David Coe - Bonds of Vengeance

“Leave us,” he told the nurse. When the woman hesitated he added, “I’ll see to it that she returns to her bedchamber safely.”

The nurse curtsied reluctantly and withdrew, her gaze flicking repeatedly from Numar to the girl and back again.

“Please sit, Your Highness,” the regent said when she was gone.

Kalyi sat in a chair by the hearth, the one she always chose when they spoke. Numar sat beside her.

“Now, tell me everything you heard.”

Numar found her description of what the two men said to each other a bit clouded, though he did manage to piece together enough of it to be alarmed. It was one thing for Pronjed to seek information about Numar’s plans for the Solkaran army and the men sent to him by his dukes. It was quite another to discuss the possibility of civil war and alliances among the dukedoms. It almost seemed that the archminister was looking for weaknesses that he might exploit. But Kalyi had promised him more, and had yet to deliver on that promise.

“Forgive me, Your Highness,” he said, his patience beginning to fail him. “But I still don’t see how the archminister’s magic enters into any of this.”

She twisted her hands anxiously, and for a moment Numar wondered if the girl had imagined it all.

“Well, one moment the master armsman was saying that House Solkara couldn’t risk a civil war if too many of the other houses stood together against us, and the next moment he was saying that we could, and that we needed the alliance with Braedon no matter what.”

“Is it possible the archminister merely convinced him of this? A man can change his mind, you know.”

She shook her head. “That’s not how it happened. Pronjed told him. . what to think. At least, that’s how it sounded. He said, ‘You now believe that we can prevail against Dantrielle and his allies.’ And then he made the master of arms say it. He told him just what to say to you.”

“Do you remember what else Tradden is to say to me?” There was, it seemed, an easy way to confirm what she was telling him.

“Some of it. ‘The alliance with Braedon will make Aneira the greatest power among the six.’ That was some of it. And, ‘We mustn’t allow the renegade houses to destroy this opportunity.’ ” She frowned. “There was more, but I can’t remember now.”

“That’s all right. Thank you, Kalyi. That may be very helpful.”

“There’s something else. The strangest part of it all.”

“Tell me.”

“When they were done talking about the war and the other houses, the archminister told him that he would remember nothing about their conversation.”

“What?”

“He said, ‘You’ll remember nothing of what we’ve just discussed.’ And a moment later they started talking about something else, and that’s just how it seemed. The master of arms sounded confused, almost like he was sleepy. And he didn’t seem to remember any of it.”

Numar merely gaped at her. He couldn’t imagine that she would lie about such a thing. Indeed, she wasn’t the type to lie at all. But if all this were true. .

Abruptly the regent was on his feet, pacing before the hearth. Actually, this explained a good deal. Just a few days before, he had spoken with the archminister about something-he still couldn’t remember what it was-and had emerged from their conversation dazed, confused, as if he had nodded off in the middle of their discussion. Had the Qirsi bastard used magic on him as well?

“Is it all right that I told you?”

“What? Oh, yes. Of course it is. It’s more than all right, Your Highness. You’ve done me a great service, and our house as well.” He meant it. Whatever plans he had for the girl in the future, she had proven herself a most valuable ally this night.

“Do you think Pronjed is a traitor? Do you think he’s with the conspiracy?”

“I don’t know, Kalyi. It appears possible, doesn’t it?”

She nodded, looking frightened. “What should we do?”

“I’m not certain.” He didn’t dare confront the man. At least not yet, not until he had a better understanding of just how deep the archminister’s powers went. A sorcerer who could control a man’s thoughts, his words, his actions, was capable of anything.

It hit him with the power of a land tremor, shifting his entire world. A sorcerer with such power could make a man take his own life . He didn’t say it to the girl. She wasn’t ready for that. Someday, perhaps. Someday soon, when he needed to turn her fully against the archminister. But not tonight.

“I’m not certain,” he repeated. He saw the fear in her eyes, a mirror of what he felt in his heart, and he made himself smile. “Don’t worry, Kalyi. We don’t know yet that he’s a traitor. And even if he is, I’ll keep you safe. I’m your regent. That’s what I’m supposed to do.”

Yserne, Sanbira

House Yserne had taken hold of the throne for good nearly four centuries before, following the third war with Wethyrn and a period of bloody civil war known in Sanbiri history as the Second Barbarism. Even after Meleanna, the first Sanbiri queen, took the crown from Ticho the Fourth of Trescarri in the last violent days of the Barbarism, many of the houses continued to fight against the Yserne Dynasty, fearing that the establishment of a matriarchy would weaken Sanbira in its relations with the other realms.

As it happened, this wasn’t the case. Under the queens of Yserne Sanbira had become one of the dominant powers of the Forelands, and even with the dukes of Brugaosa and Norinde continuing to challenge Yserne authority from time to time, the realm had never since been in any danger of falling to an invader.

One reason for this was the geographic position of the royal house. Located in the center of the realm, it was protected on all sides by the duchies, none of which was more than forty leagues from the royal city. In times of crisis, when the queen wished to meet with her duchesses and dukes, she could summon them, knowing that even the most remote house, Kinsarta, was no more than ten days’ ride from her walls.

Thus, when Olesya sent messages to the other houses, asking the leading nobles to Yserne to discuss the attempts on Diani’s life, she and the duchess had only to wait a bit more than half a turn for the others to arrive. Not surprisingly, Edamo of Brugaosa and Alao of Norinde, were the last to reach the royal city, and in fairness, though Kinsarta was farther from Yserne than the northern dukedoms, Ajy’s ride across Morna’s Plain was far easier than the route taken by either duke.

Still, it was nearly two days after Ajy’s arrival before the dukes finally rode into the city; when they rode in together, it was clear to all that they had met to discuss matters before continuing on to the queen’s castle. Meeting them at the castle gate with the duchesses and their ministers, Olesya made no effort to hide her displeasure.

“I didn’t know that the journey from Brugaosa would take you so close to Norinde, Lord Brugaosa,” she said to Edamo, smiling thinly.

The duke smiled as well. He looked far older than Diani remembered. He had been handsome once, with fine features and a thick shock of wheat-colored hair. But his hair was white now, and thinning, and his cheeks looked sunken, his skin sallow. His face seemed too sharp, like the jagged edge of a shattered old dish. She still thought it likely that her brother, Cyro, had been murdered by the conspiracy rather than by the Brugaosans, as her father believed. But even so, she could not help but hate this man. There had even been times, more recent than she cared to admit, when she had wished for his death.

“We met near the northeast edge of Lake Yserne, Your Highness,” he said. “Surely you didn’t expect me to ride across the lake.”