Orina asked. <He’s brought back most of our troops already and he’s left the mercenaries in charge. Order is breaking down in all the colonies. We’ll either lose our holdings completely or we’ll have to invade them all over again. It’s a catastrophe.>
<Oh, yes, I can see how that would be terrible for you. If those people in the colonies start dying again, you won’t be able to tax them. No, no. I wish I could help; I really do.>
<Maybe Lord Rho can assist you?>
<Rho?>
<Yes. Weren’t you with him last night?>
<Rho? Last night? Oh, you mean in the crypt. I remember now. More like evening than night, because I remember wondering what we’d be having for dinner.> Kira’s bland concern and vapid curiosity even in the face of such an obvious threat couldn’t possibly be real, but Rho kicked himself for not leaving the tomb the moment she turned up. He knew how rumors started, and this one would be very bad for her if it got back to Gannon. <Is there something odd about me visiting Trey’s tomb with his brother? Other than the fact that it’s empty, of course. Maybe that’s odd to you, but I don’t see the difference. It’s not like anyone ever looks inside them. Your husband is dead, too, isn’t he, Exemplar? You’ve never looked inside his tomb, have you? He might not even be in there, for all you know. Maybe it’s empty. Maybe there’s someone else in there! Wouldn’t that be funny?>
<Lady Kira—>
<Anyway, if we send all the soldiers back to the provinces, what happens when the Mongrel and the cursed come for us? If there’s no one here to fight them, we’ll all be chopped up and roasted. Don’t the cursed eat people? Or is that the Scathrings?> Rho couldn’t see from where he was hiding, but he heard a great deal of rattling. <I’m sorry, Exemplar, but I haven’t had my breakfast yet and I’m famished. Cake? No?>
<Not everyone believes the cursed are coming at all,> said Orina. <Some people believe Gannon is so nostalgic for the glory of the battlefield that he’s finding signs where there are none. He may be destroying the empire for no reason at all.>
<In that case, all you have to do is find someone to kill Gannon.>
<What?> Orina’s shock sliced at Rho straight through the wall of Aline’s room. <That’s not what I meant!>
<Oh, I know,> said Kira, <but of course you’re right. If Gannon really has invented this whole business with the cursed just to give himself something to do, then killing him will stop it, yes?>
<Lady Kira, you shouldn’t—>
<Oh, but I just remembered, if Gannon dies before his daughter gets back—she’s still stuck on those islands, apparently, what are they called? Beetlehead? Bucklehead? I don’t remember—or his son, then Betran Eotan will be the next emperor, and he’s one of those people who thinks the Stonewood Treaty was the worst thing that ever happened to Norland. Onraka’s elbows, can you imagine what would happen if he were emperor? He’d kick everybody out of Ravindal except the Eotans and start the clan wars all over again.>
<Betran was the next in line,> said Orina. <I heard that drunkard who arrived yesterday from the provinces—Eofar Eotan—is next in line now.>
Of course, gossip like that would have spread like a mattress fire, and yet Rho had still been the last to know. He would have banged his head against the wall if he hadn’t been so afraid of making a noise.
<No!> Kira cried in astonishment. <Eofar? Well, then that’s perfect. You and the other exemplars should have no trouble controlling a provincial rube like that once you’ve killed Gannon. You’re not leaving already, Exemplar? You’re sure you don’t want any cake?>
Orina declined and rattled off some obligatory words of thanks for the interview. Rho saw the big emerald ring on her finger flash as she headed toward the door.
<Well, good night!> Kira called after her. <I mean, good morning! I’m going to bed now, so for me it’s either, or both, really. Goodbye! Yes, that’s better. Goodbye!>
Kira collapsed into her chair as soon as the door closed and Rho felt her weariness like a weight on his chest.
<I knew they were thinking about assassinating Gannon,> she told Aline. The complete shift in her tone and manner stopped Rho with his hand against the door. <I wonder who they were going to get to do it? I can’t imagine any Norlander willing to face the punishment that would come in the After-realm for murdering the emperor. Maybe they were going to use the Mongrel, since she has the impertinence to be alive and breathing. Gods, that would fit the prophecy, wouldn’t it? Well, let’s hope I’ve put them off. I’ve always suspected Orina to be a bit of a coward, anyway; she won’t do anything if she thinks it’ll blow back on her. Rho, are you going to skulk around in my hand-servant’s closet all morning, or did you have some other reason for coming? What is going on here today? Did I leave a sign outside announcing new visiting hours?>
Rho came through the door.
<What are you doing here?> asked Kira.
<What am I—? You sent for me.>
<No,> said Kira, <I most certainly did not.>
<Then you didn’t send Aline to get me?> he asked, with the familiar sinking feeling of having been duped.
<No, I didn’t.> Kira pushed herself up out of the chair to face her servant. <Aline, not that this isn’t cozy, but would you be kind enough to explain what this is all about?>
Rho could feel the defiance leaking out from between the cracks of the girl’s modest demeanor, though what she must once have considered a good idea had apparently lost some of its luster.
<I was just … > Aline tailed off and twisted her hands together.
Kira went over to her and patted her back. <It’s all right. Whatever you were thinking, I’m sure you meant it for the best. Just tell us.>
Aline pointed at Rho. <Since he’s already a murderer,>—the girl stopped and took a deep breath, looking at her mistress with determination—<I think he should kill the witch.>
Chapter 18
Kira felt Rho’s horror on the other side of Aline’s pointing finger and wished the ceiling would just fall in and crush them all.
<You’ve made a terrible mistake, Aline,> she said, stepping in front of Rho and pushing the girl’s finger down. <Just don’t say anything else. Lord Rho has better things to do than worry about our petty little problems. I have everything in hand.>
<What is she talking about?> asked Rho.
He looked like he hadn’t slept at all, and he stood in the middle of her carpet like an ursa who’d been pulled from his cave in the wrong season.
<He already said he murdered someone,> Aline said again, ignoring Rho. <He’s already damned in the After-realm, so it won’t make any difference to him. When the witch is dead, we can get Berril and leave Ravindal, just like you promised.>
<You told her about Dramash’s mother?> asked Rho, in a voice like a pinprick.
<You did that yourself, idiot,> said Kira. The floor shifted back and forth under her feet, as if the whole house was a stack of plates about to topple over. <She was outside Trey’s tomb when we were talking last night. I didn’t know you’d be blurting out confessions.>
<And now you want me to murder someone else for you? Of course. Why not? Just one person, or do you have a list?>
<Stop it,> she snapped. <This was an error of judgment on Aline’s part, that’s all.>
<At least you’ve stopped pretending to be that simpering moron. Now are you going to tell me what’s really going on?>
<No, I’m not,> said Kira, trying to hide her panic. <I’m going to ask you to get out of my room.>
<Please tell him, my Lady,> said Aline. <You heard what he said last night. He should know.>
<Aline, please, don’t say any more.>
<Lord Rho’s his brother,> the girl went on insistently, ignoring Kira’s frank dismay. <What if you had never told me about Berril?>
<Did you say my “brother?”> Rho backed up until he collided with her dressing table, making the little things on top rattle. <Kira, I swear to Onfar, if you don’t tell me what is going on right now—>
<It’
s better that you don’t know.>
<Oh, is it? So, I’ll just leave then,> said Rho, folding his arms.
<Your brother—> said Aline.
<No! Aline, what—?> Kira looked at the girl standing there, flushed, with one hand clutching the wooden pendant Kira had brought back to her, the one she had taken from little Berril’s maimed hand. <All right. All right, I’ll tell him, since you’ve left me no choice. Go over to Eotan Castle and find out when they’re going to open Eowara’s tomb.>
<Midday, is what I heard.>
<Yes, my Lady,> said Aline, and shot off as if she was afraid Kira might change her mind.
Kira waited for her to leave, with Rho staring at her as if he expected her to burst into flames. As soon as the door closed behind Aline, he went to the little table where her half-eaten breakfast had yet to be cleared.
<So, there’s something you want to tell me about Trey,> said Rho, <and whatever it is will explain why you and your hand-servant want me to murder a witch. Something tells me I may need a drink.>
<You never answered my letters,> Kira told him, sitting back down. <I wrote to tell you that Trey had died and you never responded. Not a word.>
<I did write a letter … but I threw it on the fire.> Rho lifted up the wine jug and turned it around for a better look. Trey had sent it back from one of his campaigns. It had a decorative spout made to look like the head of some goat-like creature with whimsically curled horns. <That was one of my better decisions, actually. I wasn’t in the best frame of mind when I wrote it.>
<I’m not blaming you. I only want you to understand why I didn’t tell you before now. And besides, I swore an oath.> Kira tented her fingers and watched the glow at the center of the fire. <I’ve never broken my word before. I’ll just have to hope he forgives me.>
<I’m sure he won’t care.> Rho poured the wine into one of her dainty little cups. <He’s supposed to be cavorting in the After-realm with Onfar and Onraka. Why should he care what we do now?>
<Trey isn’t with the gods in the Celestial Hall.>
<No? You think he went to the Under-realm after all?>
<He’s not in any After-realm.> She waited while he took a sip of the wine, and then watched him lift up the jug for more. <Rho, I’m trying to tell you that Trey is still alive.>
He made a noise—it was a small noise, but she had never heard any Norlander make any sound like it before. He set the cup and jug back down very deliberately, then his distress swept through the room like black smoke flooding in from behind a newly opened door. Kira couldn’t breathe; she hunched over in her chair and tried to wall herself off from him, but she couldn’t escape the crushing pressure of his shock.
<Tell me,> said Rho at last, his hand still gripping the handle of the wine jug.
She told him what had happened that day in the forest; about how Trey had begged to be left to die with whatever honor was left to him, and how Gannon and the others had dragged her away. Then she told him about going back. Rho stayed at the table, saying nothing. He didn’t move when she finished. He just stood there with his fingers moving over the glazed pottery, wiping up a few beads of wine that had dripped down the side.
<So you left him in that place and pretended he was dead,> he said at last. <You never spoke to him again.>
<I swore to that woman—Cyrrin—that I would never go back.>
<That was three years ago,> he pointed out. <You don’t even know if he’s still alive. What are the chances he could survive out there, living like that?>
<He’s still alive. I’d feel it somehow if he wasn’t. Or they would find some way to get word to me.>
The dishes rattled as Rho pushed himself away from the table. <You’re going to take me there.>
<No.> Kira shrank back in the chair as he came forward and loomed over her. <That’s one of the reasons I didn’t tell you. I can’t take you there.>
<I need to see my brother. I don’t care whether or not you come with me. Just tell me where to find them.>
<Rho, please don’t,> she said, standing up to push him back. <Don’t do this to him.>
<To him? To him?>
<He doesn’t want anyone to see him, not the way he is now.> His incredulity splashed over her like scalding water, dissolving her skin and leaving every nerve exposed. <Can’t you understand? Would you want him seeing you like that if your situations were reversed?>
Rho stepped back away from her and she could feel him trying to leash his emotions, but he kicked the leg of the dressing table with enough force to send the items closest to the edge tipping over and rolling onto the floor.
<You just left him there?> Rho said again. <Three years—three years he’s been out there, and the whole time you were here, just a few hours’ ride away?>
<I may not be wise, but I told you, I went through nearly the same thing with someone I cared about. I didn’t tell her to go hide in a cave and never come out,> said Rho. <You could have found some way to help him. You could have gone somewhere with him.>
<Oh, of course! I never thought of that. I could have taken him to some hut in the middle of nowhere, where he could spend the next fifty years listening to the wind blow.> She could no longer stand the sickly taste of her own sarcasm. <For Onfar’s sake, I’d have put my own sword through him first and let the gods praise me for it. You’ve never really known him at all, have you?>
<Or you, apparently,> said Rho.
Kira rode out the pause, pretending to wait for him to say something more. <Am I supposed to infer something from that remark?>
<So what was your solution exactly? Did it have something to do with jumping into bed with Gannon? How long has that been going on, anyway? Is that ninny act of yours for his benefit?>
<I have my reasons,> Kira shot back.
<That’s no surprise. I’d love to hear them.>
Kira’s jaw was beginning to ache from clenching her teeth. <The witch has a potion that lets her see the future—>
<Shadari divining elixir,> he broke in. <I know all about it. I’ve seen it at work in the Shadar.>
<Then you know that one of these days she might see something about Trey and the others, especially now that Gannon has become obsessed with the cursed. That’s why Aline wanted you to kill Ani, to stop anyone from finding out.>
<What does that have to do with you bedding Gannon?>
<I needed a reason to be close to him without him being constantly on his guard,> she said. <If Ani said something, I could warn Trey and give him time to get away. Not that it matters much now, since Gannon no longer seems to care who knows about the witch and her visions.>
<Well, you seem to be enjoying it, anyway. This little act of yours.>
<Oh, I am.> Kira watched him pace, feeling each step pounding in her head. <You’d be surprised how much you can get away with when people think you’re an idiot. I haven’t fooled them all, but as long as I pretend not to understand them when they insult me to my face, they can’t prove otherwise.>
<I see,> said Rho, apparently more interested in the tapestry on the back wall than in the topic he had raised.
<But I was also lonely,> she drawled, using her own shame as a weapon against him, <and Gannon is an excellent lover. I hated him, of course, but I hated myself just as much, so that wasn’t much of an obstacle.>
Rho paled and then flushed in quick succession. <I shouldn’t have said anything about Gannon,> he said. <It’s none of my business whose bed you rumple.>
<Maybe this is what I should have done, instead.> Kira jerked her jeweled knife out of its sheath as she swung over to the dressing table. She swept her arm across the littered surface, scattering the jars, bottles, combs and
pins to the floor. She tested the blade on the silk covering of the dressing table before raising it to her cheek. <It wouldn’t take much; just a cut, left open to fester. Then I’d just have to wait for them to strip me and set me out, and hope that Cyrrin’s people found me before the cold got to me, or before the wolves caught my scent.>
Kira stopped. It really would be that easy. Anyone with an ounce of real courage would have done it from the very beginning. Her own image stared back accusingly from the mirror: flushed, wild-eyed, hair askew. She had abandoned her husband to the care of strangers and then gone right back to her safe, comfortable life. She wasn’t protecting Trey; she was keeping him trapped like a fish in a bowl so she could have some way of living with herself. The blade flashed in the firelight as she pressed the flat against her sharp cheekbone, and then pressed down harder until blood welled up in a single fat drop. A heartbeat later, a quick flash of pain burned across her face and she gasped.
Rho’s dark shape streaked by in the mirror and he seized her forearm with enough force to yank her up out of the chair, then he dug his fingers into her wrist and twisted until she had no choice but to drop the knife. She sank back down onto the floor when he finally let her go, feeling the drop of cool blood running down her neck and under the collar of her shirt.
He sat down across from her, heavily, as if his legs had given out, and tossed her knife away. The perfume from a broken bottle laced the air between them with the scent of some exotic flower. Neither of them moved at all until a loud snap from the fire made them both jump.
<You weren’t really going to do that,> stated Rho, as if reassuring himself.
<I don’t know,> Kira responded. <If I thought he wanted me … But he sent me away and told me not to come back.>
<Well, you’d better take care of that cut or it will get infected whether you want it to or not,> said Rho, getting to his feet. He went over to the table and found a clean napkin, then twisted it up and dunked one end in the water ewer. He came back and knelt down beside her, close enough for her to see the beginnings of a beard on his jutting Arregador chin, and for a moment she thought he was going to clean the wound for her. Instead, he only handed her the damp cloth. <Here. If you clean it, it should heal up in an hour or so.>