and the burning shape of a falcon, Lady Placida’s fire fury. It shattered the water-bonds and streaked at Lady Aquitaine like a miniature comet.
At the same instant, Lady Placida’s unconscious figure swept Aldrick’s good leg out from under him, and the wounded one buckled, pitching him to the ground. Before he could recover, Lady Placida was on his back with a knee between his shoulder blades and a heavy strangling cord around his neck.
Lady Aquitaine threw her hands up to ward off the charging fire fury. She stumbled and slipped down the bank and into the stream.
Rook rose-then she, too, changed, growing taller, more slender, until Placidus Aria stood in her place, the bewildered child held on one hip. She lifted her other hand and the fire fury streaked back to her wrist, perching there, while she faced Lady Aquitaine.
At the same time, the figure atop Aldrick blurred as well, until it was Rook that held him down.
“I confess,” Amara drawled to Lady Aquitaine, “I’m somewhat disappointed in you. I gave you even odds of seeing through the switch.” She showed Lady Aquitaine her teeth. “You didn’t really think I was unaware of your listening in on my conversations with Bernard, did you?”
Lady Aquitaines face began to flush an angry red.
“Did you believe it when I said I had no idea what you might do, no idea what I could do to prepare, no idea whether or not you’d turn on us?” Amara shook her head. “I never prevented you from listening in because I wanted you to hear it, Your Grace. I wanted you to think you would be dealing with a helpless little lamb. But to be honest, didn’t think you’d be quite so egocentrically stupid as to fall for it.”
Lady Aquitaine bared her teeth, furious, and began to rise from the stream.
“Invidia,” warned Lady Placida, gesturing slightly with the wrist where the fire fury perched. “I’ve had a bad week.”
“Can you grasp the situation now?” Amara said, her tone hard. “This game is over. You lost.”
Lady Aquitaine inhaled slowly, making a visible effort to rein in her temper. “Very well,” she said in a quiet, dangerous voice. “What are your terms?”
Amara said, “Nonnegotiable.”
“May I ask you a question?” Bernard asked.
“Certainly,” Amara said.
“How did you know that those two were going to be trading faces during the rescue?”
“Because Odiana was there,” Amara said. “Honestly, why else would she be? Lady Aquitaine certainly didn’t need to bring an extra healer, and I can’t imagine that she would let a madwoman like her come along on an operation like this just to keep Aldrick company. She didn’t need any of that. She needed someone who could look like her and serve as her double, her stalking horse. It seemed reasonable that Lady Aquitaine would want to hide her true identity during the rescue attempt. That way, if things went sour, or if in the long run Kalarus wound up with the throne, she’d be in a position to deny any involvement.”
Bernard shook his head. “I can’t think in circles that twisty. And you got Lady Placida and Rook to do the same thing? Switch identities?”
“Yes. So that in the confrontation, Lady Aquitaine would take action against the wrong targets and give us a chance to get the drop on her entirely.”
“Some people,” Bernard said quietly, “might argue that we should have killed them.”
Amara shrugged. “Lady Aquitaine and her retainers could quite possibly have taken several of us with them, had they been sure that they were to die. Terms let us all walk away in one piece. And given Lady Aquitaine’s contacts and influence, arresting her for trial would be a pointless exercise.”
“Some people might not be happy with that answer,” Bernard rumbled. “They’ll say you could have killed them with impunity once they’d surrendered.”
“People like Gaius?” Amara suggested.
“He’s one,” Bernard said, nodding.
Amara turned to her husband and met his eyes steadily. “I swore to uphold and defend the Crown, my lord. And that means that I am bound by the law. One does not arrest, judge, sentence, and execute prisoners without due course of law.” She lifted her chin. “Neither does an agent of the Crown betray her word, once given. Besides, the First Lord still needs Aquitaine’s support, until Kalare’s Legions are put down. Murdering his wife might reduce the enthusiasm of his support.”
Bernard studied her face, his features unreadable. “Those people are dangerous, Amara. To me, to my family, to you. We’re in the wilderness, amidst the chaos of a war. Who would know?”
Amara met his gaze calmly. “I would. Decent people don’t
“Right up until it went a little sour at the end,” Bernard growled.
Amara put her hands on either side of his face. “Let her have her world. It’s cold there, and empty. For us, it isn’t enough to win, my lord. It isn’t enough to simply survive. I will not live in a realm where calculations of power supersede justice and law-regardless of how inconvenient that may be to the Crown.”
Bernard’s teeth showed in another white, fierce smile. He kissed her gently. “You, ‘ he said, “are more than that old man deserves.”
She smiled at him, warmly. “Be careful, my lord husband. If you say too much, I may have to report your seditious remarks to the First Lord.”
“Do that. How long do you think it will take them to get out of there?”
They sat beside one another in the coach. Rook, reunited with her daughter, had fallen asleep while holding her, her cheek resting on Masha’s curls. The little girl’s cheeks were pink with the warmth of a young child’s deep sleep. Lady Placida and Elania were likewise drowsing.
“Ten minutes, perhaps,” Amara said. “Once Lady Aquitaine’s had a little rest, she’ll snap those ropes and free the others. But without transportation for her retainers, she’d have to pursue us on her own. She wouldn’t do that, even if Lady Placida wasn’t in a position to destroy her public image and her support in the Dianic League with damning testimony about conspiracy to commit murder.”
Bernard nodded. “I see,” he said. “And what’s stopping the bearers from just dumping us out on the ground and going back for her?”
“They’re mercenaries, my love. We offered them money. Lots and lots of money. “
“Right,” Bernard said. “We’re good for it. Though I feel I must ask… why did we leave them naked? To slow them down?”
“No,” Amara sniffed. “Because the poisonous bitch deserved it.”
Bernard’s eyes wrinkled at the corners, and he turned to place a slow, gentle kiss upon her mouth, and one upon each eyelid. Amara found that once closed, her eyes simply refused to open, and she leaned into Bernard’s delicious warmth and was asleep before she’d finished letting out a contented sigh.
Chapter 51
Tavi shivered in the rain, struggling to hide it from the men around him, and wanted nothing in the world so much as to be warm and asleep.
The Alerans had made ready to meet the next assault in less than an hour. Torches and furylamps beat back the darkness far more effectively than they had under the first withering assault, and the legionares themselves were more organized, more determined.
At least Tavi hoped they were.
Tavi stood atop the last adobe wall with Valiar Marcus. The First Spear moved with a noticeable limp thanks to the Canim javelin. His leg was tied off with a bloodstained bandage, the wound closed with needle and thread, evidence that Foss’s healers were badly overworked. Under most circumstances, a wound like Marcus’s would have been closed, treated, and the First Spear returned to action virtually whole. The healers had been treating so many light injuries-and closing off far worse ones in order to keep more badly wounded men alive until they could be seen to later-that the First Spear had, by all reports, asked a wounded veteran to withdraw the javelin, then cleaned and
