Kethry nodded, liking the girl; the child was not the pampered pretty she had first thought. No windows to this chamber-only the one entrance; a good bit more like a cell than a bower, it occurred to her. A comfortable cell, but a cell still. She stood, smoothed her buff-colored robe with an unconscious gesture, and unsheathed the sword that seldom left her side.
'Lady, what-' Katran stood, startled by the gesture.
'Peace; I mean no ill. Here-' Kethry said, bending over Myria and placing the blade in the startled girl's hands. '-hold this for a bit.'
Myria took the blade, eyes wide, a puzzled expression bringing a bit more life to her face. 'But-'
'Women's magic, child. For all that blades are a man's weapon, Need here is strong in the magic of women. She serves women only-it was her power that called me here to aid you-and given an hour of your holding her, she'll Heal you. Now, go on. You fell asleep.'
Myria accepted the blade gingerly, then settled the sword across her knees and took a deep breath. 'Something woke me-a sound of something falling,
I think. You can see that this room connects with My Lord's chamber-that in fact the only way in or out is through his chamber. I saw a candle burning, so I rose to see if he needed anything. He-he was slumped over his desk. I thought perhaps he had fallen asleep-'
'You thought he was drunk, you mean,' the older woman said wryly.
'-does it matter what I thought? I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, because he wore dark colors always. I reached out my hand to shake him- and it came away bloody-'
'And she screamed fit to rouse the household,' Katran finished.
'And when we came, she had to unlock the door for us,' said the second woman, silent till now. 'Both doors into that chamber were locked-hallside with the lord's key, seneschal's side barred from within this room. And the bloody dagger that had killed him was under her bed.'
'Whose was it?'
'Mine, of course,' Myria answered. 'And before you ask, there was only one key to the hallside door; it could only be opened with the key, and the key was under his hand. It's an ensorcelled lock; even if you made a copy of the key, the copy would never unlock the door.'
'Warrl?' The huge beast rose from the shadows where he'd been lying and padded to Kethry's side. Myria and her women shrank away a little at the sight of him.
'I may need to conserve my energies. You can detect what I'd need a spell for-see if there's magical residue on the bar on the other door, would you?
Then see if the spell on the lock's been tampered with.'
The dark-gray, nearly black beast trotted out of the room on silent paws, and Myria shivered.
'I can see where the evidence against you is overwhelming, even without misheard remarks.'
'I had no choice in this wedding,' Myria replied, her chin rising defiantly, 'but I have been a true and loyal wife to my lord.'
'Loyal past his deserts, if you ask me,' Katran grumbled. 'Well, that's the problem, lady-mage. My Lady came to this marriage reluctant, and it's well known. It's well known that he didn't much value her. And there's been more than a few heard to say they thought Myria reckoned to set herself up as Keep-ruler with the Lord gone.'
Warrl padded back into the room, and flopped down at Kethry's feet.
'Well, fur-brother?'
He shook his head negatively, and the women stared at this evidence of human-like intelligence.
'Not the bar nor the lock, hmm? And how do you get into a locked room without a key? Still-Lady, is all as it was in the other room?'
'Yes-the priest was one of the first in the door, and would not let anyone change so much as a dust mote. He only let them take the body away.'
'Thank the Goddess!' Kethry looked curiously at the girl. 'Lady, why did you choose to prove yourself as you
