« I have waited long enough,” she said quietly, cutting off the rest of what he was about to say.
The words were edged in steel so sharp that the functionary winced visibly. He hesitated, then tried to speak again, but Shadea’s hand had lifted, her fingers had pointed in his direction, and suddenly his voice had failed completely. He gasped and tried again and again, but nothing would come out.
She crossed the room and stood before him. «Captain?» she said to the leader of her Gnome escort. His hard, weathered face appeared at her elbow. «Ready theBremen for departure. Take your men with you. I will be along in a few minutes.»
Her Captain of the Guard frowned. «It is not safe for you here alone, Mistress.»
« Safer for me than for some,” she answered. «Do as I say.»
He left without further comment, taking his men with him, leaving her alone in the reception room with the still–voiceless functionary.
« As for you, little man,” she said to him, «I have other plans. Do you wish your voice back?» The functionary nodded eagerly. «I thought as much. What service do you think I require of you if I am to grant you this favor?»
He didn’t need to ask. He led her out through the doorway and down the hall. They passed dozens of guards, all armed and at watch, but none tried to stop them. Shadea had drawn her Druid robes tight about her, but within their folds, concealed from view, the fingers of her right hand flexed in a series of intricate moves, calling up magic to within easy reach, readying herself for the unexpected. She did not think she would have to use her magic, but she knew enough to be prepared in case she did. She could not trust Sen Dunsidan, could not rely on him to act honorably toward her, even as a guest of state. One thing she had learned about the Prime Minister of the Federation—he would do whatever he felt was necessary to get what he wanted.
The hallway ended at a pair of ornately carved double doors that stood open to the light. The room within was candlelit but draped in its corners and along its edges by deepest shadow. She heard Sen Dunsidan’s voice, smooth and persuasive, a hiss against the silence. A snake’s voice, she thought. But she knew how to draw the poison from his fangs.
The functionary turned toward her questioningly as they reached the door, uncertain of what he was expected to do next. She solved the problem for him by fastening one hand about his neck and marching him into the room in front of her.
Sen Dunsidan was seated on a couch to one side, sipping wine and speaking with a shadowy figure seated in the corner of the room where it was darkest. Shadea did a quick search of the chamber, found only the two and no one else present, swept up to Sen Dunsidan in a rush of black robes, and threw his functionary at his feet.
« Ready to receive me now, Prime Minister?» she asked softly. She eyed the glass of wine he held poised midway to drinking and smiled. «Go ahead. Finish it.»
He did so, watching her carefully, clearly surprised by her appearance, but not altogether unprepared. A man like him was never entirely unprepared. She gestured at the functionary, who coughed out a few startled words, climbed quickly to his feet, and ran from the room.
« I was just about to come for you,” Sen Dunsidan said, putting down the glass of wine and rising. «But I wanted to make certain of what I would say before we met.»
« You have had time enough to make certain of what you will say for the next year. What seems to be the problem? Are you at a loss for words? Do you find your oratorical skills have suddenly deserted you?» She paused. «Or are you simply worried about how I might perceive your duplicity in acting without my knowledge in the matter of the Prekkendorran?»
The Prime Minister’s face darkened. «I do not need to apologize for that. I acted when the opportunity presented itself, just as you would have done in my place. Had I waited to consult with you, the opportunity would have been forever lost. Don’t presume to lecture me on how to conduct myself as leader of the Federation. I do what I must.»
« Yes,” she acknowledged. «And you tell me of it in your own good time, it seems. I do not judge you for your decision in attacking the Free–born. I judge you for your failure to inform me of it. It smacks of an independence that verges on rebellion. Have we come to a point where you think you no longer have need of an alliance with me? Or with the Druid order? Does your success whisper to you that you are sufficiently strong that you need ally yourself with no one? Is that the course you have chosen?»
She turned toward the shadowy figure in the corner. «Or do you take your counsel from someone else these days, someone you think may advise you better?»
There was a long silence. Then the figure in the corner rose, a slow languid movement of limbs and torso. «He seeks the counsel of someone who has his best interests at heart, Shadea.»
iridia.»
She breathed the name like a curse. Iridia Eleri—or at least a pale imitation of the Elven sorceress—stepped into the light. Whatever Shadea might have thought she would find, it wasn’t this. There was no reason for Iridia to be present, not as an ally to Sen Dunsidan, not as a creature in thrall to the Prime Minister of the Federation. Even more shocking was how her onetime ally looked—bloodless and drained of life, thin to the point of emaciation, and hard–eyed in a way she had never seemed before. There was something wrong with her, but Shadea could not decide what it was.
« Did you think you had seen the last of me?» Iridia asked, her voice as bloodless as her face. «Did you think me safely away from Paranor and your Druid schemes?»
Shadea stared, not knowing what she thought, except that it wasn’t this.
« You drove me from Paranor,” Iridia continued in her flat, lifeless monotone. «You refused me any chance to gain revenge over the man who had wronged me. You took away my power. You stripped me of my pride. So I came here, to give my services to one who would better appreciate them.»
Shadea looked back at Sen Dunsidan. He shrugged. «She acts as my personal adviser now. Her help has been invaluable to me. I hope you don’t intend to try to rob me of it out of jealousy or a misguided sense of prior claims.»
She grimaced. «Please, Prime Minister, try not to sound as stupid as you act. I don’t care whom you bring into your confidence. Even her. She speaks the truth. She was banished when she failed to live up to her pledge to serve the order. She would not be welcomed back now even if she sought to return voluntarily. I certainly have no intention of trying to make her return by force. But you might think about her failure to serve one master and ask yourself how likely it is that she will successfully serve another.»
« I think I am the best judge of how well a person will serve me, Shadea.» Sen Dunsidan shrugged. «After all, I was smart enough to ally myself with you, wasn’t I?»
« An alliance that no longer seems to have much merit, given what I see of your present situation.»
The Prime Minister moved over to his couch and sat down again, his earnest expression only barely concealing the satisfaction she was certain he was feeling at her discomfort. She would have liked to wipe it away with her fingernails, but she wanted to see where things were going first.
« Our alliance still has value,” he said, motioning for her to sit. She remained where she was. «As I said, I acted as I did on the Prekkendorran because the opportunity presented itself. But the war is not over, and I still have need of your support. And the support of the Druid order. If I am to successfully conclude the war with the Free–born, I must press north and west to force a resolution. I cannot do this without at least the tacit support of the Druids. By the same token, I know that you need my support, as well. You lack any other alliances. The Dwarves, the Elves, the Trolls, and the Bordermen all refuse to give you the allegiance you seek. They have not yet accepted you as Ard Rhys. For that matter, some within your own order have not accepted you.»
She said nothing, holding her temper, showing nothing of what she was feeling. When the time was right, she would squash him like a bug—assuming Iridia let him live that long. Shadea was convinced that the sorceress was making use of him for her own needs and would keep him around only so long as was necessary.
« I don’t say that you won’t find a way to deal with these troublemakers, Shadea,” the Prime Minister continued. «But you must agree that it will make things considerably easier for you if we maintain our alliance rather than cast it aside. And, of course, it will make things easier for me, as well.»
« Especially if your armies suffer another defeat like the one they suffered in the passes north of the Prekkendorran two days ago.» She smiled. «How many men did you lose? More than a thousand? At the hands of some ragtag Elven castoffs you had driven from the heights?»
She enjoyed the look of surprise that appeared on his face, a look he tried without success to conceal. He
