Sasha

'Oh aye, how convenient!' Krayliss turned to confront the crowd, with an expansive, theatrical gesture. 'This is what we get to replace the good Prince Krystoffl Never was there a law or an honourable agreement that this man could not find a way to sneak around like a filthy, cheating coward!'

A roar of outrage followed and swords about the circle of lords were halfdrawn. Men yelled for the Lord of Taneryn's head on the spot. Behind the Taneryn flag that hung above Krayliss's chair, ten of Krayliss's senior men placed hands near their swords, a wild-haired, disreputable corner of an oth erwise impeccably groomed gathering. Koenyg raised both hands, unmoved. The circle's fury, and that of the seated gathering behind, subsided.

Krayliss's eyes gleamed with triumph. He thought he'd won, Damon reckoned. Submit Sashandra to the trial, and risk revealing the truth of her Goeren-yai sympathies… or withhold her, thus breaking her agreement. That was the dilemma he had presented to the king and Koenyg. Now, he was the aggrieved lord, having suffered a great injustice at the hands of the Verenthane king. His stage was set.

'Look at you all!' Krayliss snarled at the furious men standing about the circle. 'Verenthane pets! Do any of you know the wishes of the Goeren-yai of your provinces, the ones as whose lords you pompously style yourselves? Do any of you care to guess what shall happen to you when they hear of this outrage?' He strutted forward, bristling with self-righteous rage. 'So brave you look, surrounded by your Verenthane cronies, and your inbred, sister-buggering uncles and cousins..

Lord Kumaryn of Valhanan gave a roar of rage and drew his sword clear with a ring that echoed the clear length of the hall.

'HOLD!' Koenyg yelled, pulling his own sword clear.

Red-faced, Lord Kumaryn glared at his prince, gulping air like a stranded fish. 'Highness!' he protested. 'A man can only take so much!'

'A man can take all of this and more if his prince commands it!' Koenyg retorted. 'And he shall!'

'How long will your bravery last, Lord Kumaryn?' Lord Krayliss roared at him. 'You think your honour in tatters now? What of the honour you have stolen from your people? Will you be so defiant when all those neglected thousands arrive on the doorstep of your great Cryliss mansion, weapons raised in anger, and demand restitution for all the honour of which you have deprived them?'

'The Goeren-yai do not follow you!' Kumaryn yelled, trembling with rage. 'All through the villages of Valhanan, they call you a fool, and a troublemaker!'

'And you think they will follow you?' Krayliss retorted. 'All the way to Larosa to murder serrin children while they sleep? And what's this?' With feigned disbelief, staring about the circle of lords. 'I count only ten flags! Even a pagan Goeren-yai has enough education to know that there are eleven provinces in Lenayin!'

He put a hand to his chest, in mock disbelief. 'Where are the Hadryn? Where indeed, I wonder! I'll tell you where! They're off murdering the Udalyn in their valley! Just last night I received two small Udalyn children into my refuge! They had come from Ymoth, where the Hadryn had pillaged and burned! And how is it that the Hadryn feel so emboldened, we all wonder, when the Verenthane kings of Lenayin have always forbidden them in the past?

'They struck a deal with the king, didn't they?' He levelled a hard finger at Torvaal's throne. 'I see you hiding back there, little king! You cannot hide behind your heir forever! You needed the north's support for your lowlands war and so now they have free rein to slaughter whomever they want, don't they? Lady Sashandra brought a child to you this morning to beg for the lives of the Udalyn, didn't she? And you were so offended that anyone should dare to care enough for the lives of a bunch of shaggy-headed pagans that you barred her in her room, and thought to spring this trial upon the last remaining pagan lord in her absence!'

'If you wish to make complaint against the king's rule,' Torvaal said heavily from his throne, 'then there are formal ways and means of doing so.'

'No longer!' Krayliss thundered, with a thrust of his finger. 'The time of rule by Verenthane kings is over! No more do we play by your corrupted and honourless rules! I declare Taneryn is no longer within the Kingdom of Lenayin! The last, free corner of Lenayin is free from the Verenthane yoke once and for all! I reject this Rathynal, I reject this city, and I reject you, Master Torvaal! Men of Taneryn, arise, we are leaving! And let it be known that any Goeren-yai from any province who wishes to ride in haste and save our brother Udalyn from annihilation, we shall welcome you with open arms! '

And with that, Lord Krayliss of Taneryn and his contingent of nobles and warriors strode for the hall's central aisle, and made for the great doors at the end.

'Let them leave!' Koenyg called, standing still upon the centre of the vast eight-pointed star splayed in tile across the hall's floor. Above soared the great palace dome, its ceiling alive with a mural-King Soros upon a white steed, leading his army of holy warriors to victory over the Cherrovan. Pagan Cherrovan fleeing his holy light, while pagan Lenays fall to one knee, in awe and gratitude. 'They are but a crazed few from a dying breed. Let them leave.'

Damon stared at his brother's cloaked back in disbelief. 'I don't believe you just said that,' he muttered, so that none but Myklas could overhear.

Myklas frowned. 'It's true, isn't it?'

'A lot of men are about to die needlessly,' Damon said quietly. He unclenched his fist from the armrest of the chair with difficulty, watching the last of the Taneryn contingent file out, with contemptuous glares at the watching Verenthanes on all sides. 'Sasha was right, brother. Damn her for a pain in the neck, but she was right all along.'

Sasha performed taka-dans with a naked blade until the light had crawled across Sofy's bed and fell now upon her own. With that and other exercises had she occupied herself all the morning, locked into Sofy's chambers. She heard the door being unlatched and then Sofy's maid Anyse appeared, a meal tray in her hands. Anyse paused, startled, to see the concluding strokes of Sasha's taka-dan. Sasha sheathed the blade in one smooth motion and the maid smiled nervously, then hurried to place the tray upon Sofy's writing desk by the windows.

Turning back to Sasha, she made a hurried curtsy, apparently wishing permission to speak. Sasha nodded. Anyse's freckled face was earnest. 'M'Lady,' she said in a low voice so that the guards beyond the door could not hear, 'Princess Sofy sends her greetings.'

Sasha frowned. 'Is she having fun with her Larosan friends?'

'She is concerned for you, M'Lady. She sends word that she is seeking to know where the young boy is being held.'

Anyse glanced furtively toward the doorway. 'I was sent to give you a message. Lord Krayliss has caused a commotion at Rathynal. He accused the king of betraying the Udalyn, and all but issued a call to arms. He stormed out of the hall before he could be removed and has returned to his encampment upon the fields.'

Sasha took a deep breath and stared toward the windows. She was not particularly surprised. Events were set in motion. Opportunists would seek to capitalise. Now, it had truly begun. 'Thank you,' she said quietly. 'I am glad to know.'

Anyse turned as if to go, hesitating even as she did. Sasha saw the indecision and gestured for the maid to speak. 'M'Lady… what of the Udalyn?' Anyse whispered, with great apprehension.

Sasha frowned. 'Would you follow Lord Krayliss?'

'No… no, M'Lady.' A vehement shake of the head. 'Not by choice. But… the Udalyn, M'Lady…'

'I know,' Sasha said darkly. 'Something shall be done, you can count on it. But Lord Krayliss is not the man to do it.'

'Aye,' Anyse replied, fear battling with relief and uncertainty in her eyes. 'Aye, M'Lady.' Another pause before she left. 'Please be safe,' she offered, and fled. Sasha took a deep breath. Surely Koenyg knew Sofy had Goeren-yai on her staff. Anyse amongst them. Surely he knew better than to try to persuade Sofy to have them replaced. And better still than to try and command it. Sofy was not an enemy a wise man would wish to make. But Sasha was equally sure that Koenyg knew who the Goeren-yai staff were and would have them watched. Any move she made now, after that visit, would surely be fraught with risk. Yet was there any choice?

She sat down to eat her meal, for her stomach was rumbling at the smell. Below through the windows, there were children running in the courtyard with squeals and cries as they played, leaping and rolling upon the grass. Rysha, she thought as she ate the soup and tore off a piece of bread. Daryd's last word, and last concern, as the soldiers had led him away. Rysha was at Krayliss's camp. She could not stay there-Krayliss's camp had just become the least safe location in Baen-Tar. Sasha had promised Daryd his sister would be cared for. And, besides, she needed to talk to Krayliss before any new calamity occurred.