Tehol smiled. ‘You anticipate me, Shurq.’
‘There are sixteen guards on duty at all times, with an additional eight sleeping or gambling in the barracks, which is attached to the estate’s main house via a single covered walkway that is nineteen strides in length. All outer doors are double-barred. There are four guards stationed in cubbies at each corner of the roof, and wards skeined over every window. The estate walls are twice the height of a man.’
‘Sounds formidable.’
Shurq Elalle’s shrug elicited a wet-leather sound, though whether from her clothes or from somewhere else could not be determined.
Bugg reappeared, climbing one-handed, the other balancing a tray made from a crate lid. Two clay cups were on the tray, their contents steaming. He slowly edged onto the roof, then, glancing up and seeing the two of them, he halted in consternation. ‘My apologies. Shurq Elalle, greetings. Would you care for some tea?’
‘Don’t be absurd.’
‘Ah, yes. Thoughtless of me. Your pardon.’ Bugg walked over with the tray.
Tehol collected his cup and cautiously sniffed. Then he frowned at his manservant.
Who shrugged. ‘We don’t have no herbs, master. I had to improvise.’
‘With what? Sheep hide?’
Bugg’s brows rose. ‘Very close indeed. I had some leftover wool.’
‘The yellow or the grey?’
‘The grey.’
‘Well, that’s all right, then.’ He sipped. ‘Smooth.’
‘Yes, it would be.’
‘We’re not poisoning ourselves, are we?’
‘Only mildly, master.’
‘There are times,’ Shurq Elalle said, ‘when I regret being dead. This is not one of those times, however.’
The two men eyed her speculatively, sipping at their tea.
‘Ideally,’ she continued, ‘I would now clear my throat to cover this moment of awkwardness. But I am incapable of feeling any more awkward than is my normal state. Secondly, clearing my throat has unpleasant consequences.’
‘Ah, but Selush has devised a pump,’ Tehol said. ‘The operation will be, uh, not for the delicate. Even so, soon you shall exude the perfume of roses.’