have them go to Nimbus and make changes there. I visited the merchants' shops and ordered crystal lamps and silverplate. Nimbus Castle will be as beautiful as Shadow, I'll see to it.
I've spent the rest of my time in the library. I have never seen so many books. It's almost as if the hundreds of volumes hold all the wisdom of the world. I think often of Jorani as I study the volumes on philosophy, government and botany, and wish he were here to share them with me.
This also seems to be the one place in the castle where Peto's mother is loathe to go, though I see her far too often elsewhere.
Yesterday, she confessed that the dusty volumes make her sneeze, and the bright light of the eastern windows gives her a headache. Her eyes aren't healthy, so I suspect that reading itself pains her. And she is viciously frank. She said that her main concern about me is that I might be too slender in the hips to bear children. I assured her that my mother was just as narrow and had three with no difficulty.
'And were your siblings as tiny as you?' she asked.
described them both as tall and strong, my brother a giant like my father. I believe she guessed I was lying, but did not say so. If I were planning on staying for any length of time, I'd have to think of some way of dealing with her. Instead, I bite my tongue and think that it will not be long before I'm home again.
We had this conversation while the seamstresses were doing the final fittings for my new gowns. I would have been content with two, but Peto's mother, whom I've come to call Widow Casse, ordered six, each more ornate than the last, and demanded that they be done as quickly as possible. I've never worried about my clothing before, but if I am to rule Kislova, I should dress like a ruler. I admit I found the procedure of holding bolts of cloth to my face interesting. I picked two fabrics-one a deep burgundy satin, the other a perfect shade of silver. With the fabric draped across my body I feel like an ice princess, cold and beautiful.
This morning, Peto brought me a gift, a pair of crystal earrings and a single crystal snowflake on a silver chain. 'I thought how beautiful it would look against the silver cloth,' he said after I'd opened it.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him as Marishka would have done. But I could not help thinking that by winning my love he flatters himself. Ah, he is in for such an awakening.
I'd just put the jewelry away when we were interrupted by a pounding on the door. In a palace where servants were unflinchingly polite, the urgency of the sound made Peto wary.
As soon as he unlocked the door, I could see that the news wasn't good. We went downstairs and met the guard who had come from Nimbus Castle.
'Jorani is right,' I said after the man had detailed the unrest the killing had caused. 'One of us must be there. I have to go.'
Peto nodded. I could see how much he wanted to go back with me, but Sundell custom made that impossible. He had to remain in Sundell for the funeral of his fallen soldiers. I sat with him for the next few hours, holding his hand, feeling his rage and pain.
My gowns were finished by nightfall. I put on the silver one and the crystal jewelry and went into the bedroom I shared with my husband. As I walked toward the bed, I saw my reflection in a full-length mirror. The moonlight had turned my hair to silver and the gown seemed to flow like water over my body. I had never felt so cold, or so beautiful as I turned to Peto and held out my arms.
NINETEEN
Jorani could never understand madness, yet now it seemed to be all around him. Word of the killings at the border guardhouse rolled like a deadly tidal wave through the castle, then Pirie, then all of Kislova. The fact that six of the dead were from Sun-dell was ignored. The fact that the Kislovan soldiers had been new recruits and one had fought for the rebels before the invasion seemed to be all that anyone considered. Suddenly, Baron Peto was not a savior but a tyrant, more hated than Janosk, who had at least been one of their own.
Nobles of various Kislovan estates were waiting for Ilsabet at Nimbus Castle. She wore the silver gown, the crystal jewelry, the matching silver shoes. When she stepped from the carriage, pale hair in delicate ringlets over her back, Lord Ruven took her hand and escorted her into the great hall, past the assembly, to the seat of honor her father had once occupied.
Jorani waited beside it, and as she climbed the stairs, he thought how right it was that Janosk's most able child should finally sit in his place.
The silence that greeted her arrival was the last for hours. Though Ilsabet was undoubtedly exhausted from the long journey, she listened carefully as nobles gave their opinions on what should be done. Most wanted to continue the alliance with Sundell-as if anyone had a choice in the matter-which had proven so beneficial to the country. A few suggested ways of appeasing the peasants. One old lord, a staunch supporter of Janosk, was inexplicably in favor of invading Sundell.
'They'd hardly expect such a move. And we'd have the support of the people, that's for sure,' he said.
Ilsabet listened politely to the man, then explained to him that Sundell was far too strong for the remnants of the Kislovan army. 'Besides, the work of one insane officer cannot be allowed to undo what has become an economically advantageous alliance.'
Jorani was surprised at his relief. Had he really thought she would do something foolish out of revenge? As he listened to her propose imprisonment for those speaking against the occupation and execution for anyone who took up arms against Sundell, he realized she was as harsh a ruler as her father had been. With a pang of regret, he also decided she might have fallen in love with her husband.
When they were alone in her chambers, she dispelled that last thought by throwing her arms around him and kissing him. 'I thought of you every day,' she said and moved away from him. The silver fabric of her gown caught the light, and as she walked toward the window, it seemed to glow.
'Do you care for Peto at all?' he asked.
She shook her head. 'But I've learned to lie so perfectly,' she answered. 'And I'm pleased I went there. I've discovered so much.' She told him of the plans she'd made for the castle, then took him to her room where servants had uncrated the books she'd borrowed and piled them on her reading table.
Given her interests, she'd chosen well, Jorani noted. There were neatly written and illustrated volumes on plants of the region, on the uses of molds and chemicals, on the spread and treatment of disease.
'They're a strange people,' she said. 'So many of the books were covered with dust or crumbling with age. I was in awe of the knowledge they ignored. I've already read some of the ones I borrowed, but I wanted to share them with you. And just before I left, I discovered this behind a shelf of books. I doubt anyone knew it was there.' She held out a slim pile of pages, crudely bound.
He sat at the table and opened it. The writing was faded to a pale brown, almost unreadable against the yellowed pages. He read the first page slowly, then looked up at her with concern. 'Don't keep this, Ilsa-bet. This does not deal with healing, nor even with poisons. This is sorcery, black and terrible. It also mentions a curse connected with the potion's use.'
'It describes how to raise the dead. If you had fallen, wouldn't you want me to use such a thing on you?'
'Never! Don't even think of ft.' If there had been a fire in the hearth, he would have flung the volume into it, half expecting it not to bum.
'I've read nearly all of it already,' she lied. 'I never forget what I learn. If you don't want me to share the knowledge contained here, I'll bum the book as soon as I'm finished.'
'No,' he said. 'I won't destroy such knowledge, though I'll never use it.' As he spoke, he knew this was a decision he would one day regret.
When Jorani turned to leave, she gripped his arm and drew him inside, kissing him again, then going to the table, filling a pair of crystal goblets. 'I told you we would rule together.' She handed him a glass.
He took it, sipped it, thinking there was something inevitable and tragic about the love he felt for her. Nonetheless, he stayed.
Beside him in bed, Usabet thought about the amber potion she had deliberately stopped taking. The time for a child had come. No heir of Peto's
would rule Kislova or Sundell. Someday Peto would know the truth of that as well.
