been put into its proper place.
‘What are you doing up here, Sparhawk?’ Khalad spoke
quietly, his voice so much like his father’s that Sparhawk turned
his head sharply to be sure that Kurik himself had not returned
from the House of the Dead to chide him. Khalad was a plainfaced
young man with thick shoulders and an abrupt manner.
His family had served Sparhawk’s for three generations now,
and Khalad, like his father, customarily addressed his lord with
a plain-spoken bluntness.
‘I couldn’t sleep,’ Sparhawk replied with a brief shrug.
‘Your wife’s got half the garrison out looking for you, you
know.’
Sparhawk grimaced. ‘Why does she always have to do that?’
‘it’s your own fault. You know she’s going to send people out
after you anytime you go off without telling her where you’ll
be. you could save yourself – and us – a lot of time and trouble
if you’d just tell her in the first place. It seems to me that I’ve
suggested that several times already.’
‘Don’t bully me, Khalad. you’re as bad as your father was.’
“Sometimes good traits breed true. Would you like to go down
and tell your wife that you’re all right? – before she calls in the
workmen to start tearing down the walls?’
Sparhawk sighed. ‘All right.’ He turned away from the parapet. ‘O
h, by the way, you probably ought to know that we’ll be
making a trip before long.’
‘Oh? Where are we going?’
‘We have to go pick something up. Have a word with the
farriers. Faran needs to be re-shod. He’s scuffed his right front
shoe down until it’s as thin as paper.’
‘That’s your fault, Sparhawk. He wouldn’t do that if you’d sit
up straight in your saddle.’
‘We start to get crooked as we grow older. That’s one of the
things you have to look forward to.’
‘Thanks. When are we leaving on this trip?’
“just as soon as I can come up with a convincing enough lie
to persuade my wife to let me go off without her.’
‘We’ve got plenty of time, then.’ Khalad looked out across
moon-washed Matherion standing in pale fog with the moonlight
awakening the rainbows of fire in her naked shoulders.
‘Pretty,’ he noted.
‘is that the best you can do? You look at the most fabulous
city in the world and shrug it off as “pretty”.’
‘i’m not an aristocrat, Sparhawk. I don’t have to invent
flowery phrases to impress others – or myself. Let’s get you
inside before the damp settles into your lungs. You crooked’old
people have delicate health sometimes.’
Queen Ehlana, pale and blonde and altogether lovely, was
irritated more than angry; Sparhawk saw that immediately. He
also saw that she had gone to some trouble to make herself as
pretty as possible. her dressing gown was dark blue satin, her
cheeks had been carefully pinched to make them glow, and her
hair was artfully arranged to’ give the impression of winsomely
distracted dish’evelment. She berated him about his lack of
consideration in tones that might easily have made the trees
cry and the very rocks shrink from her. her cadences were
measured, and her voice rose, then sank, as she told him exactly
how she felt. Sparhawk concealed a smile. Ehlana was speaking
to him on two levels at the same time as she stood in the center
of the blue-draped royal apartment scolding him. Her words
expressed extreme displeasure; her careful preparations, however,
said something quite different.
He apologized.
She refused to accept his apology and stormed off to the bedroom,
slamming the door behind her.
‘Spirited,’ Sephrenia murmured. The small woman sat out of
harm’s way on the far side of the room, her white Styric robe
glowing in the candlelight.
‘You noticed,’ Sparhawk smiled.
‘Does she do that often?’
‘Oh, yes. She enjoys it. What are you doing up so late, little
mother?’
‘Aphrael wanted me to speak with you.’
‘Why didn’t she just come and talk with me herself? It’s not
as if she were way over on the other side of town.’
“It’s a formal sort of occasion, Sparhawk. I’m supposed to
speak for her at times like this.’
‘Was that intended to make sense?’
“It would if you were Styric. We’re going to have to make
some substitutions when we go to retrieve Bhelliom. Khalad can
fill in for his father without any particular problem, but Tynian’s
decision to go back to Chyrellos with Emban really has Aphrael
upset. Can you persuade him to change his mind?’
Sparhawk shook his head. “I wouldn’t even try, Sephrenia.
I’m not going to cripple him for life just because Aphrael might
miss him.’
‘is his arm really that bad?’
“It’s bad enough. That crossbow bolt went right through his
shoulder joint. If he starts moving it around, it won’t set right,
and that’s his sword arm.’
‘Aphrael could fix it, you know.’
‘Not without exposing her identity she couldn’t, and I won’t
let her do that.’
‘Won’t let?’
‘Ask her if she wants to endanger her mother’s sanity just for
the sake of symmetry. substitute someone else. If Aphrael’s
willing to accept Khalad in place of Kurik, she should be able
to pick someone else to fill in for Tyniann. Why is it so important
to her in the first place?’
‘You wouldn’t understand.’
‘Why don’t you try to explain it anyway? I might surprise
you.’
‘You’re in an odd humor tonight.’
‘i’ve just been scolded. That always makes me odd. Why does
Aphrael think it’s so important to always have the same group
of people around her?’
“It has to do with the feeling of it, Sparhawk. The presence of
any given person is more than just the way he looks or the
sound of his voice. It also involves the way he thinks – and
probably more important, the way he feels about Aphrael. She
surrounds herself with that. When you bring in different people,
you change the way it feels, and that throws her off balance.’
She looked at him. ‘You didn’t understand a word of that, did
you?’
‘Yes, as a matter of fact I did. How about Vanion? He loves
her as much as Tynian does, and she loves him too. He’s been
more or less with us in spirit since all this started anyway, and
he is a knight, after all.’
‘Vanion? Don’t be absurd, Sparhawk.’
‘He’s not an invalid, you know. He was running foot-races
back in Sarsos, and he was still as good as ever with his lance
when we fought the Trolls.’
“It’s out of the question. I won’t even discuss it.’
He crossed the room, took her wrists in his hands and kissed
her palms. “I love you dearly, little mother,’ he told her, ‘but
I’m going to override you this time. You can’t wrap Vanion in
lamb’s-wool for the rest of his life just because you’re afraid he
might scratch his finger. If you don’t suggest him to Aphrael, I
will.’
She swore at him in Styric. ‘Don’t you understand, Sparhawk?
I almost lost him.’ Her heart was in her luminous blue eyes. ‘i’ll
die if anything happens to him.’
‘Nothing’s going to happen to him. Are you going to ask
Aphrael about it, or would you rather have me do it?’
She swore at him again.
‘Where did you ever learn that kind of language?’ he asked
mildly. ‘if that takes care of our problem, I’m a little overdue at
the bedroom door.’
“I didn’t quite follow that.’
“It’s time for the kissing and making up. There’s supposed to
be a certain rhythm to these things, and if I wait too long to
soften Ehlana’s displeasure, she’ll begin to think I don’t love her
any more.’
‘Do you mean her perFormance here tonight was nothing more
than an invitation to the bedroom?’
‘That might be putting it a little bluntly, but there was some
of that involved, yes. Sometimes I get busy and forget to pay
as much attention to her as I should. She’ll only let that go on
for just so long before she makes a speech. The speech reminds
me that I’ve been neglecting her. We kiss and make up, and
everything’s all right again.’
‘Wouldn’t it be simpler if she just came right out and told you
in the first place without these elaborate games?’
‘Probably, but it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun for her. You’ll
excuse me?’
‘Why do you always avoid me, Berit-Knight?’ Empress Elysoun
asked with a disconsolate little pout.
‘Your Highness misunderstands me,’ Berit replied, flushing
slightly and keeping his eyes averted.
‘Am I ugly, Berit-Knight?’
‘Of course not, your Highness.’
‘Then why don’t you ever look at me?’
“It’s not considered polite among Elenes for a man to look at
an undressed woman, your Highness.’
‘i’m not an Elene, Sir Knight. I’m a Valesian, and I’m not
naked. I have plenty of clothes on. If you’ll come to my chambers,