against the King in the four-penny post." Keoch said. But he proved wrong.

Setisia and Telli read through the letters, which seemed to be entirely concerned with the business of trading merchants, informing of goods bought and sold, when and where, and for what prices. It was Telli who first noticed something different in a cryptic message which mentioned Setisia's hometown of Bhuin, and he passed it to her.

She read aloud:

"What do you think?" asked Telli. There was nothing in the message to attract the attention of someone who did not already suspect its intended recipient of conspiracy. It could have been sent between merchants discussing markets.

"The red robed priests have their centre just north of Bhuin, as you said the other night, Keoch. These are towns in that area. This is important. I think it is a list of towns where the plotters intend to make their first move. It makes sense. We now know that Chirtis is probably the first town they will attempt to take." Setisia was excited. "These connections cannot all be chance. Maybe I shall have to confess to the theft of this when I see the King's man in three day's time."

The four discussed the letter for some time, the others generally agreeing with Setisia that it must relate to her conspiracy. Keoch was of the opinion that the conspirators must all be mad, that they could never succeed with such carelessness, although he admitted that the letter would not rouse the suspicions of anyone other than themselves. Mhyfait left for a few minutes to inform his brother, knowing that he was likely to have visited the town of Chirtis in his travels.

It was mid afternoon when a messenger boy came running up the stairs to the room above the Treoch tavern, demanding to see Mhyfait. He informed the gypsy that the boat he awaited would soon enter the port, and took the ten-penny piece his work had earned him gratefully, before leaving. The four friends watched from the window, and Mhyfait soon spotted Rhyll, not dressed in Mendai clothes and wearing a scarf over his hair, as he sauntered along the quayside near the point where the boat was due to berth.

"That scruffy looking dock hand dressed in grey is my brother," he said. Then, as the others laughed at their friend's disguise, he pointed out a canoe emerging from a canal into the harbour. "Your cousin is ready to follow should Grenwald leave the ship by water-road." Sabhytt's hair was also covered and he had shaved off his beard, but he could not disguise his size. Mhyfait explained as he tucked his own hair into a hat.

"Someone suddenly seeing several Mendai around him might notice. This way we can all walk past him in turn without attracting attention. Sabhytt is in the canoe because all men notice him when he is standing, whatever he may wear. Now, this must be our boat." A sizeable passenger boat had entered the harbour and was being steered towards the berth where Rhyll stood. Telli could feel the excitement in himself and sense it in the others. Without thinking, he put an arm round Setisia's shoulders and was mildly surprised when she took his hand in hers, and held it there without taking her eyes from the window.

They had decided to wait until Grenwald had moved away from the quayside, before going downstairs and following Rhyll, who would keep close to him. Each would be ready to take over from Rhyll if he thought he was arousing suspicion and dropped back. There were now some minutes of suspense as the boat reached its berth and began to tie up. Then Telli felt Setisia tense under his arm as she said:

"There, the tall one in the black hat stepping onto the gangplank now. I must go quickly if Rhyll does not spot him." Mhyfait opened the window and waited. They could see that Rhyll was looking at the tall man, and were waiting for him to look round for the confirmation signal, which he did as Grenwald put a foot on the quayside. Mhyfait waved the agreed sign to his brother and they watched as Rhyll followed his prey to the nearest canal entrance, then stood some distance away as the other spoke to a river taxi owner.

"Good, Sabhytt saw your sign," said Setisia. Her cousin was paddling casually towards the canal entrance and would pick up Rhyll if Grenwald took the punt up the canal. "We have your canoe just there, Keoch, so we can all four follow Sabhytt. Let us go."

They hurried down the stairs and along the harbour side. Grenwald had disappeared, and Rhyll's head was just visible as he climbed down the steps to the canal. When they reached this point, Sabhytt's canoe was just a few yards upstream, and they could see the punt a short distance ahead, Grenwald seated facing forwards, and the punt's owner poling at a leisurely pace. Setisia lead them to the canoe and they set off slowly, keeping some distance behind the two Mendai. Keoch said:

"This will be easy until he steps off the boat. Rhyll will then have to follow him on foot without making it obvious. I know the town best, so shall jump out wherever we are when he stops, and find a way round to cross his path. If he keeps that silly hat on we surely can't lose him."

"He suspects nothing," said Mhyfait. "He has not glanced around once."

Keoch's plan to jump from the canoe proved unnecessary. The punt moved slowly through the city centre, then out in the direction from which Telli and Setisia had come that morning.

"He may be going to Sestakis's house," said Keoch, putting Telli's thoughts into words.

A few minutes more and the punt ahead turned into the broad waterway on which the fat merchant's house was situated. Sabhytt stopped his canoe near the turning. When the others arrived alongside, they were surprised to see that the punt had stopped not at Sestakis's door, but at the one before, where they had seen the two priests leaving the night before. Grenwald paid off the taxi-man, and went through the door after it had opened to his knock. The watchers in the two canoes set off for the Mendai tavern where they knew old Abhyll would be waiting for them, so that he could arrange to have his watchers keep an eye on both houses.

"We can now be sure that both houses are involved in the plot, and that the man, Fostak, must be the merchant I saw in Bhuin. It cannot be coincidence." Setisia said, as they paddled through the city.

When they reached the tavern, they found that Abhyll had reserved a room upstairs, and was waiting there for them with the messenger of the night before. This man left immediately to inform Abhyll's watchers that they must watch both mansions under suspicion. The others sat down to a serious discussion of their next move. Rhyll and Sabhytt had already decided that they were in favour of mounting a quick raid that night on the house where Grenwald was, and taking him for questioning, then handing him over to the Duke's men. It was the Duke, rather than the King, who was responsible for policing Kellmarsh, but they feared it would take too much time to persuade his guards to raid the house, and Grenwald might leave and escape their clutches.

"Of course, we are breaking the law in doing this, but as we are working to uncover a plot against the King, and four of us have served in his forces, we should get away with it," said Rhyll.

"How do you plan to get into the house?" asked Keoch.

"Someone will have to climb over the wall, and let the others into the grounds, then we shall look for a way to break into the house, even if it means smashing a door down and thus waking all the occupants," Rhyll replied.

"I may be able to get over the wall and into the house without waking the occupants," said Telli, and the others all looked at him. "I am very good at climbing, and am small enough to get through windows," he added, realising he might at last have to tell the others of his flying in order to convince them to let him take this role in their plans, which was perfect for him. Setisia, of course, knew what he was thinking of.

"It is true that Telli is very good at getting in and out of places where others cannot. Those of you who know his story, which is all but Abhyll and my cousin, must remember that he escaped slavery which no others in the slave camp succeeded in doing," she said.

It was against Telli's instincts to tell anyone about his flying unless he had to. But his natural reluctance to do this was counterbalanced by the fact that Grenwald had attacked Setisia directly on the night of the fire, and dealing with any threat to his little friend was something that would eclipse all other priorities in his mind. Like Rhyll and Sabhytt, he was determined to play his part in the capture of the ex-tyrant of Hartlett, not out of revenge for the arson attack, but in order to eliminate any future danger to the person he now loved more than anyone else in the world. Telli made a quick decision, and started to explain to the five men present how he could help in their plans.

"I would not be at too great a risk, I think, as they would take me for a sneak thief if they caught me, and would hand me over to the city guard. But if I can open both the doors and the gates from inside, it would give you the advantage of surprise as you search every room for Grenwald." After this, Telli was obliged to tell his story for the benefit of Abhyll and Sabhytt. When he reached the part where he had escaped from the Khrelling caves, he apologised to those who had already heard his story for not being entirely honest with them, especially to his good friend Rhyll. He then tried to explain his flying, asking them to tell no one else, as he did not want to be known as some kind of freak, or to be persecuted as one possessed by demons. Before the eyes of the five astonished men, he raised himself up from the ground to touch the ceiling, then returned slowly to the floor.

"I do not wish to confuse you by showing this ability to you. But I feel that I must do so in order to convince you that I am best suited to break into the mansion tonight, and it is important to me that this Grenwald should be captured, as he could be a danger to Setisia and others."

"Telli is not some goblin or devil, and does not know why he has this strange talent. When I first saw him move through the air, I nearly shot him with an arrow, so shocking was it to behold. I do not like to think of him going alone into the priests' house, but he is clever, and should keep himself out of danger as he has done so well on his travels." At first, Setisia was the only one not too surprised to speak. Then the others questioned Telli on his 'flying'. It was Sabhytt who relieved the tense moment by laughing at himself and the others.

"We are dumbfounded like men who have just seen the manifestation of a God before our eyes," he said, shaking his huge head. "I thought there was something special about you, Tellimakis, and I like you, and thank you for letting me know your secret when you have only just made my acquaintance. I shall keep that secret, and tell no one without first asking your leave. I think I may know of someone who can tell you more about your unusual gift, and we must talk alone sometime. It certainly seems that you are the best equipped to go over the mansion wall."

"I can't help thinking about those times when I climbed the mast to set the night light, Telli, when you could have done it so much more quickly had you let me know your secret." Rhyll laughed as well when he had recovered from his shock, and agreed that Telli could probably let them all into the mansion. Telli had felt slightly guilty in keeping his secret from Rhyll, who had become such a good friend, and was relieved to have told the truth of his escape for the first time since Setisia had heard the story. He realised that this was the first time that he had told someone of his flying without really having to. Both Brakis and Setisia had seen him in flight first.

It took the company some time to recover from what must have been the strangest experience of their lives. It was Sabhytt who appeared to have the least problem in accepting that he was in the presence of someone who seemed to be able to break the laws of nature. He turned the conversation to other aspects of their proposed raid.

"How many people should we expect to be in this mansion, and how many will join Rhyll and myself on this venture." Mhyfait and Keoch said they would come, as they wanted to see Grenwald captured, and anyway would not leave Rhyll alone if he was going to get into a fight. They discussed whether they should recruit any others to their cause, and decided not to. Abhyll said that they must consider the alternative of involving the Duke's men in a legal search of the house, and while all agreed that this was more sensible, none thought that they would be able to persuade the city guards to act quickly enough.

"Setisia has been to the King's offices about the conspiracy, so we are following a legal process," said Rhyll. "Grenwald is a conspirator, but is also wanted in connection with the murder of a Mendai nearly fifteen years ago. The King generally accepts that the Mendai act on their own in such circumstances. In our favour is the fact that this man has recently made an attack on his victim's daughter."

They had the whole evening to make their plans. Keoch left for more than an hour, to inform Helli of what he was doing, and consult her as to its wisdom. He explained that she had a strong mind and great imagination, and often thought about aspects of a plan like this that would not occur to others. He returned with a large bundle of black cloth, collected from various members of the Treochim, and usually used by them to make garments for mourning.

"Disguise, and so that we cannot be easily seen in the dark," he said, producing needles and thread. He suggested that each one of them should make themselves a long shirt of the material, and cut an oblong head dress out of it, which would cover all their hair if tied by a headband. The others all left the room for shorter periods to collect weapons and other equipment. Telli and Setisia went to the boat together, as Telli wished to collect the Khrelling lamp that had been so useful to him during his escape. When they were alone, Setisia made Telli promise not to take any foolish risks, saying that Grenwald could be caught another time, and was not worth dying for.

As the evening wore on, they decided on a rough plan, knowing that much could change depending on what Telli found behind the walls. He would fly over these, and spend half an hour or so spying out the grounds of the mansion. He would then rejoin the others outside, tell them what he had discovered, and decisions would be made then. They hoped he would be able to open one of the doors in the outside wall. Entrance for the others by means of climbing ropes or ladders over the wall would be possible, but they needed a quick exit route, and hoped to be carrying Grenwald, bound and gagged as they left. They must also expect the worst, and assumed they would be pursued at this point. It was hoped that Telli could perhaps find an upstairs window left open and gain entrance to the house to let the others in. The alternative to this would be breaking quickly through a window or door with the risk of rousing the sleeping occupants. Setisia insisted on taking part in the expedition, and would wait with old Abhyll and one of his men, guarding the three canoes they would escape in at a short distance from the house.

The party ate well, but avoided any drinking of wine in order to keep their heads clear for the task ahead. All their preparations made well before time, they rested quietly in the room above the tavern until midnight. When most of Kellmarsh slept, three canoes containing eight figures dressed in black left the canal by the Mendai tavern, heading silently towards the district where the city's wealthy merchants lived behind their high walls.