I returned to my rooms and with the help of a maid dressed carefully for the evening’s reception. I am concerned at the weariness I saw on Louisa’s face this afternoon, but hope that information will soon come to light on this new drama in her life. Goddess knows she needs a break! Other thoughts fly through my head about Minos and his remarkable change. I am contemplating what could have caused such a drastic personality shift in him as I finish my toilette. I stand and go to the door, only for it to open from the outside. Minos is standing there, a smile on his lips that doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Hello my love,” he says as he brushes my cheek with a kiss. “I hope you and Lou had a nice visit this afternoon.”

I smile back. “We did indeed. She has much preying on her mind that I wish I could take from her.” We start walking down to the reception for the General’s son. I sober the tone of our conversation. “Did you hear the news about Corwin’s body? Louisa went to pay her final respects to the grave and his body was missing!”

“I had indeed heard. Julian sent a messenger to ask for my assistance, but I was out of the villa when he arrived.”

“You were? How did you spend your day? Where did you go?” I cannot seem to keep these questions inside.

My husband’s face darkens slightly at them, but replies all the same. “I was preparing for our trip on the morrow. Overseeing supplies and talking to my men to prepare themselves.”

This explanation makes perfect sense. With the entourage of men and others with him, Minos is wise to think of alerting them to our departure so they can join us. We drop this topic as we enter the dining chamber set aside for the reception.

Louisa is talking to her children, but is looking even worse than she did when I left her. My heart goes out to her, but I don’t join her. I know she is just making an appearance before heading to her private meal with her old friend.

I scan the crowd already assembled, noting a face or 2 I haven’t yet met, when I feel Minos tense beside me. “What is it, my dear?” I ask him.

“Is that Jihanus over there?” he asks, pointedly looking at a side door I had not noticed in my own scan of the room. An officer garbed in a helm and cloak very similar to Han’s is standing in the darkened doorway. Even from this distance, I can tell he doesn’t have Jihanus’s posturing, and I know that he is not my…friend.

“I do not think so,” I reply. “He does look a lot like our friend though, does he not? I’ll have to give him a hard time next time I see him since he told me once that his helmet was one of a kind.” I laugh at this, and Minos joins me. I continue to smile at this joke, even though I realize what I have just said. If Jihanus’s helmet is here, he must not be far off himself. Unless the unthinkable has happened and he came to some harm. But I won't let myself think this kind of thoughts. My heart beats faster as I reexamine the room for him. I cover this with the comment “I wonder who that newcomer is. Minos, have you seen her before?” I point out a girl who is accompanied by Talis. The stranger is looking around the room as if she herself is on the lookout for someone. Curious and curiouser!