Page 16 of The Warrior Priest
Minnow got up and paced again. “It’s because he’s a sexless prude.”
I stared at her. “Is he?”
“He doesn’t have a wife or mistress, and he doesn’t come here to use any of the women. He’s not interested in men, either. I asked around after I met him. Folk who don’t enjoy the pleasures of the flesh are always the worst, thinking those who do enjoy it are abominations. Some try to force their prudishness onto others. That’s what I think he’s doing now.”
“When did you meet him?”
“A few years ago when he was searching for his niece. He personally came to the brothels around here, thinking one of us captured her and forced her into prostitution, or some nonsense.” She was busy pacing and didn’t look at me. She had no idea I was the niece in question. “Thank Hailia her body was found in that fire or he might have ripped these streets apart looking for her.”
If the recent roundup of prostitutes had happenedaftermy uncle saw me in the square, I would have worried there was a connection between the two incidents, and that perhaps he was hoping to flush me out, thinking I lived among the women. But according to Minnow, the women were arrested last night and he’d seen me just this morning. Their arrest wasn’t my fault.
Minnow finally came to a stop in front of the fireplace. “I hope it is his overzealous prudery behind the arrests. The governor might be sexless but the men on his council aren’t. I can name six who regularly partake of the services offered by the girls, and another three who are occasional clients. When they’re made aware of the arrests, they’ll vote to release them. The governor can’t overrule them if they’re the majority.”
Even if I could tell her about the document I’d seen in my uncle’s office, granting him power to bypass his council altogether, I wouldn’t. Minnow needed hope, and knowing such a document existed would strip it away.
For the first time since my arrival, she looked at me properly. “Are you well, Jac? You’re still thin. I have some bread, although it’s a little stale. I haven’t been to the market yet.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“So, what do you want?”
“Information. Do you know a woman named Giselle? She used to frequent the Cat and Mouse.”
“Giselle? What do you want with her?”
“So you do know her?”
“As well as anyone could. She was mysterious, coming and going as she pleased. She belonged to no man.”
That in itself was intriguing. How many women in Tilting could claim such freedom? “Was she nice?”
Minnow shrugged. “She was smart and witty, and quite the beauty. Generous with her money, too, although I can’t say where it came from. Men adored her, and women admired her.”
I sat back heavily in the chair with a sigh. “She sounds perfect.”
Minnow chuckled. “Nobody’s perfect, Jac. In Giselle’s case, it was her elusiveness that made her intriguing. Why are you asking about her?”
“Is she back in Tilting?”
“I haven’t heard, but I don’t go to the Cat and Mouse much these days. Why do you want to know?”
I tilted my head to the side and arched my brows.
“All right, all right, I won’t pry.”
I sat forward. “You said youcan’tsay where she got her money from. Does that mean you know and won’t tell?”
She removed an onion from a sack and a knife from a wooden box full of utensils. “It means I can’t say. I can only tell you she wasn’t a whore.”
“A seamstress?”
Minnow laughed. “Not her. If you’re looking for her, you’d do best to ask around at the Cat and Mouse. If she’s not there, you could follow her lover. He might lead you to her, if they’re still together. He’s a priest in Merdu’s Guards.” When I didn’t respond, she added, “We shouldn’t expect men as masculine as that to be celibate. It’s unnatural. Some keep mistresses, but not whores, mind.Theydon’t need to pay when women throw themselves at them.”
“Are you certain Giselle’s lover is a priest in Merdu’s Guards?” Perhaps the high priest had been wrong.
“He was. I saw them together at the Cat and Mouse. Not the one with the good hair who all the girls pine for—Andreas I think his name is. It was one of his friends, a Glancian man with an easy, friendly nature. Always smiling and laughing, he was.” She smiled to herself, remembering. “That was some time ago, though.”
It was Rhys, without a doubt. Of Andreas’s good friends, Vizah wasn’t full-Glancian and Rufus didn’t laugh.
