Callador had been Arwyn’s wizard, and he had disappeared after the Battle of Dalton.
“She has a third locket, as well,” Gella continued, “but she never takes it off. It is a token of her husband, the duke, whom I believe does not suspect its purpose. Through it, she keeps him in her thrall.”
Yes, thought Aedan, that sounds like just the sort of thing Laera would do. She had always liked being in control. Of men, especially. “I believe you,” he said. “Go on.”
“There was a fourth locket, too,” said Gella, “and I believe it was her own token. Perhaps the wizard held it and she got it back somehow. I saw it once, but I have never seen it again. I think she must have destroyed it. But I stole these. This one, which is mine, I shall keep and destroy so it may never be used against me in a spell. But this one, which I believe is the wizard’s, I shall give to you. I looked inside. The hairs are short and curled. As he is bald, I gather they came from elsewhere.”
Aedan took the locket. “I see. Go on. How does the empress fit into all this?” He had the sudden feeling of a pit yawning open beneath him.
He sat on the edge of his chair, completely alert and sober now.
His blood was racing.
“She planned to insure that the empress would not have a child, so that there would be no heir to the throne,” said Gella. “And if the emperor left no heir-2’ “As the firstborn princess of the House of Roele and wife to the Duke of Boeruine, it would be her son who would succeed,”
said Aedan. He pressed his hands down hard against the table to stop them from shaking.
Gella nodded. “She assigned me to the empress as her body servant and forced me to give her a potion every night from a vial that she gave me.
I was to put several drops into her drink each night, and it would prevent her from conceiving a child. This I did, though I was loath to do it, but you must understand that I did not have any choice. So long as Duchess Laera held my token, I was helpless to resist.”
“A potion. . . ” Aedan said, his mouth suddenly dry.
“Last night, that is, in the evening, before the empress was due to retire, Duchess Laera gave me a new vial, saying I was to use it instead. She said it was a new preparation, more efficient. I was to empty the entire contents of the little vial into her drink tonight, and she insisted I return and tell her when I did it. I did not want to do it, my lord, you must believe me, but I had no choice. I was afraid.
When I came back to her tonight to tell her I had done as she commanded, she responded very strangely. She smiled in an evil way and nodded to herself, then turned to gaze out the window for a moment, as if deep in thought. I knew I might never have another chance, so I stole the lockets. I am very quick and light-fingered. It … it was my trade, you know.”
“And you gave her this new potion tonight. .
said Aedan, his voice came out hoarse through a constricted throat.
“I fear it may render her permanently barren,” Cella said. “I hope there is an antidote. If that should be so, I pray that it is not too late-“
“The empress is dead,” said Aedan.
Cella gasped and gave out a small cry.
“She died in giving birth to an abomination,” Aedan said harshly. “It quickened within moments and tore its way out of her womb. It was a gorgon.
The emperor killed it, and now I fear he may be driven mad with grief.”
“Oh, what have I done?” said Cella in a shocked whisper. She broke down and started sobbing. “I do not deserve to live!”
“But live you shall,” said Aedan. “You are coming back to Seaharrow with me. We shall deal with her ladyship, the duchess.”
Derwyn couldn’t sleep. He was too keyed up. He paced across the room, running his fingers through his hair, frantic with anxiety.
Laera sat on the bed, watching him and listening 476 to him, thinking things couldn’t have gone more perfectly.
“It’s horrible,” Derwyn kept repeating. “Horrible.
How could this have happened? The empress dead, the emperor raving, the child . . .” His voice caught.
“Dear gods! How can one call that nightmarish thing a child? That poor woman! That poor, poor woman!
How she must have suffered!”
“She is suffering no longer,” Laera said. “She has found peace.”
“Peace! Peace? To die like that?” He closed his eyes. “I can only thank the gods she never lived to see the monster she gave birth to!
What a horror!
What a horror!”
“It was an abomination,” Laera said. “A gorgon child. An awnshegh.”
“You’think I don’t know? You think I did not see?
How could it have happened? How?”
“It must have been the gods,” said Laera. “That can be the only explanation.”
‘The gods? You must be mad! You do not realize what you are saying!”
“How else could it have happened?” Laera asked.
“You saw it with your own eyes. I saw it, too. When she went to bed, she was not with child. It happened within moments. Mere moments. We watched the monster child quicken. We saw her stomach swell. It was unnatural. Who else but the gods could have brought such a thing about?”
“But why? Why would they do it? Why would they
