He reached up his hands to help her dismount.
That was a courtesy to which she wasn’t accustomed, but she did her best to let him assist her. Geraden swung down and came to her side; at once, he bowed formally to Prince Kragen.
“My lord Prince, I haven’t been properly presented, but you’ve named me. I’m Geraden, the seventh son of the Domne, an Apt of the Congery of Imagers.
“As you say, we have a remarkable story to tell.” Somehow, he contrived to sound like he couldn’t think of a single reason to distrust the Prince. “And there must be a lot you could tell us, if we can persuade you to do it.”
“Geraden.” Elega had come forward while Terisa was focused on Prince Kragen. Her face and form were in shadow now, with the paradoxical result that she looked brighter, keener; more capable. “What does this mean?” she demanded. “Why are you here? And how? Surely you will not ask us to believe that this is nothing more than another of your colossal mishaps?”
“No,” Geraden replied. “On the other hand, I do expect you to believe that it’s hard for me to trust you enough to tell you anything.”
There: he had given the first hint of his loyalties; therefore of his intentions. Terisa held her breath, afraid that he might be risking too much too soon.
Fortunately, Kragen wasn’t surprised enough to react badly. He knew what had happened to Nyle’s attempt to reach the Perdon: he was probably able to take Geraden’s loyalties for granted. Before Elega could respond to Geraden’s gibe, Prince Kragen stepped between them and took Terisa’s arm.
“We will discuss such things thoroughly, I assure you,” he remarked, “but I can see no reason why we should not discuss them in comfort – and in private.” With his hand on her arm, he urged Terisa into motion, steering her toward the largest of the surrounding tents. “In addition, I have offered you the Alend Monarch’s hospitality, and he does not like to be refused.” As if she weren’t already moving – as if she had a choice – he asked, “Will you come with me?”
Terisa nodded. But she didn’t let out her breath until she saw that both Geraden and Elega were following.
The Prince took her into what she realized after a moment was a fore-tent. It was lit only by the braziers which warmed it, with the result that its furnishings were obscure, vaguely ominous; the chairs seemed to crouch in the dimness, as unpredictable as beasts. Prince Kragen clapped his hands, however, and called for lamps as well as wine. The servants responded almost instantly; soon warm yellow light filled the fore-tent, and the danger crept away, hiding in the darkness at the tops of the tentpoles, or in the shadows behind the chairs.
“The Alend Monarch has gone to his bed,” Prince Kragen said casually. “Otherwise he would welcome you himself. This tent serves as his council chamber, and I doubt” – he smiled – “that there is a man in all the camp who would dare eavesdrop on what is said here. We will speak freely.”
Briskly, he got Terisa, Geraden, and Elega seated. When the wine had been served, he took a chair himself. Terisa drank a gulp of the fine vintage, trying to control her nervousness; but Elega watched her and Geraden, while Geraden faced the Prince.
Prince Kragen toyed with his goblet. “My lady Terisa, Geraden, these are complex times. I suspect that all stories are remarkable. Nevertheless your arrival here suggests questions to which I must have answers.”
“Forgive me, my lord Prince,” Geraden put it as if he hadn’t heard Kragen. “So much has happened—The last we knew, Cadwal was marching. A vast army. Where is it? What’s happened to the Perdon? How has Orison been able to hold you back so long?”
“Geraden, I am in command of this siege.” The Prince’s voice became a soft purr, a threat. “This army is mine. I wish to understand how you come to be here.”
“Of course” – Geraden allowed himself a slight, suggestive pause – “my lord Prince. On the other hand, I wish to be able to measure the consequences of what I tell you. I’m talking to an honorable enemy and a dishonorable friend.” He ignored the way Elega stiffened, the violet flare of her gaze. “Knowledge is power. I don’t want to place a weapon in the wrong hands.”
“You will not.” Prince Kragen might have been a cat pretending that he wasn’t about to spring. “You will place it in my hands.”
Geraden didn’t blink. “Or else?”
The Prince shrugged delicately. “There is no ‘or else.’ I simply state a fact. You will tell me your remarkable story.”
His tone left Terisa’s stomach in knots. When she looked in her goblet, she found that it was already empty.
“Geraden,” Elega put in, “why did you come here? You have never been stupid. You knew that this situation would arise. You knew that both the Prince and I desire the defeat of Orison. And you knew” – she seemed to falter, but only for an instant – “that we cannot afford to let you keep your knowledge secret. We are too much at risk. My life is perhaps a little thing, but the Prince is responsible for the whole Alend army. In the end, he is responsible for the survival of all his father’s realm.
“And for that,” Elega added firmly, “I have my own responsibility. Like the King, I have brought us to this place.
“Why did you put yourself and the lady Terisa in our hands, if you do not intend to tell us what you know?”
“Because we are unable to reenter Orison without your consent.” Geraden didn’t elaborate.
“That is what you want?” demanded Prince Kragen softly. “You wish to be allowed to enter Orison, so that you can tell King Joyse the story you mean to withhold from me?”
Geraden contemplated this view of the situation. “That’s essentially true, my lord Prince.”
“I suspected as much.” The Prince held his hands together on his thighs, the tips of his fingers touching each other lightly as if his self-command had become perfect. “My mind is not like my lady Elega’s. When you entered my camp, I did not say, Here are Imagers. I said, Here are scouts who wish to report to their lord.
“If you believe that I will let you pass my siege in order to take assistance or information of any kind to King Joyse, you are seriously deranged.”
Geraden shrugged. Judging by the blandness of his expression, he had no idea how seriously he was being threatened.
Terisa was too full of anxiety to sit still. Without asking permission, she stood up and went to the wine decanter. “Why don’t we trade?” she said impulsively. Fatigue and the first effects of the wine might have been speaking for her. She had played the game of trading information with King Joyse: she knew it was dangerous. But it was the best she had to offer. Her goblet full, she returned to her seat. “You tell us something. We’ll tell you something. Fair exchange. That way we don’t have to trust each other.”
“Who will speak first?” asked Elega in a carefully neutral tone.
“You will.” Terisa didn’t hesitate. “We’re in your power. You can do anything you want to us anytime you want. What have you got to lose?”
She sat down.
Geraden kept his reaction hidden. The lady Elega looked at Prince Kragen.
The Prince thought for a while; he didn’t appear to be aware that he was chewing his moustache. Two of his fingertips tapped soundlessly against each other, measuring the menace in the fore-tent. Then he said with steady nonchalance, “I think not.
“My lady Elega,” he continued before Terisa was sure that she had heard him right, “you have not heard the details of our guests’ arrival. You will be interested, I am sure.
“Geraden and the lady Terisa made no attempt at stealth. They confronted one of my patrols” – he paused ominously – “but they did not request an audience with me. They did not request permission to approach Orison. No, my lady, they demanded the right to speak with you.”
Involuntarily, Elega caught her breath.
While she stared at Geraden and Terisa, Prince Kragen added, “It is clear that whatever device or policy they have prepared to get them into Orison is directed at you. The
y believe that they have the means to persuade you.” Again, he paused; then he remarked cryptically, “It is even conceivable that they are aware of the existence of a precedent.”
In response, Elega’s eyes widened with pain and anger. “That is unfair, my lord.” Almost instantly, however, she seemed to catch the implications of what he said. In a rush, she asked, “Geraden, have you seen—?”
So suddenly, so loudly that the sound made Terisa’s heart lurch, Prince Kragen slapped his hands together, interrupting Elega; stopping her.
“My lady,” he articulated, “I have said that I do not wish to trade stories with them. When they have told us what they know, I will decide what they may hear.”
Elega held her tongue; yet her face showed the difficulty of restraint. Abruptly, Terisa became aware that she wanted to hear Elega’s story: the Elega she remembered wouldn’t have suffered a command to shut up so compliantly. What had happened to change the lady, to make her acquiescent? What kind of contest was going on between her and the Prince? Was it just a question of blame because her attack on the reservoir had misfired? Or had she done something else to earn Kragen’s distrust?
Because her heart was still racing and she wanted to be calm, Terisa went to get some more wine.
As if they were being polite, the other people in the fore-tent waited until she had seated herself again. She had the impression that they were all watching her.
“You serve a heady wine, my lord Prince,” Geraden murmured softly. “I haven’t tasted anything like it for a long time.”
In Terisa’s opinion, that was an odd thing to say at a time like this.
Apparently, Prince Kragen agreed with her. He ignored Geraden’s comment. Still speaking to Elega as if she were the true subject of his scrutiny, he said, “In any case, my lady, I have not yet told you everything you must hear. When Geraden and the lady Terisa demanded to speak to you, they gave a most interesting explanation. They said that they had messages for you from Queen Madin, your mother.”
At once, Elega was on her feet. “The Queen?” She didn’t appear to realize that she was standing. “You have spoken with the Queen? She sent messages for me?” Her eyes shone with excitement and anguish; her voice held a visceral tremor. “Doubtless you told her of my part in the siege. What does my mother wish to say to me now?”
Terisa was bemused to find that she had slipped down in her chair. The wine seemed to have made her top-heavy.
Pushing herself upright, she said, “We can tell you who the traitors are inside Orison. Who the renegade Imagers are. We can tell you how they planned all this with Cadwal. Together, we might be able to guess what kind of trap they plan to spring.”
Prince Kragen’s gaze burned darkly at her. For no particular reason, she added, “If you want to trade, we can even tell you what Domne and Termigan and Fayle are going to do about it.”
As far as she could tell, Geraden and Elega and Kragen were all speaking at once. Geraden asked, “Do you know what you’re doing? You look like you’ve had too much wine.” He sounded like a man who had lost his sense of humor.
At the same time, Elega protested, “No! I will hear my mother’s messages!”
Prince Kragen was saying, “Continue, my lady Terisa.” Despite his self-control, he looked eager. “I am sure that we will be able to achieve an equitable exchange when you are done.”
Grinning, Terisa wagged her finger at him. “Oh, no, my lord Prince.” She actually wagged her finger at him. “Be fair. That isn’t the way the game is played.”
Geraden stood facing Elega; his voice was pitched to cover Terisa’s. His tone didn’t hold any authority, however. It didn’t even convey confidence. Instead, it hinted at hysteria.
“The fact is,” he said, “we don’t have any messages from the Queen. She didn’t have time to give us any. She was planning to come here herself. She wanted to stand beside the King. But she didn’t get the chance.”
In spite of the pressure to speak, he faltered. Elega’s gaze was fastened to his face; her whole body concentrated toward him.
“Go on,” she said with her throat clenched.
“Continue, my lady!” Prince Kragen snapped, apparently trying to startle words out of Terisa.
Just in time, Terisa put her finger to her lips and made a shushing noise.
“Elega, I’m sorry,” Geraden said miserably. “While we were there, the Queen was taken. Ambushed. Imagery and soldiers. She was abducted.”
Slowly, as if she could barely lift them, Elega raised her hands to her mouth.
“We know who the Imager was.”
Her breath came hard, straining between her teeth.
“The soldiers were Alends.”
Prince Kragen was so startled that he sprang to his feet and barked, “You lie!” before he could stop himself.
Terisa studied the three of them. “No.” It was wonderful how clearly she could speak, despite the weight in her head. “He’s not lying. We were there. That’s why we want to go into Orison. That’s what we want to tell King Joyse. Your men kidnapped Queen Madin.”
From Terisa’s perspective, the lady Elega went up like a candle flame. Without moving, she seemed to burst into passion; it swept through her toward the ceiling, hot enough to scorch. Confronting the Prince as if Terisa and Geraden were forgotten, she whispered like a cry, “What have you done?”
Kragen’s face twisted; his teeth showed under his moustache. “They lie. I tell you, it is a lie.”
She didn’t flicker. “Geraden has never told a lie in his life – never one of such hurt. What have you done?”
“Nothing!” he shouted at her, trying to drive back her fury. “Geraden does not lie? Perhaps not. I do not lift my hand against lonely and harmless women! Never in my life.”
Perhaps she didn’t hear him: perhaps she couldn’t. Her hands clenched into fists against her cheeks; blazing, she lifted her voice into a wail.
“Where is my mother? What have you done to my mother?”
In that outcry, she burned up too brightly to sustain herself. She was too vulnerable: her strength failed, and she fainted. Delicately, like heated wax, she slumped toward the floor.
Geraden caught her.
Holding her in his arms, he faced the Prince. Now he was the one breathing hard, panting for air as if he had caught fire from her. Her distress made him savage, heedless. Prince Kragen came to him in dismay, tried to take her from him. He wrenched her away as if he didn’t care that the Prince could have him killed.
“There are only two possibilities. My lord Prince. Isn’t that right? Either you did it. So you’re going to tie me and Terisa up and start torturing us. Or it was done to you. So you’re going to let us go see the King.
“Which is it?”
But Prince Kragen wasn’t listening. “Release her, Geraden,” he murmured, almost pleading. “She is only your friend. I love her. If all of Cadwal and the wide sea itself come between us, I will wed her before I die. Give her to me.”
He held out his arms.
Terisa saw Geraden burning the way Elega had burned; she saw him on the verge of hurling something he wouldn’t be able to retract into the teeth of the Prince’s regret. Fortunately, she was already on her feet, pulled erect by his fury. Otherwise she couldn’t have reached him in time. She put a hand on his shoulder, then slipped her arm around his neck and hugged him.
“I believe him,” she said softly. “You called him an honorable enemy. He wouldn’t do something like that. And if he did, he would have done it long ago.
“He’s going to let us into Orison.”
She felt Geraden’s muscles pull tight, as rigid as Elega’s cry.
After a moment, she felt them relax.
Gently, he shifted Elega into Prince Kragen’s embrace.
At once, Kragen sank to the floor, holding Elega close while he checked her pulse and respiration, made her comfortable. He bowed his head over her, ignoring Terisa and Geraden.
They stood ne
ar him and waited. The sides of the fore-tent were lined with servants and soldiers, summoned by the lady Elega’s wail. They had no instructions, however, and didn’t move.
Then Elega’s eyes fluttered open. When she saw where she was, a slight smile curved her mouth. Gently, as if she didn’t want to hurt him, she put up her hand to touch the Prince’s cheek.
He let out a stiff sigh and raised his head.
His voice had to struggle out of his chest. “Why am I going to let you into Orison?”
Geraden cleared his throat. Constricted with emotion, he rasped, “Because if the men who took Queen Madin were Cadwals or mercenaries disguised as Alends, the attack is aimed at you as well as King Joyse. Part of the point is to keep anybody from trusting you. And part of it is to keep you and King Joyse from trusting each other, from forming an alliance.
“You’re being manipulated. By High King Festten. And the traitors. And the only way you can save yourself is to let us talk to the King.”
“And if I do not let them into Orison” – the Prince was speaking to Elega – “you will believe that I am responsible for your mother’s abduction.”
Elega didn’t nod or shake her head. The small smile stayed on her lips; her hand cupped Kragen’s cheek. “You want an alliance, my lord. You have always wanted an alliance, not this misconceived and aimless siege. Perhaps that is possible now. Perhaps it would be worth the attempt.”
Prince Kragen made a harsh noise like an attempted laugh. “The last time I proposed that, he humiliated me. He went to considerable lengths to humiliate me.”
“He didn’t—” Terisa began. Her legs were unsteady, however, and she had to support herself on Geraden’s shoulder. For a moment, she forgot what she was saying.
Then she remembered.
“He was testing you. He thought you were his enemy. He didn’t know who the traitor was. He didn’t know what alliances had already been made. Now we can tell him.”
Prince Kragen’s head turned; his eyes held an obsidian smolder which would have frightened her if she had been able to concentrate on it. Softly, he commanded, “Tell me.”