way!”
“I'm sorry, Your Highness,” the taller guard said. “Lord Wolfblade said you weren't to leave this chamber.”
“Don't be absurd! I'm his wife, not a prisoner! Stand aside!”
“Lord Wolfblade was very specific in his orders, Your Highness.”
“Actually, I told them to tie you down, if necessary.”
Adrina turned to find Damin coming towards her, his boots clicking on the mosaic floor. He was unshaved and still dressed in the same clothes she had seen him wearing yesterday. He had probably been up all night. Damin looked almost as tired as she felt. She quashed a momentary pang of sympathy for him, preferring anger to compassion.
“How dare you treat me like a prisoner!”
“It's for your own protection, Adrina. Until I'm certain the palace is secure, I don't want you wandering around.”
“You don't want me to know what's going on, more like it.”
The guards stood back to let Damin enter, tactfully closing the door behind him. Tamylan curtsied to him and he nodded absently in acknowledgment.
“Can I get you anything, my Lord?”
“Something to eat, Tam,” Damin replied wearily. “And something cold to drink. Have it sent up here.”
Tamylan curtsied again and let herself out of the room before Adrina could countermand the order.
“You seem to be getting very familiar with my slave.”
“I believe Tamylan has finally decided that I may not be an ogre, after all.”
“You haven't convinced me yet.”
He smiled tiredly. “Are you all right?”
“What harm can come to me here, locked away like a bird in a cage? Of course, I might die from boredom, but don't let that bother you.” She resumed her pacing as Damin flopped onto the chaise near the open balcony doors.
“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to give the impression you were a prisoner.”
“Ah... now let me think... I'm stuck in this room. There are guards on the door. I'm not allowed to leave. How silly of me to think all that meant I was a prisoner.”
“My uncle has been dead for nearly two months now, Adrina. That's two months that Cyrus Eaglespike has had access to this palace. We've already discovered at least three rooms that were rigged with assassination devices.”
She stopped pacing and turned to him. “But you said the Assassins' Guild was on our side.”
“They are. That's how we found the devices. Cyrus hasn't got access to the Guild, but there are some gifted amateurs out there. This is a big palace. It will take days before we're certain they've found every nasty little surprise Lord Eaglespike has left for us.”
Adrina found herself regretting her outburst. Perhaps he really was concerned for her welfare. On the other hand, he may simply be using it as an excuse to exclude her.
“You didn't invite me to your council,” she accused with a bad feeling she sounded like a petulant child.
“That was Marla's idea, not mine.”
“You're a Warlord and a High Prince. Don't you think it's time you stopped listening to your mother?”
“If I listened to my mother, Adrina, you
She did not doubt he spoke the truth. “What's going on, Damin? I've a right to know.”
He nodded. “That you have. How much have you heard?”
“Only that you confronted your cousin and that R'shiel did something to him.”
“Actually, it was more the threat of what she
“And what is the demon child doing now?”
“I don't know for certain. As soon as we took possession of the palace, she left for the Sorcerers' Collective. I haven't seen her since.”
“Has something happened?”
Damin shrugged. “Who knows? R'shiel has all of us dancing on strings like puppets in a show that only she can see.”
“Yet we all dance willingly enough,” Adrina said with a frown. “So what happens now?”
“We wait for Tejay Lionsclaw. Until she arrives, we can't hold the Convocation.”
“Is she on her way?”
“She should be.”
“You sound uncertain. Isn't she on your side?”
“I would have said yes a few days ago, but that was before I learnt that Cyrus Eaglespike married his daughter Bayla to Tejay's eldest son last spring, while I was in Medalon.”
“So the person who holds the casting vote is tied to your opponent by marriage. That's not a very comfortable position to be in.”
“Decidedly uncomfortable,” Damin agreed.
“How are you going to ensure that she remains in your camp?”
“I haven't worked that out yet. Any suggestions?”
The question took Adrina by surprise. That Damin actually wanted her opinion was flattering. In fact, that he had bothered to come here at all, to acquaint her with the situation and ask her advice was the last thing she expected.
“You need to discover the quality Tejay Lionsclaw admires most in a leader and make sure you have more of it than your cousin,” she advised. “That, or give her something she wants. Something that nobody else can give her.”
He laughed sourly. “That's easy! All I have to do is give her the secret of the explosive powders your damned Fardohnyan bandits use against her in the Sunrise Mountains. If I could do that, she'd swear the allegiance of her House to mine for an eternity.”
“My father guards that secret more closely than his treasury.”
“I know. We've tried everything we could think of for years to discover it.”
Adrina hesitated before she spoke again, aware that her next words would mean she was taking an irrevocable step in a direction she had not planned to go. But she was tired, mentally and physically. Her surrender seemed inevitable and the energy it took to sustain her defiance was needed elsewhere.
“You haven't tried asking me.”
Damin looked up at her in astonishment. “
“I said, you haven't tried asking me.”
“I heard what you said, Adrina,” he told her, rising to his feet. He stood too close. She wished he had stayed seated. She didn't like looking up at him. “Are you telling me that you know the secret of the explosives?”
She could not tell if he was angry or just surprised.
“That's exactly what I'm telling you.”
“Why didn't you tell me this before?”
She took a step back from him. “You didn't ask.”
He turned away from her and walked to the open doors. The set of his shoulders was stiff and angry. He was silent for a time then he turned back to her.
“Why tell me now? Why the sudden change of heart?”
“You always suspect me of having an ulterior motive, don't you?”
“That's because you usually
She was honest enough to not deny the charge. “Our fates are bound, Damin, whether we like it or not. I cannot go on fighting you forever.”
“You seem to be doing just fine, so far.”
