“That is true. Though I have not, until this hour, dealt with aught which is not common knowledge.”
“Then accept that I must be silent. But I swear to you that those I serve mean nothing ill to Reveny. In fact before we came here, we were pledged to do nothing to bring us to the knowledge of your countrymen, nor to influence affairs here. In this I have erred, and I shall have to pay for that.”
“They can make her lose her memory—or put her in prison—” broke in the Princess.
“She told you that?” The Colonel’s eyes were cold now. “Yes,” Roane returned baldly. It was plain he doubted her. “They can do this—whether you believe it or not!” Her chin went up a fraction of an inch as she met disbelief with defiance. “And now,” she said to the Princess, “I promised to bring you to your friends. This I have done. So I shall go—”
“Not so!” The Colonel’s words came sharp and swift. And Ludorica put out her hand, caught Roane’s wrist where it rested on the table, as if to hold her prisoner.
“Whether you wish it or not,” the Colonel continued, “you have chosen your path, my lady, and you must continue to follow it until the Princess is out of danger. Your Highness, let this lady remain with you. It is fitting that you have a companion when you cross the border. And it would seem fortune favors you with one who dares not betray secrets lest she betray herself even more.”
Roane flushed. Did he jeer at her now, or issue a challenge to prove she was as she said? She was a little afraid, for she did not doubt he meant what he said—evidence that he was prudent, for the wise thing for him was to keep her close. That she had not foreseen this simple end to the action puzzled her. It was all a part of that muzzy thinking which she had done ever since she met Ludorica. Almost as if she were conditioned-Conditioned! What if the Service techs had been wrong and their off-world guards did not hold? Or at least not entirely, so that subtly she had been taken over by the force which existed to make Clio a closed world? A new spark of fear was born in her. She was she, Roane Hume, who could perfectly remember a Me beyond the stars. She was not a subject of a ruler on this forgotten, living museum of a world! And that thought she must hold to.
“You are set on this plan then, Your Highness—to go to Leich-stan for aid?” The Colonel, having delivered his order, seemed to have forgotten Roane again.
“There is the Crown. I do not think that, even if Reddick knows where it lies, he quite dares to reach for it while I live. But with my death, he believes—or I would in his place—that the Crown will acknowledge him. For unrecorded though his descent may be, there is a trace of the Blood in him. He may have taken me only to make sure I was under his control when the word he expects comes. But that he ever meant I live on past that hour—” She pointed to the chain and collar. “That is good evidence he did not. And Leichstan can prove a refuge until we are sure of what we do face now.”
She seemed to accept very calmly the fact that she was the target of her cousin’s intrigues. But perhaps such intrigues were so common on Clio that they were a part of daily experience. Maybe one held one’s position here through a series of struggles in a deadly game.
“Reddick must still be at Hitherhow. We can take him there!” The Colonel’s brown hand twitched as if the fingers wished to hold some weapon.
“Not knowing how far his plans extend or what support he can summon? That would be folly. But if I go to Leichstan I can claim aid, and I have put myself beyond« Reddick’s reach, given us time to find the Crown and learn the true state of the King.”
“Leichstan is ambitious,” the Colonel returned slowly.
“So is Vordain to the north. If we must ally ourselves—which? I wish this no more than you do, kinsman. But if one must choose between alliance and alliance, Leichstan through friendship is better than Vordain by force.”
The Colonel looked down at the cup he held as he turned it around and around. He might be reading some message in its depths.
“There is a price for such alliances,” he observed in a very level voice.
“That I know also,” the Princess returned. “But to everything on this earth there is a price, kinsman. And to me Reveny comes first, its safety and future. I am what I am by reason of birth, of much training. Were there another of my House to carry sword in battle, perhaps I could turn my thoughts from what must be done. But there is not. And I believe that this lack is also of Reddick’s doing. Before the Crown falls into his grasping hands I will do much. And the way lies through Leichstan—though I must go there without any of the trumpeting of a royal progress. You have wardered the border long enough to know its secrets. Nelis, there must be some hidden way across, and not far from here—”
“Smugglers’ ways are rough going.”
The Princess laughed. “None can be worse than that I have lately used. Though this”—she looked down at the coverall—”is very durable clothing for such work, I think it would be better if I entered Leichstan wearing something less noticeable. I know that I cannot expect an army post to produce clothing for a lady, but can such be obtained for us both?”
Nelis Imfry smiled, as if the Princess’s request had a somewhat lighter note.
“We do not have much provision for ladies, that is certain. If you are willing I can send to Fittsdale for peasant clothing.”
“Well enough. That they be fit for riding is all that is necessary.
And you have an escort for us who knows these smugglers’ ways?”
Now the Colonel laughed. “Indeed I do, Your Highness. We have held these hills so long that we know the four sides of every rock. And since the smugglers in question are bound for Leich- stan and not for our side of the border, we have no ill will to fear.”
But when he had left, Roane made one last attempt to break free from this current carrying her farther and farther into danger.
“I must go back!”
Ludorica shook her head, a smile on her lips.
“But, my dear Roane, indeed you must not! If what you said is true, that they will treat you ill for what you have done on my behalf, then all the greater reason not to. Also, suppose you are taken by Reddick’s men—do not think that he will not use harsh means to learn all you can tell him. The mere fact that you are found in a Royal forest after my escape will make you suspect You wear such clothing as is strange, carry mysterious tools and weapons— Yes, you would make a puzzle Reddick would work hard to solve, and the solving would not be to your comfort. We ride for Leichstan. And when the Crown is in my hands, then shall we in turn treat with your people. Never go to a bargaining, Roane, unless you have that on your side which is a mighty aid.”
The Captain came to show them to his quarters in the third story of the tower, and there Ludorica announced they had better get what rest they could, since no one could guess how long the journey across the border might last. That she was as close a prisoner as if she now wore the collar and chain, Roane knew. There would be no slipping away from this place, unless she used her stunner freely. And then the chaos she would leave behind— She shook her head. She could do nothing but hope for the future.
She slept, and it was twilight when the Princess aroused her with a gentle shaking. On the floor sat a very large tub, into which Ludorica now poured steaming water. ,,
“As a bath,” the Princess remarked, “this is a primitive affair. But we are undoubtedly lucky in this time and place to have one at all.”
She shed her clothing and stepped carefully into the tub, kneeling to splash its meager contents over her, rubbing with a bunch of rough fibers which left foaming streaks on her smooth skin.
“If you will pour the rest now—” Ludorica indicated another jug and Roane obeyed. The Princess arose and made good use of the towel her companion handed her.
“Now—if we empty this into that other—”