Valri lifted her impossible green eyes to Senneth’s face. “You haven’t said so, but I feel certain the question of magic has been raised for yet another critical reason.”
Senneth felt a certain admiration for the cool way that the queen invited censure. “Yes, majesty,” she said in a quiet voice. “I heard from more than one source that those who despise mystics are beginning to whisper that you are one as well.”
The king lifted his delicate gray eyebrows. “Really? They’re saying Valri is a mystic? Do they have any proof? Any instances?”
Senneth shook her head. “Not that I heard. And you know the way of rumors. People are charged with the crime that seems most heinous for that time and place. Malcontents trying to turn sentiment against the throne would naturally play on people’s growing distrust of magic.”
Valri gave her husband an unreadable look from her unnerving eyes. “I am proving to be a liability to you,” she said in a low voice. She did not seem to mind that others could hear what she said.
“Nonsense,” the king said. “You’re essential to me.”
“If my presence is rousing the Houses to war, I think you might find me dispensable.”
Baryn reached over and took her hand in his. It was less a lover’s gesture, Senneth thought, than the reassuring clasp a father might give his child. “The kingdom will fall before I put you aside,” he said.
There was a brief, uncomfortable silence as the rest of them tried to pretend they had not witnessed this scene. Senneth could not help noticing that neither the king nor the queen had refuted the basic charge. “At this point,” she said, “I don’t suppose it matters. Even if, in some grand gesture to impress the nobles, you cast the queen aside, the damage has been done. If she has the power to compromise you, she has done it already. You are better off, it seems, standing united as you face the world.”
“Exactly what I said,” the king replied. “Valri knows I would not let her leave me.”
Valri smiled tightly and trained her eyes on her shoes.
“So! Where do we stand?” the king asked in a conversational voice. “What is my next obvious step?”
“Announce your regent, make Amalie more visible, and confer with the lords you know to be loyal,” Kirra said.
“And make shows of strength to the Houses you suspect of considering treason,” Senneth said. “It might have some effect to send a few well-armed envoys into Nocklyn and Fortunalt. Let the lords know that you are aware of their machinations.”
Tayse lifted his voice for the first time. “Send a delegation to the convent at Lumanen,” he suggested. “It would not hurt the sanctimonious Lestra to get a taste of temporal power.”
The king regarded him with some interest. “You speak as if you actually had face-to-face dealings with Coralinda,” he said. “Is that possible? Time to tell me some of your adventures on the road!”
Tayse smiled briefly. “That one, at least, isn’t much to my credit. I was overtaken by men in service to the Pale Mother, and thought it better to surrender than die in battle. They brought me bound to the convent and were happy to keep me captive. The Lestra herself came to visit me, promising to convert me to the ways of the Silver Lady. There was something about her—very disturbing. I think she would go to almost any length to prove a point. It was clear she was debating whether or not it would serve her best to kill me outright—or to taunt you with the news that she had captured one of your Riders.”
The king was mesmerized. “But tell me! How did you win free?”
Tayse glanced at Senneth, for only the second or third time since they’d stepped inside this room. “Senneth, of course. Arriving at the convent gates and threatening to set the place on fire.”
Cammon clearly could not contain himself any longer; his awe seemed to have exhausted its power to keep him silent. “And threatening to set free the raelynx,” he said.
“Set free a raelynx?” the king demanded. He appeared to be hugely entertained. “Where did you find one?”
But Queen Valri seemed greatly startled at the word. Her green eyes lifted; she stared at Cammon. “You have a raelynx with you?” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “Who answers to your command?”
Cammon nodded, then pointed at Senneth. “Well, Senneth’s the one who caught him first, of course, and she’s the only one who can truly control him, but I’m learning. I can hold him for more than a day now, and not let him break free of me.”
Valri’s gaze traveled swiftly between Senneth and Cammon. “A raelynx?” she repeated. “But they almost never stray outside the Lirrens. And when they do—did you find it by the trail of slaughtered bodies it had left behind?”
“Almost,” Senneth said. “We came across a small town that the beast was terrorizing. It’s not full-grown yet, so it had not done quite so much damage as it could have. I want to take it back to the Lirrens once I—once we are finished with discussions here.”
The king still looked amused. “And where is this terrible beast? Have you left it to wander around Ghosenhall, eating my subjects at will?”
“He’s in a cage now, because Senneth thought it wasn’t safe to bring him into the city,” Cammon said. “But I thought—couldn’t he run free here in the palace grounds? I can’t stand to think of him cooped up as he’s been for so long.”
“I don’t think—” the king began, but his wife interrupted him.
“Yes. My private garden,” she said. “It is completely walled in. No one goes there except by my invitation. He will be safe there.”
Senneth transferred her thoughtful gaze from Cammon’s face to the queen’s. This is very interesting, she thought. The king said in a humorous voice, “My dear, it is not the safety of the raelynx we are so concerned about, but the safety of the humans it might want to eat.”
“It won’t trouble me,” she said.
Senneth could sense that Kirra’s eyes had also come to rest on the queen’s face and that Kirra was thinking very much what she was. Cammon just seemed relieved that someone with power was taking an interest in his beloved creature. “Can you talk to the guards, then?” he asked. “Because they won’t listen to me.”
“Yes,” she said. “As soon as we’re done here, I’ll go see to its disposition.”
The king laughed out loud. “Well, Senneth, I expected you to bring me back many interesting tidbits, but I certainly never expected you to come back with a wild animal at your back. I suppose it is true what they say about any bargain you make with a mystic.”
Senneth smiled. “It will fail you or reward you in ways you never anticipated.”
The king rose to his feet, and all of them hastily stood. “Tayse, I assume you can make provision for these young men in the barracks?”
“Yes, sire.”
“Kirra, Senneth, you are welcome to stay at the palace as long as you like. The two of you will join me for dinner, of course. We still have much to discuss.”
The king and queen were two steps from the door when Cammon blurted out, “But are you going to see about the raelynx now?”
“Cammon,” Senneth said sharply.
Queen Valri looked back at him with a ghost of a smile on her red mouth. “Come meet me in half an hour,” she said. “Ask Milo where my private garden is to be found.”
“I will, then,” Cammon called after her, but the door had already shut between him and the royal couple.
CHAPTER 35
SENNETH spun on her heel to look at those remaining in the room. Cammon still seemed distracted by thoughts of the raelynx, but the rest of them were watching her, their own faces showing various degrees of curiosity and trouble. She thought, with a moment of affection so intense that it resembled pain, that she had never trusted any group of people so much as those gathered here in this room.
“Well,” she said. “And what did we make of that?”
“He wasn’t surprised by anything you had to say,” Justin said.
“Not even the bits abou
t Amalie,” Kirra said. “And I thought those accusations might have made him angry.”
“But he’s heard them before, or thought of them himself,” Senneth said slowly.
“And already has a man picked out as regent,” Tayse added.
“Which means,” Senneth said, “that she possibly is not fit to rule. And that he knows it. And has made no provisions for what will happen upon his death.”
“Because even a good regent can’t rule forever for an incompetent heir,” Kirra said.
Donnal shook his dark head. “Makes no sense,” he said. “He’s a good king. If he had no faith in his daughter, he’d be making plans for turning over the kingdom now. He trusts her, but he knows there’s something about her that others will dislike or discredit.”
Senneth looked at Kirra. “I don’t remember the story of an attack in Ghosenhall. Do you?”
Kirra shook her head, but both Riders said, “Yes.” Justin added, “It happened before I became a Rider, but they were all still talking about it. The day the Riders saved the princess.” He grinned. “I’ve been waiting for my own chance ever since.”
“What I found even more interesting than the king’s reaction,” said Senneth, “was the things the queen said—or didn’t say.”
“Is she a mystic?” Kirra demanded.
“Exactly.”
They all gazed at Cammon, who first looked surprised and then thoughtful. “Is she?” he repeated. “I don’t know. Not the way we are—the four of us.” He waved a hand. “But she has—there’s something about her—some kind of power. I don’t know if it’s magic. I can’t read it. I can’t tell what she can do with it. But she’s—” He shrugged. “I wouldn’t call her dangerous, precisely, but—”
“She has some kind of hold on the king,” Justin said darkly.
Cammon wrinkled his forehead. “Nooo,” he said. “I wouldn’t say that. He doesn’t seem like a man enchanted.”
Donnal gave a little snort. “A man besotted. Young woman who looks like that—” He rolled his shoulders expressively.
Cammon shook his head. “No,” he said again, “he doesn’t love her.”
They all stared at him. “You can tell something like that for certain?” Kirra demanded.
Cammon nodded. “He’s not in love with her. She’s definitely not in love with him.” He shrugged.
Senneth lifted her eyes and glanced briefly at the others in the room. “So why did he marry her then?” she asked softly. “And what makes her so ‘essential’ to him?”
Tayse smiled faintly. “You’re the ones invited to the royal banquet table tonight,” he said. “Maybe you can find out.”
Cammon seemed to bounce on the balls of his feet. “How soon does the queen have to go to the banquet hall?” he asked. “Is she in the garden now, do you suppose?”
“And that’s another thing,” Kirra said. “Why was she so interested in the raelynx?”
“Just what I was wondering,” Senneth said. “Could it be that she’s from the Lirrens, where raelynxes run wild? Is that why no one knows anything about her or what House she’s from?”
“The Lirrens,” Kirra repeated, incredulous. “You think the king married a Lirren girl? But that would be so—” She shrugged. “How odd.”
“I’ve always thought the Lirrenlands were rife with a strange kind of magic,” Senneth said. “Which might make the queen a mystic—of a sort.”
Donnal looked unconvinced. “Or she might just be a Merrenstow girl who has a love for wild animals,” he said. “You have to admit, many people would be fascinated to have such a creature brought to their doors.”
“Maybe,” Senneth said. “But I must say, I almost want to go with Cammon when he meets the queen in the garden.”
Tayse gave her another one of those infrequent glances. “Or bring her with you when you take your wild animal back to the mountains.”
She smiled. “Maybe I’ll invite her along.”
Justin looked as disquieted as Senneth had ever seen him. “So what happens next?” he asked. “To us—to you, I mean? We go back to the barracks and you stay in the palace tonight and then—what? Do you just ride away in the morning? Is this the last we’ll see of you?”
Cammon looked stricken, as if none of these thoughts had crossed his mind. Kirra appeared to be faintly amused. Senneth smiled and put her hand briefly to Justin’s freshly shaved cheek.
“It will be a day or so before I ride out again—maybe more,” she said. “And I would never leave without saying good-bye. And I would never leave without seeing Cammon settled. Don’t worry yet.”
“But the adventure’s almost over,” Cammon said in a small boy’s voice.
Now Senneth smiled at him. “This one,” she said. “There are always more adventures.”
KIRRA insisted they dress for dinner and went so far as to manufacture from their traveling clothes gowns of astonishing finery. For herself, she fashioned an outfit of gold and lace, and twined lace in her golden hair to heighten the effect. For Senneth, she designed a gown of Brassenthwaite blue, relatively unadorned, but featuring a deeply plunging neckline.
“Show off your housemark!” Kirra commanded when Senneth protested. “Wear that lovely old gold necklace to cover it, but let everyone know you are who you say you are.”
“I don’t want to traipse around as Senneth Brassenthwaite.”
“Too bad,” Kirra said unsympathetically. “Because, especially in this place, that’s who you are.”
“Can’t I wear something just a little less conspicuous?”
“No,” Kirra said. “Besides, you look beautiful. It’s the perfect color for your skin. It even makes your eyes look blue.”
“Well, they’re not.”
Kirra grinned and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “After dinner, you should go down to the barracks. Show Tayse how you look in a fine gown.”
Senneth drew back sharply, both irritated and depressed. “He’d be even more likely to stay clear of me then,” she said.
Kirra was smiling. “I think you underestimate your charms.”
“I think you overlook the time,” Senneth said, turning from the mirror. “We’ll be late for dinner.”
There were maybe twenty other nobles gathered in the drawing room adjacent to the dining hall when Kirra and Senneth arrived. Senneth thought she recognized one or two—older men who might have visited Brassen Court when she was a girl—but there was no one she knew well enough to address. Kirra, of course, was familiar with everyone there and moved effortlessly between knots of people, saying hello, introducing Senneth, asking after friends and relatives. Despite her claim to hate all such social gatherings, Kirra was clearly enjoying herself and completely at ease. Senneth tried to keep her face impassive when each individual lord or lady exclaimed, “Senneth Brassenthwaite! But I thought—it’s lovely to meet you at last.” She let Kirra make most of the conversation and allowed the rest of them to think her mannerless. She didn’t want to be friends with them, anyway.
But she found her interest sharpening when Kirra led her up to a handsome, broad-shouldered man who looked just a bit impatient with the pomp and ritual of a formal dinner. He was tall, though not as tall as Tayse. His thick golden hair, which he wore unbound to his shoulders, was only slightly duller than Kirra’s. His eyes were a steady brown, and his face was serious and intelligent.
“Lord Romar,” Kirra said, drawing him away from a conversation he was auditing, and which did not seem to interest him much. “I am so pleased to see you again. You may not remember me—I’m Malcolm Danalustrous’s daughter Kirra.”
“Serra Kirra. Yes, of course I remember you,” Romar said. Senneth thought he did not sound at all certain.
“I was at your wedding last year,” Kirra said helpfully. “How do you find you like married life?”
“It is most pleasant, thank you very much.” He seemed amused. “My wife is not with me, as I am here on political business, or I’m sure she’d be happy to re
new her acquaintance with you.”
Kirra’s hand on her shoulder drew Senneth forward. “I don’t know if you’re already acquainted with Senneth Brassenthwaite or if you need an introduction.”
His eyes showed a flash of interest but no surprise; no doubt, he had been briefed by his king. “Serramarra Senneth,” he said, taking her hand in a warm clasp and looking at her with a lively curiosity. “I have had some dealings with your brothers and always found them most honest and forthright.”
It was the polite thing to say; she couldn’t bring herself to make the expected response. “You have the advantage of me. I have not dealt with my brothers in more than fifteen years,” she said in a light voice. “But I’m glad they didn’t make an effort to cheat you.”
“Sen,” Kirra hissed.
Lord Romar dropped her hand, but he appeared even more intrigued and not at all discomposed. A man who appreciated plain dealing, it would seem. “I have to confess, I was less fond of your father, but your brothers seem like honorable men,” he said. “Very loyal to my brother-in-law.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” she said.
Lord Romar glanced between Senneth and Kirra. “I hear the two of you have just come back from some adventuring on behalf of the king,” he said. “Are there any stories you can tell, or is it all secrets and political maneuvering?”
Just then a servant rang a small silver bell, and the whole crowd began to drift into the dining room. Kirra was laughing. “Some of the stories we can tell, I think,” she said. “If we are sitting near you, we will recount the best ones.”
But while Kirra was seated immediately to Romar’s left, Senneth was half a table away. She had been given the place of supreme honor at Baryn’s right hand, a fact which she could tell was causing no end of consternation and speculation among the other nobles at the table. She could not forbear giving her king a murderous look, which caused him to laugh out loud right before he introduced her to the people sitting nearest to her. High-ranking nobles of Tilt and Kianlever and Storian. Her peers, at least in theory, and she just might be related to the ones from Kianlever, if she had time to work the genealogy. Senneth murmured appropriate phrases, and answered any questions addressed to her directly, but made no other effort to be gracious. She did not feel gracious. She did not want to be made over into a Brassenthwaite heiress after spending literally half of her life escaping that identity. She decided on the spot that she would never attend a formal dinner again, in Ghosenhall or any of the holdings of the Twelve Houses. The decision restored some of her equanimity, and she ate most of her meal in a more cheerful frame of mind.