The Palace of Lost Memories

Chapter 25

Hammer rode hard to the village flanked by five guards. I rode in the slower carriage. The driver had orders to take me directly home. Hammer shouldn't have bothered; I would have gone straight home anyway. I had no intention of following them to Tam's. I didn't want to be in the same room as the man responsible for my father's death.

But I'd hardly stepped out of the carriage when Max arrived on horseback and ordered me to follow him. "Bring your medical bag," he said.

"What's wrong?"

"Tao's been stabbed."

I thanked Hailia that the guards weren't hurt, then I prayed to the goddess that Tam would live; not because I cared but because I wanted him to give us answers.

At the house, four children huddled together outside a room guarded by two of Hammer's men. A mournful wail came from inside the room and the children burst into tears.

I pushed past the guards and knelt by Tam's body. I hadn't seen Mistress Tao in years, but I recognized the woman with long gray hair kneeling on Tam's other side. She was much older than I remembered and her face swollen from crying. The wailing came from deep within her.

Someone had torn open Tam's shirt and tried to stem the flow of blood with a cloth. I removed the soaked cloth and inspected the wound. It looked deep and had been made with a narrow, sharp blade.

"Can you do anything, Josie?" Mika asked in a trembling voice. I hadn't seen him standing there in the corner.

I checked for a pulse at Tam's throat and shook my head. "He's gone."

The woman let out another wail. Mika crouched beside her and folded her into his arms. He stared at me over the top of her head, his eyes brimming with tears.

"I'm sorry," I said, pathetically. I felt awful for not caring more. Whatever he'd done, Tam had been a much loved father and husband.

The guards at the door stepped aside and Hammer entered with Max. He raised his brows at me and I shook my head. A muscle in his jaw bunched.

"Mika?" he asked. "Is that your name?"

Mika nodded.

"Come with us to the kitchen. We have to ask you some questions."

"Now?" I asked. "Captain, he's just lost his father."

His cool gaze connected with mine. "We haven't got time to waste."

Mika let his mother go and followed Hammer out of the room. Mistress Tao stared down at her husband and continued rocking back and forth. I wasn't entirely sure if she was aware of anything other than the lifeless body and her own grief.

"The festivities are tonight," Max told me quietly. "It'll be harder to keep an eye on things, and the captain won't rest until the poisoner is caught."

"Poison," Mistress Tao murmured. "He should never have sold it. Should never have supplied it."

"Mistress Tao?" I prompted. "Did Tam talk to you about traitor's ease?"

She nodded.

Max ordered one of the other guards to fetch Hammer.

"He hated himself for what he'd done," she went on. "He hated that he told the poisoner about your father. He didn't—" She closed her mouth when Hammer strode in.

"What do you know about the poison?" Hammer asked.

She sidled away from him toward me. I took her hand in mine. This was a woman who rarely left the house. Like my reclusive neighbor, she must find men like Hammer intimidating.