A Magic of Twilight

palais in her visits with the Kraljica. He took a large gulp of the wine before him and gestured to the room with the glass. “Matarh’s taste was rather staid, old-fashioned and, well, boring, I must admit. I find that I prefer more visual stimula-tion. The Holdings, after all, are drawn from many nations and many cultures, and we should enjoy them all, don’t you think?”

“I would agree, Kraljiki, that we can find much of interest in other ways if we bother to look, even with beliefs we might consider antitheti-cal to our own views.”

He set down the glass. “Ah, well-spoken. So you might even find something worthwhile in the beliefs, say, of the Numetodo?”

“I do. In fact, I know.”

He glanced down to where the Archigos’ gift lay on her robes, then back to her face. “Isn’t that a heretical belief for a teni to hold? A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca, for instance, would never say such a thing.”

“A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca, like your matarh, is rather more staid, old-fashioned, and boring than me, Kraljiki,” Ana answered, hoping she had judged the man correctly. The Kraljiki peered at her for a moment with his dark eyes, and she wondered whether she had miscalculated, but then he leaned his head back and unleashed a shrill laugh. She saw the servant bringing in a tureen of stew raise his eyebrows at the sudden sound.

“Indeed,” the Kraljiki said. “And please, while we are here alone, could we simply be Justi and Ana? The formality is so. .” He smiled at her. “. . staid.”

“His matarh was regal and aware of her position, always, and because of that some people thought Marguerite was somewhat cold and distant,” the Archigos had told her. “Those who believed that of her were mistaken. The Kraljiki is her opposite. He can be disarmingly charming and open, but those who believe those qualities define him are also mistaken. Justi uses those attributes only when he wants something. It’s the charm of a snake, and just as dangerous.” Ana remembered the warning. She smiled back at him. “If it pleases you to do so, then yes, Justi.”

“Thank you, Ana,” he replied. “You see, isn’t that better already?”

He nodded to her. In the light of the candelabra set in the middle of the table, his eyes glittered like smoky glass. “So. . you truly believe the Numetodo aren’t the evil creatures the Divolonte says they must be?”

“Neither the Toustour or the Divolonte say anything directly about the Numetodo at all,” she replied carefully. “They’re too new in the world. So any interpretation from Toustour or Divolonte is exactly that: interpretation, not fact.”

“Again, that’s not what A’Teni ca’ Cellibrecca would say. In fact, Ana, he would say that I should not be listening at all to someone who is known to consort with the Numetodo.”

Ana felt her face color-she knew that he would know, but it didn’t make his statement of the fact any less a shock. “I know Envoy ci’Vliomani personally, yes,” she answered. “And it’s because I do know him that I also know he was not responsible for the death of your matarh, Kraljiki.”

“Justi,” he corrected her. “And is that what you know, or is it your interpretation?”

She forced herself to smile at the word. “Only Cenzi knows, ” she told him. “But, yes, I’m confident in what I say.”

“You would wager your life against that, Ana?” He said it with the same odd smile, leaning forward. Ana took a slow breath.

“The Kraljiki always holds my life in his hands,” she said. “And I trust his judgment to do what is best for Nessantico and Concenzia, just as I trust my belief in the innocence of Envoy ci’Vliomani.”

He chuckled, leaning back slightly and taking another sip of wine.

“That was well-spoken also. I’m beginning to suspect that my matarh may have been entirely right about you, Ana.” He reached across the table to where her hand lay on the linen. She forced herself not to move as his hands closed over hers. His grip was strong. “We might make a fine team, the two of us. Don’t you think so?”

She forced another smile to her face, hoping that none of them seemed false. Her stomach tightened; she felt a knot of tension forming deep within her. “You flatter me, Justi,” she said.

Fingers pressed on hers. “No,” he said seriously. “I don’t. False flat-tery isn’t something I indulge in. Ever.” His fingers pressed on hers. “For instance, I won’t insult either one of us by telling you how beautiful you are. Matarh used marriage the way another Kralji might have used the Garde Civile-as a weapon. The protegee of the Archigos, a person who has been well-blessed by Cenzi, a person of intelligence. . that could become a good weapon for me, as I could be for you in return, with people like A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca. That’s what I’m saying, Ana. I understand how one would be willing to do whatever must be done to attain a goal. I sympathize with that.”

She saw the door to the room open behind the Kraljiki as he spoke and Renard entered to stand discreetly a few strides from the table, just within Justi’s peripheral vision. Justi held Ana’s gaze for a moment, then glanced over at Renard with obvious annoyance. “Yes?” His hand didn’t leave Ana’s; Renard very pointedly did not look away from Justi’s face.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Kraljiki, but A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca is here and he is. . very insistent that he must speak with you immediately.”

Justi was looking at Ana when he replied. The mention of ca’Cellibrecca reminded her of what the Archigos had told her, and she wanted to blurt it out. Justi kept his gaze on her face as he spoke to Renard. “No doubt he is.” He waved his free hand toward the man, still not looking at him. “Tell the a’teni that I again extend my condolences to him on the loss of U’Teni Estraven, and I’m sure that it is the grief of his loss and not blatant rudeness that would cause him to think that I have forgotten that I’m scheduled to meet with him shortly. I will be with him when I have finished my luncheon. No sooner. Is that clear, Renard?”

“As crystalline as the Sun Throne, my Kraljiki,” Renard answered.

Ana thought there might have been the barest glimpse of a smile on the aide’s face. “It will be my pleasure to convey your message to the a’teni.” Renard bowed to the Kraljiki, then gave Ana the sign of Cenzi.

He left quickly, snapping his fingers at the gardai to open the doors as he approached. As the door clicked shut behind Renard, Justi’s fingers tightened again on her hand.

“When Renard mentioned ca’Cellibrecca, you nearly started to speak.”

“You’re very perceptive, Justi. I have news to give you, Kraljiki.

From the Archigos.”

Justi nodded. “When I meet with him after our luncheon, A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca will be counseling me to do here in Nessantico as he did in Brezno,” he said. “He wants the Numetodo in the Bastida tortured until they confess their crimes, then he would see them mutilated, executed publicly and displayed as a warning. He will be most insistent in this, and he will give me persuasive arguments from both the Toustour and Divolonte, both of which he knows I hold in the greatest regard.

He will appeal to my faith and to my duty as Kraljiki.”

Ana started to interrupt, but Justi lifted a finger and she swallowed her words. “My faith is genuine, Ana,” he continued. “I have very little sympathy for the Numetodo. My sense of duty to Nessantico is also strong; I believe my matarh did the Holdings a disservice with her neglect of the Garde Civile and the chevarittai-we are not as strong as we should be, and we have given too much strength to Firenzcia as a result. Now. . ca’Cellibrecca, as I said, will appeal to my role as Protector of the Holdings and my own security. The fact that O’Teni cu’Seranta doesn’t believe in the Numetodo’s guilt will hold little weight for him.

Your belief would hold no weight at all if Orlandi were to discover that you knew Envoy ci’Vliomani, or that you’d actually been with him when he was arrested. I also know that Orlandi offers me another marriage-weapon I could use: his own daughter, the new widow ca’Cellibrecca.

Like any good swordsman, I prefer to practice with my weapon and know it very well before I use it in battle.”

His gaze would not release her. The smile was gone now, and his hand felt as if it weighed as much as the Sun Throne itself. “I’m a much stronger and more independent person than A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca believes me to be. He thinks I am still the A’Kralj, bound to Matarh’s will.

He’s wrong; I’m more like Matarh herself, even if she didn’t see it. I would have no difficulty telling A’Teni ca’Cellibrecca that I will release the Numetodo entirely, or perhaps choose a single one of them, the least of them, to act as a symbol for all and let all the rest go, including Envoy ci’Vliomani. That’s what you want, isn’t it, Ana? — you don’t have to answer. I see it in your face. I can do that, Ana. I will do that: if it would seem to be in my best interests.”