“What?” Hohsalle was practically shouting. Milalle had just told him that the black dogs that had snuck onto the obstacle course were not Kinma dogs. “You mean Shikan wasn’t even there?!” he exclaimed.
Milalle nodded. “I don’t think he could have been. Sae told me how the Molfah cover every point of passage, and I just don’t think it would have been possible for Shikan to slip through once the net was in place.”
Hohsalle frowned. “Which means…”
“Yes. He’s probably already in the east, preparing to use ticks to spread the disease,” Milalle said. “That seems most likely.”
“But how?” Makokan asked. “We started searching for him almost immediately after he disappeared. The Molfah must have cast their net just as quickly. How could he have left Aquafa without leaving any trace at all? Perhaps the dogs got by the Molfah and moved east on their own. Yet no matter how smart they might be, they’re still just dogs. Without someone to lead them, they’d never get where Shikan wanted them to go.”
Hohsalle groaned. “You’re right. Shikan must be with them. If Ohfan and his band hadn’t needed someone to lead the pack, they wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble in the first place.”
“If so, then—,” Makokan began, but his young master cut him off.
“That’s right. The problem is how.” Hohsalle frowned. “The Zolians have tightened security for the Visit of the Emperor’s Eyes. Plus, everyone is on the lookout for dogs now. So how could Shikan possibly have gotten past a checkpoint with a whole pack of them?”
“Through Saguda Forest or the mountains?” suggested Makokan. “Or perhaps he’s hiding in a completely different spot, just waiting for an opportunity.”
Hohsalle shook his head. “The Molfah aren’t stupid. They would’ve thought of that already.”
“Yes, that’s what Sae said, too,” Milalle interjected. “They spread their net not just in the east, but in every direction to make sure he didn’t sneak behind us. And the Inner Circle of Otawalle also seems to be involved. Sae didn’t say so directly, but she implied as much.”
Hohsalle sighed. “So if Shikan has really taken the pack to the eastern forest, he must have passed undetected, not only through Zolian and Aquafaese checkpoints but also the Molfah net. And he even evaded the Inner Circle. Do you really think he’s capable of that?”
“No,” Makokan said. “That’s impossible. He may be clever, but there’s no way he could do that on his own.”
Hohsalle’s eyes narrowed. He stared blankly at Milalle without seeing her. His brain worked furiously behind his forehead, which had turned the color of alabaster, standing out against his flushed cheeks. Finally, he said, “What if he wasn’t alone?”
“Huh?” Makokan exclaimed. “You think the Ahfal Oma are helping him in secret?”
“No, not the Ahfal Oma,” Hohsalle said. “They’re being watched too closely. If someone is aiding Shikan, it has to be someone we’d never suspect.” His eyes gleamed. “Someone who could get Shikan and a pack of dogs through the Zolian and Aquafaese checkpoints without being stopped. Someone familiar with the Molfah and the Inner Circle, who has the power to get by them.”
The glint in his eyes turned to steel. Milalle opened her mouth as if to ask him a question, but he raised his hand, gesturing for her to stop. He bowed his head and remained motionless for some time. Finally, he pushed back his chair and stood.
“Excuse me,” he said. “I’m going out for a moment.”
Makokan moved to accompany him, but Hohsalle turned and cast him a forbidding scowl. “You needn’t come.”
“But—”
Ignoring him, Hohsalle strode quickly across the room and opened the door. Milalle did not ask where he was going. She knew that at times like this, he wouldn’t answer. But as she watched him leave, she could almost see a dark shadow clinging to him. Her face tense, she turned and said, “Makokan.”
He nodded. “I know. Don’t worry.” He waited just long enough for Hohsalle to walk down the corridor and exit the building, and then he left the room.
When sojourning in Aquafa, the Otawalle nobility stayed in their official residence located in the woods near the king’s hall. The afternoon sun cast a rosy glow on the trunks of the trees. A faint breeze stirred the branches, and the dappled light that fell through them danced on the ground.
A startled-looking guard came rushing out when Hohsalle rode his horse through the gate unaccompanied, but Hohsalle ignored him and hurried to the front entrance. He shoved the reins into the hands of a man sweeping the broad steps without giving him a chance to protest and ran up the stairs to the door. Striding past the servants, who bowed hastily, he headed for a room deep inside on the right.
“It’s Hohsalle!” he announced, and without waiting for an answer, he opened the door.
The two men in the room faced him with puzzled expressions. Hohsalle’s grandfather sat on the far side of a large, sturdy desk. Facing him across it was Malji, head of the Molfah.
Catching the look on Hohsalle’s face, Limuelle said, “Please give him the medicine as I directed. And don’t hesitate to tell me if anything comes up.”
Malji bowed deeply. He faced Hohsalle with a parcel wrapped in oiled paper to his chest. “It is a pleasure to see you again, sir,” he said softly, then departed before Hohsalle could respond.
“What was in that package?” Hohsalle asked. “Alajina?”
Limuelle nodded. “The treatment seems to be more effective since we started using it. Had I noticed sooner, we could have switched earlier, but it’s quite expensive. If he’s going to be using it for a long time, perhaps it was just as well that we didn’t start too early.”
Malji’s eldest son had suffered from a severe illness since he was a boy. He was almost forty now, but without Limuelle, he never would have survived so long. A bitterness swelled in Hohsalle’s breast as he gazed at his grandfather. “You used Malji, didn’t you?”
Limuelle regarded the question with surprise. “What’re you talking about?”
“Shikan and the Kinma dogs.”
Limuelle’s eyes wavered.