Traitor's Sun

  is this? Rafael didn't . . ." She and the children had had dinner in Gisela's

  suite the night before, and her sister-in-law had not been hurt then. It had

  been a pleasant meal, much less formal than the lengthy suppers of the previous

  evenings. Meeting Gisela and Rafael's children, Casilde, the oldest, and the two

  boys, Damon and Gabriel, had been pleasant, and Ter‚se and Amaury had become

  quite noisy in the presence of their new cousins.

  Gisela looked horrified at this suggestion. "Oh, no! Never. Not even when I

  deserved it!"

  "Who, then? And don't try to tell me you ran into the door or something-someone

  hit you!"

  "Yes." Gisela did not speak further for a few seconds. "My father."

  "Your father? But why?" just then Rosalys, the maidservant, appeared from the

  other end of the suite, where she had a room near the children. "Will you get us

  some tea, Rosalys, and something to eat?" Kate took the bundle of clothing from

  Gisela, and held it out. "Please see that these are hung up, too."

  "Certainly, domna." The servant gave the two women a curious look, took the

  garments, then bustled off to attend to the matter.

  Kate drew Gisela toward the chairs that were placed around the hearth in the

  sitting room. The fire had died down overnight, so Katherine added a small log

  and poked the embers into life. Then she turned around and began to chafe her

  sister-in-law's icy hands. She felt a callus which had begun to form across the

  right palm, where Gisela held her carving knife, and saw a tiny cut on one

  slender finger as well. A single tear swelled in one of Gisela's eyes and rolled

  down her cheek. "Will you tell me what happened?" She brushed away the tear with

  her fingers, then drew off her shawl and draped it around the shoulders of the

  other woman.

  Huddled in the chair, Gisela just shuddered. Then she looked up and said in a

  small voice "I did not know where to go." And then, in a stronger tone, she

  added, "And I don't want any damned tea!"

  "Oh." Kate glanced around the room, hearing the wailing pipes from outside the

  castle, and the soft sigh of the morning wind. Then she saw that there was a

  tray with a carafe of firewine and several glasses sitting on the table. She

  walked over, poured a glass, and brought it back to her sister-in-law. Gisela

  gulped it down in a few swallows, gasped, and began to cough.

  Katherine pounded her between the shoulders until the fit passed, and the color

  began to return to Giz's cheeks. "Another glass?" A nod answered her. This time

  Gisela only sipped from it, then leaned back into the comforting chair and gave

  a long sigh.

  "I haven't seen him like this in years," she began. "Whatever happened at the

  Council meeting yesterday put him in a fury, and somehow it was all my fault."

  Katherine felt confused. "But you weren't even there-we were in my studio! They

  were all at that meeting, weren't they, your father and everyone, and they never

  came back for dinner."

  Gisela gave a bitter laugh. "I hadn't told him that Mikhail and Rafael were

  reconciled, mostly because it wasn't any of his business. So he went to the

  Crystal Chamber all ready to propose that since Mikhail was not acceptable to

  all of the Council, then my husband should be instead. As near as I can tell, he

  never even got to suggest it before some sort of hell broke loose. I don't know

  exactly what happened, but the trap matrices in the chamber were smashed to

  bits, and there was a lot of shouting and table pounding. I am so glad I was

  with you!"

  "I am, too." Kate had no idea what a trap matrix was, but it sounded

  frightening. There were so many things she did not know, and more she could not

  understand. "Rafael didn't tell you . . ."

  "I haven't seen him, Kate. All I know is that everyone on the Council was in the

  Crystal Chamber until very late, and that after that, Rafael went off on some

  errand for Mikhail. He sent me a note." The wine seemed to have invigorated her

  a little, and some color was returning to her unnaturally pale skin.

  "When did you see your father, then?"

  "About two hours ago-he came slamming into the suite, dragged me up out of bed,

  and started screaming at me. That woke the children, and Gabriel tried to make

  him let me go, and got tossed on the floor. It was horrible, with the children

  screaming and my father shaking me by the shoulders and . . ." She stopped, drew

  a shuddering breath, and tried to calm herself. "I had taken a draught before

  bed, and I was so tired. He never told me that I was supposed to keep Rafael and

  Mikhail at odds, Kate! I don't know if I would have if I could. But, thinking it

  all over, I suppose that the reason he had me trying to get Regis to change his

  heir designate, all those years back, was just to make trouble between them. I

  feel like such a fool!" Gisela broke into fresh tears.

  "Why? The only fool in this seems to be Dom Damon. He used you, Giz, and you

  fell into his plans without realizing clearly what it might mean. But, if there

  is any blame, I think Dom Damon deserves the larger portion." Kate could almost

  feel the waves of near-hysteria that were flowing from Gisela, and she was very

  glad that Marguerida had suggested the idea of empathy to her, or otherwise she

  might have felt she was going mad herself. And she wanted nothing but to make it

  cease-immediately. It was nearly a physical sensation-like being pricked by

  invisible knifepoints.

  She had taken an almost immediate dislike to her father-in-law when she had met

  him at last the night after Herm left, and had come to the conclusion that one

  reason her husband had left was to avoid encountering the man. Now she was ready

  to hate him without reservation for upsetting Gisela and hurting her.

  The sobs subsided slowly. Gisela mopped her wet face with a rather soiled

  hankerchief, then gulped down the rest of her glass of wine. "There is that, but

  it doesn't make me feel very much less dreadful and guilty. When I saw Mik and

  Rafael embrace three days ago, I was so happy for both of them. And when Rafael

  went to the Council meeting, after years of being excluded because of me, I was

  glad. Then my damn father had to try to ruin everything, and when he failed, he

  . . . punched me in the face." She lifted her empty hand and gingerly touched

  the bruise. "He called me terrible things, and I just wanted to kill him, Kate!"

  "I'm so sorry, breda. " The sense of being assaulted was fading now, and Kate

  was less uncomfortable.

  "I should have. Mikhail would probably have given me a prize if I had."

  "Maybe." She was glad Gisela had not murdered her father, even if he deserved

  it. She sat down in the chair across from the other woman, pushed her unbound

  hair off her shoulders, and shook her head in wonder. "Are things always this .

  . . dramatic?"

  "Oh, no," Gisela said solemnly. "Sometimes nothing happens for years and years."

  "Then I suppose they were saving it up for my arrival," Kate answered dryly. She

  hated raised voices and arguments but realized that the entire castle was full

  of people in the midst of a serious dispute. For a moment, Katherine wished she

  were back in th
e small apartment she and Herm had occupied, on an overcrowded

  world where everyone was very careful to be polite, lest the peace officers cite

  them with a civil violation and fine them. Or back on Renney, with the smell of

  the sea. The feeling passed, leaving her a little forlorn.

  That was too much, and Giz gave a sputtering chuckle. Rosalys returned with a

  tray a minute later. There was a pot of tea and baked cakes on a plate. The

  scent of mint rose and floated through the air of the sitting room, mingling

  pleasantly with the smell of balsam from the fireplace. In the few days since

  her arrival, she had started to become accustomed to the odors of old stone and

  burning wood, and even to enjoy them. After years in a centrally heated

  building, the simple pleasure of the hearth, different from that of her

  homeworld but reminiscent as well, was a source of comfort.

  Katherine rose and was beginning to fill mugs with tea when there was another

  knock on the door. She looked up, startled and with the beginning of a sense of

  ill-usage. People should not be calling so early, and while she was still in her

  nightdress! The maidservant darted over and opened it and Marguerida came in. A

  moment later Amaury wandered out from the other part of the suite, knuckling his

  eyes sleepily.

  "What's that sound?" the boy asked his mother, then noticed that there were

  others present. He pulled his robe closer around his slender body and blushed a

  little. "It gives me shivers."

  "Pipes, Amaury. We call them seapipes on Renney, but I don't know the name

  here."

  "It sounds like someone hurting a cat," the boy announced, and then reddened as

  the three women laughed at his remark. "Well, it does," he added defensively.

  "We call them bagpipes, Amaury, and you are not the first to have made that

  comparison," Marguerida told him wearily. She looked tired and faded, dressed in

  a robe of the same dark hue as the garments that Gisela had brought with her

  earlier. It was the color of twilight, a very dark blue with a purplish

  undertone, and the first clothing that Katherine had seen that was not adorned

  with embroidery. She glanced from Gisela to Kate, and back again, and if she was

  surprised to find them together, she seemed too exhausted to remark on it.

  Remembering that Gisela had said that the meeting had gone on into the middle of

  the night, Kate guessed that Marguerida had not had much sleep. That, at least,

  was something she could deal with. "Here, sit down this instant, Marguerida. You

  look ready to drop in your tracks. Rosalys has just brought tea, and I insist

  you drink some. Have you eaten anything?" Katherine half shoved the other woman

  into the chair beside Gisela, and realized she had acted as she did as much for

  her own comfort as for Marguerida's. Where, on their previous encounters, she

  had sensed little or nothing, she now could feel distress of some sort. She went

  toward the table and the serving tray, and discovered that Amaury had seated

  himself and was already munching on a cake.

  "I . . . don't remember," Marguerida said softly. She put her elbows on the arms

  of the chair and her capable hands hung listlessly from the wrists. "I've been

  up most of the night," she added, as if this explained everything. "And I need

  to tell you something that is likely going to upset you . . . ." She turned her

  head and studied Gisela briefly, and her weary eyes widened as she took in the

  bruise on Giz's cheek.

  Marguerida half-rose, leaning on the arm of the chair, and extended her hand

  towards the other woman's face. "Who did this to you?" Her voice, faint a moment

  before, was furious. She was shaking with rage. She brushed the bruise with the

  fingers of her right hand and flinched.

  Katherine moved swiftly, sensing that Marguerida's iron control had at last

  reached its limits. She was glad, at that moment, that all she possessed was

  empathy, because she was sure that if she could have read Marguerida's mind at

  that instant, she would have hated what she would hear. Instead, she forced the

  woman to sit down again. Then, pinning her down by putting her hands on the arms

  of the chair, she leaned forward, so their faces were only a handspan apart, and

  said, "Do not move for at least the next five minutes."

  "You are very masterful, Kate," Marguerida murmured, submitting, and leaning her

  head against the back of the chair. She let her eyes close, breathing slowly and

  deeply, her hands resting in her lap. Then, after a couple of minutes, she

  asked, "Who hit you, Giz?"

  "My father."

  "Will you mind very much if I kill him?"

  Gisela looked shocked, then amused, and Amaury suddenly got up and left the room

  abruptly, clearly uncomfortable. "No, but I would prefer to do it myself,

  actually."

  "Yes, I should not be greedy, and try to have all the treats for myself. Do you

  think you could spare me a leg or an arm-just to properly vent my outrage? No, I

  suppose not. There was mention of tea, I believe." Her control had returned, and

  her voice was nearly emotionless. She might have been discussing the weather,

  not homicide, and Katherine was glad that her son had left the room before he

  heard the last remark. She didn't think either of the women were serious, but

  she was not absolutely sure.

  Gisela smiled a little and nodded. "Perhaps we could tie him, hand and foot, to

  several horses, then drive them apart."

  "That would be extremely satisfactory," Marguerida replied. "I do enjoy

  designing painful demises for certain people. Only those who deserve such

  treatment, of course, because I am not usually murderous this early in the day."

  "No, only when bandits attack you in the middle of the night," Giz returned, and

  both women laughed pleasantly.

  Kate listened to the conversation with some consternation, and wondered what

  they were speaking about. It sounded as if they were talking about an actual

  event-had Marguerida killed a bandit? As much as she wanted to demand an

  explanation, she held herself back. Instead, she laced the mugs of tea with a

  heavy-scented honey from a small pot that sat on the tray. Silence, except for

  the moan of the pipes, filled the suite. She noticed then that the steady beat

  of drums had been added, so deep that Kate had barely registered them at first.

  The tune had changed, too, to yet another slow, sad song.

  The women drank their tea and ate still warm cakes, and except for Marguerida's

  mourning clothes, it might have been just an ordinary day. The maid had vanished

  into the children's part of the suite, and they were alone with their thoughts.

  Finally, Marguerida roused herself. "Kate, after the funeral, we are going to

  send all the youngsters away to Arilinn, including your own. They will be safer

  there than here, if our guesses are right."

  She didn't want to know what sort of guesses Marguerida was talking about, but

  she must find out what was going on. This sudden announcement seemed to come out

  of the blue, and she felt at a loss about how to react to it. Was she supposed

  to go with the children to this Arilinn place? Kate stood, torn between her need

  to remain with her children, and her des
ire to see Herm! Well, she could hardly

  let Amaury and Ter‚se go off to this unknown place without her, could she? "Why

  won't they be safe here?" she finally managed to ask, then added, "They have

  never been away from me, in their lives."

  "I did not realize that," Marguerida responded slowly. "I assure you, they will

  be completely safe at Arilinn." She shifted in the chair, and sipped a little

  tea. "We are concerned that while we are on the way to the rhu fead, the

  Federation may try to occupy the castle. We have prepared for this possibility,

  and I think that if Lyle Belfontaine decides to attempt it, he will be extremely

  surprised at his reception. But we do not want to risk the children." She seemed

  too tired to continue.

  "I see." Kate wondered for a moment, finding the idea too overwhelming to absorb

  easily. "I believe you, but . . ."

  Gisela interrupted. "But you want to see Hermes, so you can box his ears into

  the next tenday. I don't think my brother is nearly good enough for you, Kate!

  But you can't be in two places at one time." She thought for a moment. "I'll go

  with them, since my own youngsters must go to Arilinn as well. I'll manage

  somehow-even if I include Roderick, Alanna, and Yllana."

  Marguerida gave Gisela a searching look. "That is very kind of you." Then, as if

  unable to restrain herself, she added, "And quite uncharacteristic."

  Gisela shrugged. "I am, as you probably noticed last evening, Kate, not a

  completely wonderful mother. Don't look so shocked. I know it's true. But, I can

  look after yours, mine, and Marguerida's until we reach the Tower-I'm just lazy,

  not uncaring."

  "What has gotten into you, Giz?" Marguerida asked bluntly.

  A sweet smile crossed the other woman's face, and there was a twinkle in her

  puffy eyes. "Kate has made me see the error of my ways-haven't you, breda?" Then

  she touched the bruise lightly. "I don't want people to see me like this, and

  ask nosy questions, or think Rafael has finally done what everyone hoped he

  would do years ago. So if both of you will entrust me with your offspring, I

  shall be a good aunty, and see they wash their faces before bedtime."

  "Have you bewitched her?" Marguerida asked seriously, turning toward Kate.

  "I don't think so," Katherine replied, still caught up in her own conflicted

  feelings. Was it safe to let Gisela take her children? After all, she barely