‘I ought to have expected this,’ Alixana said, her tone affronted. ‘I bring a clever man to my rooms for such … skills as he may offer me, and you spirit him away.’ She sniffed elaborately. ‘I shall take refuge in my bath and my bed, then, my lord.’
Valerius grinned suddenly, the boyish look returning. ‘You lost a wager, my love. Do not fall asleep.’
With real astonishment, Crispin saw the Empress of Sarantium’s colour heighten. She sketched a brief, mocking homage, though. ‘My lord the Emperor commands his subjects in all possible things.’
‘Of course I do,’ said Valerius.
‘I shall leave you,’ said his Empress, turning. Crysomallo preceded her through the inner door. Crispin caught a glimpse of another fireplace and a wide bed beyond, frescoes and many-coloured fabric hangings on the walls. He realized in that moment that he was about to be alone with the Emperor, after all. His mouth grew dry again with the implications of that.
Alixana turned in the doorway. She paused, as if in thought. Then laid a finger against one cheek and shook her head, as if in self-reproach. ‘I nearly forgot,’ she said. ‘Silly of me. Too distracted by a pearl and the thought of dolphins. Do tell us, Rhodian, your message from the queen of the Antae. What does Gisel say?’
The sensation, after the apprehension of expecting to be private with Valerius to convey exactly this, was very much as if a pit had gaped open beneath his feet, sprung by the lever of that exquisite voice. Crispin’s heart lurched; he felt as if he were falling into emptiness.
‘Message?’ he echoed, wittily.
The Emperor murmured, ‘My love, you are capricious and cruel and terribly unfair. If Gisel gave Caius Crispus any message at all, it would have been for my ears alone.’
Holy Jad, Crispin thought, helplessly. They were too quick. They knew too much. It was overwhelming.
‘Of course she gave him a message.’ Alixana’s tone was mild, but her eyes remained on Crispin’s face, attentive and thoughtful, and there was no amusement in them now, he saw.
He took a steadying breath. He had seen a zubir in the Aldwood. He had walked into the forest expecting to die and had come out alive, having encountered something beyond the mortal. Every living moment that followed that time in the mist was a gift. He found he could master fear, remembering that.
He said quietly, ‘Is that why you asked me here, my lady?’
The Empress’s mouth twitched wryly. ‘That, and the dolphins. I do want them.’
Valerius said matter-of-factly ‘We have people in Varena, of course. A number of the queen’s own guard were killed one night this autumn. Murdered in their sleep. Quite extraordinary. Such a thing only happens when you need a secret kept. Our people in Varena addressed themselves to the matter. It was not difficult for them to learn about the much-talked-about arrival of the courier with our invitation. He conveyed its content publicly, it seems? And for reasons not immediately clear, it was an invitation you took upon yourself, by deception, instead of Martinian. That was of interest. Resources were deployed. You were evidently seen returning home that same night very late, with a royal escort. Meeting someone in the palace? Then came the deaths in the night. Conclusions were plausibly drawn from all of this and posted to us.’
It was spoken as calmly, as precisely, as a dictated military report. Crispin thought of Queen Gisel: beset on all sides, struggling to find a path, a space for herself, survival. Brutally overmatched.
If he had a choice, he didn’t know what it was. He looked from the Emperor to the Empress of Sarantium, met Alixana’s steady gaze this time, and said nothing at all.
It seemed he didn’t need to. The Empress said calmly, ‘She asked you to tell the Emperor that instead of an invasion a wedding might deliver Batiara more surely to him, with less blood shed on all sides.’
There seemed so little point, really, to resisting, but still he would not speak. He lowered his head, but before he did, he saw her sudden, brilliant smile. Heard Valerius cry, ‘I am accursed! The one night I win a wager she wins a larger one!’