“It was Michael,” Laera said. “They punished Michael for his sins.”
Derwyn stopped and gazed at her with astonishment. “He is your own brother!”
“Even a sister cannot turn a blind eye to the truth,” said Laera. “How many lives were lost because of Michael’s ruthless ambition? How many died needlessly in his campaigns of conquest? And how many died because he would not give in during the War of Rebellion? How many suffered because of my brother’s obsession with power and his thirst for blood?
Or have you forgotten that it was Michael who took your father’s head?”
“No, I have not forgotten,” Derwyn said heavily.
“How could anyone forget a thing like that? Was I not there to see it?
I do not need you to remind me!”
“And now you defend him.”
“He is the emperor!”
“He killed your father.”
“Yes, damn you! But it was my father who had made war on him, not he who made war on my father!”
“And you were your father’s son. What of your duty to him? What of your loyalty? If you had so little loyalty to your own father, what loyalty can I expect as your wife?”
“Do not speak to me of loyalty, you who would condemn your own brother!”
“It is not I who have condemned him, but the gods,” said Laera. “Or can you deny the evidence of your own senses?”
Derwyn swallowed hard. His shoulders slumped.
“No, I cannot. Much as I do not want to accept it, I can think of no other explanation.”
“I can,” said Aedan, standing in the doorway He had opened it and walked in, hearing the last part of the conversation. “Why don’t you ask your wife
how this awful tragedy has come to pass?”
“Aedan! What are you saying? What is the meaning of this intrusion?”
“Justice,” Aedan replied. “Justice is the meaning.
Your wife is a foul sorceress, and it was a potion that she gave the empress that brought about the birth of the abomination. I am here for justice.”
“What?” said Derwyn. “Are you mad?”
“He must be,” Laera said. “The lord chamberlain seeks to find a scapegoat for this tragedy, and he has chosen me because I once rejected his advances.”
“My advances?” Aedan said. “It was you who seduced me, right here in this very castle. And it was your spite at me for breaking off our affair that ate at you like a disease for all these years that led you to this monstrous betrayal.”
“What nonsense is this?” asked Derwyn, staring at him with astonishment.
He glanced at Laera.
“He lies,” said Laera. “He is desperate to pin the blame for this on someone, and I am his chosen target.”
“Aedan, I cannot believe you would stoop to this!” said Derwyn.
“Where is your proof?”
“Does this look familiar, Derwyn?” Aedan asked, holding up a locket.
“It is much like one your wife wears, is it not? It contains a lock of hair, a sorcerer’s token to be employed in the casting of a spell. One just like the token she took from you and wears around her neck, even as we speak. This one contains a token from your father’s wizard, Callador, her instructor in the sorcerous arts. And this one,” he said, holding up a second locket, “contains a token from the woman she used as a dupe, to slip her foul potion to the empress.”
“That is your proof?” said Laera with contempt.
“Two lockets which you could have obtained from any jeweler?”
“I have obtained something else, as well,” said Aedan. “Come in, Gella.”
Laera’s eyes grew wide as Gella entered.
“She will tell you that everything I’ve said is true,” said Aedan.
“She is a thief and would-be murderer,” said Laera. “A common whore whom I, in my misguided compassion, sought to help. Is this how you repay me, Gella? By bearing false witness against one who saved your life?”
“You would have taken it when you were through with me,” said Gella vehemently.
“As she planned to take yours, Derwyn,” Aedan added. “When her plot to see her son placed upon the throne came to fruition, you would be all that stood between her and the regency.”
“Enough!” said Derwyn. “I am not going to listen anymore to these ludicrous accusations! I demand you leave Seaharrow at once!”
“You forget, Derwyn, I am the lord high chamberlain of the empire,”
Aedan said. “As such, I carry the authority of the emperor himself.
And it is only by the emperor’s grace that you have retained your life and lands. If you are too blind to see the truth, I need prove nothing to you, nor account to you for my actions. I am arresting Laera for high treason.”
Derwyn grabbed his sword. “You shall have to come through me.”
“Don’t be a fool,” said Aedan. “You never were a swordsman. I have no wish to kill you.”
“Then you shall die!” said Derwyn, rushing at him. Gella cried out with alarm as he brought his
blade down, but Aedan ducked beneath the stroke and seized his wrist.
As they struggled, Laera snatched up a dagger from her night table and raised it high over her head, rushing at Aedan. But before she got halfway across the room, there was a soft, whistling sound, and a crossbow bolt burie itself in her heart.
Laera stopped and gasped with shock. The dagger slipped from her fingers as she stared with disbelief at the bolt protruding from her chest. She looked up to see Ariel standing in the open doorway, a crossbow lowered at her side. The duchess shook her head, then collapsed to the floor.
“Laera!” Derwyn cried, rushing to her side.
Aedan glanced at his wife with surprise.
Ariel lowered the bow. “I told you that if she ever tried to harm you, I would kill her.”
Mhoried and Markazor, then through a narrow
