“Yes, my lord Kurt,” she said softly, her hands slipping
from his. “Do not be concerned for me. Do not be concerned.”
She bowed once to the Methi, but Djan snapped her fingers when she would have made the full obeisance, dismissing her. Kurt waited until the door was securely closed, then fixed his eyes on Djan, trembling so with rage he did not trust himself.
“If you ever use words like that to my wife again-”
“She has more sense than you do. She would not have a war fought over her offended pride.”
“You held her without so much as a word to Elas-”
“I sent word back when Kta came, and if you had stayed where you belonged, the matter would have been quietly and efficiently settled. Now I have to think of other matters besides your convenience and your feelings.”
“Saving t’Tefur, you mean.”
“Saving this city from the bloodbath you nearly started tonight. My men had rocks thrown at them-at a Methi’s guards! If they’ll do that, they’ll cut throats next.”
“Ask your guards who those men were. Or are you afraid they’ll tell you?”
“There are a lot of charges flying in the wind tonight, none of them substantiated.”
“I’ll substantiate them, before the Upei.”
“Oh, no, you won’t. You bring up that charge in the Upei and there are things about many people-your little ex-slave wife included-that are going to be brought up too, dragged through public hearing under oath. When you start invoking the law, friend, the law keeps moving until the whole truth is out, and a case like that right now would tear Nephane apart. I won’t stand for it. Your wife would suffer most of all, and I think she has come to understand that very clearly.”
“You threatened her with that?”
“I explained things to her. I did not threaten. Those fellows won’t admit to your charges, no, they’ll have counterclaims that won’t be pretty to hear. Mim’s honor and Mini’s history will be in question, and the fact that she went from the Tamurlin to a human marriage won’t be to her credit or that of Elas. And believe me, I’d throw her or you to the Sufaki if it had to be done, so don’t push me any further.”
“T’Tefur’s city isn’t worth saving.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
He had started for the door. He stopped and faced her. “I’m going to Elas, to my wife. When I’m sure she’s all right, I’ll come back and we can settle matters. But unless you want more people hurt or killed, you’d better give me an escort to get there.”
She stared at him. He had never seen her angrier, but perhaps she could read on his face what he felt at the moment. Her expression grew calmer, guarded.
“Until morning,” she said. “Make your peace there. My men will get you safely to Elas, but I am not sending them through the streets with you twice in one night, dragging you past the Sufaki like a lure to violence. So stay there till morning. And if you cause me more trouble tonight, Kurt, so help me you’ll regret it.”
Kurt pushed open the heavy door of Elas, taking it out of Hef’s hands, closed it quickly on the Methi’s guards, then turned to Hef.
“Mim,” said Kurt. “She is here, she is safe?”
Hef bowed. “Yes, my lord, not a few moments ago she came in, also with the Methi’s guard. I beg my lord, what-”
Kurt ignored his questions, hurried past him to the rhmei and found it empty, left it and raced upstairs to their room.
There was no light there but the phusa. That light drew his eyes as he opened the door, and before it knelt Mim. He let his breath go in a long sigh of relief, slid to his knees and took her by the shoulders.
Her head fell back against him, her lips parted in shock, her face filmed with perspiration. Then he saw her hands at her heart and the dark wet stain on them.
“No,” he cried, a shriek, and caught her as she slid aside, her hands slipping from the hilt of the dragon blade that was deep in her breast. She was not dead; the outrage of the metal in her flesh still moved with her shallow breathing, and he could not nerve himself to touch it. He pressed his lips to her cheek and heard the gentle intake of her breath. Her brows knit in pain and relaxed. Her eyes held a curious, childlike wonder.