arms, almost as if they embraced, then Shaul flung him away and wiped his eyes with the back of one shaking hand. He looked at Mihael, his face flushed and ugly in its rage, then at Ilsabet-calm, serene, beautiful. She plays games with the lieutenant as well as the baron, Mihael thought. She has everyone fooled.
'A ruler has to be level-headed, Mihael,' Ilsabet said patiently. 'A ruler has to be prepared to fight real threats, not imaginary ones.'
'This threat is very real,' Mihael countered.
'In your mind,' Ilsabet replied.
The tone she used, as if she were placating a small child, infuriated him more than anything she had done so far. His anger surged, and he reached across the table and gave her a hard slap on the face.
The act should have dissipated some of his anger, but instead it made it worse. He would have hit her again, harder, but Shaul wrenched him back. Mihael fought with more effort than he'd ever expended before, but Peto joined in. The two of them managed to wrestle Mihael to the floor but he continued to struggle, and they hit him until his face was bloody.
'Stop it!' Ilsabet screamed. She stood above them, her hands clasped in front of her. 'You're insane, all three of you! Look, you've even opened his wound.'
Peto pulled back and saw the bloodstains on the floor. 'Let him go,' he said to Shaul.
As Shaul obeyed, Mihael began pushing himself to his feet. At the last moment, he grabbed a knife that had fallen in the scuffle and lunged toward his sister.
Shaul flung himself between them, his own blade out to repel the attack. Mihael must have seen it, but he never stopped his forward rush.
He died quickly, struggling to his last breath against the men who tried to help him, while Ilsabet backed away as if hoping that her distance would calm him.
Jorani arrived just as Mihael died. Ilsabet gave a terrified cry and rushed into the comfort of his arms.
'You saw what he did,' Peto said to her.
'I saw,' Ilsabet whispered, pressing close to Jorani. 'And it makes no sense.'
'What happened?' Jorani asked.
'The man ran up my blade,' Shaul said incredulously.
Baron Peto provided the rest of the story while Ilsabet sat beside him, her expression dull with shock.
SEVENTEEN
From the Diary of Baroness Ilsabet
I had not planned on this, so the grief I felt as I pressed against Jorani was real. I stood, swaying on my feet as they carried my brother away. Jorani's arms shook, and I knew he was as shocked as I.
Later, privately, Jorani asked me what part I had in the tragedy. I stood at his tower window, looking east as I had during my father's last campaign, his plans gone tragically awry as my own had.
'My brother keeps his hairbrush and mirror on a table close to the spy hole. While he slept, I managed to get a bit of the powder on his hairbrush. He brushed his wet hair. As it dried, the powder flaked off,' I said. 'I wanted Mihael raving, seeing plots all around him.' I explained that I hadn't counted on the powder's strength, nor on Mihael's struggle with the lieutenant.
'The lieutenant was affected as well?' Jorani asked.
nodded. 'They were both half insane when Mihael charged me.'
'And Peto?'
'He has no idea what happened except that Mihael was making wild accusations. He'll think Mihael was raving.'
'Mihael told me you killed Greta deliberately.'
'Deliberately!' I whirled and faced him and saw a hardness in his expression that had never been there before. I knew if I told him the truth about Greta, he would betray me or have me killed. Hiding the anger I felt, I lied.
'At Argentine, I considered different ways to poison the baron. I knew I had to choose something slow so that no suspicion would fall on me. I intended to try different mixtures of the web poison on the prisoners in the dungeons until I found just the right concentration to sicken a man and kill him slowly. I never had a chance to experiment. Greta found the kerchief while she was cleaning. It was mixed in a soft molasses cookie. She probably licked her fingers and died.'
'You didn't pick a very good hiding place,' he said.
I told him how after her death I'd found a dead rat in my cupboard. 'I think it had been gnawing on the poison. Greta must have heard it in there.'
One of Jorani's books on statesmanship said that a lie is best believed when it is in close proximity to the truth. This was certainly as close as I dared to go, and he believed it. 'Greta raised me. I'll always feel guilt over what happened because of my carelessness,' I said. 'I didn't plan her death. Don't accuse me of it.'
'I would not.' Jorani spoke almost offhandedly. His mind was not on the present conversation, and I knew with a second sight that he thought of me standing in the dark shadows of the dungeons, doling out poisons, watching prisoners sicken and die.
'Were you the one responsible for the plague that cut down the prisoners?' he asked, sounding both certain of it and unapproving.
'How did
'The same way. I would go down to the dungeons with your grandfather at my side. The killings sick-ened me at first, until I hardened my heart to them.'
'Enemies must be destroyed,' I said.
'You are your father's daughter.' He accompanied that comment with a sad shake of his head. 'If you could wish for the perfect future, what would it be?'
I walked to him, placed my hands on his shoulders and tilted up my head to look at him. 'That I rule Kislova with you at my right hand as you were for my father.' I hesitated for a moment then added, 'No, not precisely that way.'
Standing on tiptoe, I kissed him. I moved quickly, kissing with what I thought must be passion. As I expected, the move caught him off guard. He'd never suspected that I might share the attraction he'd struggled with for so long. He gently pushed me back and looked down at my face-my youth, my beauty.
'No,' he said, exactly as I'd expected him to. As I'd guessed, he loved me too much to play the doddering old man with the child bride.
'That future will come,' I said, then laid the side of my face against his chest. 'When Peto returns to Sundell, we will rule Kislova together.'
'You'll let him go?' he asked. I heard the relief in his voice.
'Every time I have tried to move against him, I've brought tragedy to myself as well as those I love. In truth, the fates want him to live. As for me, I judged him by his deeds, and when I swore my allegiance, I meant it. It's time that I listen to you and forget the past. We have our lands to consider, and our own future together.'
Our. We. I used the words quite deliberately. As I did, I saw him wince ever so slightly. 'You could do more than that,' he said.
'Wed him?' I laughed. I couldn't help it. This was exactly what I'd wanted him to suggest.
He misinterpreted my reaction, hastily going on.
'Your father desired Sundell. Your son will rule that land as well as Kislova.' saw something clearly then-the most perfect vengeance. 'He already desires me,' I said. 'I wish I could feel the same, but though I may marry him, there is no one I will ever love as much as I do you, Jorani.'
I kissed him again. This time, I felt him respond.
I wish that Peto were a greater fool, someone Jorani could not respect. If so, Jorani and I would be allies. I could end my duplicity, take him completely into my confidence and reveal to him the exquisite beauty of my plan. Instead, the first kisses of my life were lies and the only man I could ever love became nothing more than a pawn for me to play.
