The Shadow's heir

again tomorrow, when you are ready.”

“Thank you, Sacred Ruler.” Laela stood up, signalling the end of the meeting.

She left the garden with Oeka, feeling exhausted and angry with herself. There had to be some way to resolve this, had to be. But how could she ever persuade the Emperor to change his mind?

She was so worried that she didn’t notice that Vander and Ymazu had followed her until she had nearly reached her own rooms. When they arrived, Vander took a step toward the door. “With your permission, my lady?”

Laela brightened up slightly, realising that he might be able to help. “Come in.”

She and Oeka entered first, with both Vander and Ymazu. The two diplomats made themselves comfortable. Telise and Oeka’s own servant were instantly on hand, offering refreshments.

The guards from before had come along as well, but to Laela’s relief, they stayed outside, stationing themselves on either side of the door. She sat down on one of the odd cushion-chairs provided, and accepted a drink.

Vander, sitting with Ymazu directly behind him, folded his hands and looked frankly at Laela. “You did well with the Emperor. I was impressed.”

“Thanks,” said Laela. “Doesn’t look like it worked, though.” She put her head in her hands. “I dunno what I’m gonna do, Vander. I really don’t.”

Vander put his head on one side. “My lady. . may I ask if you are married?”

“Eh?” Laela looked up. “No, I ain’t.”

Vander smiled in his mysterious way. “The Emperor will accept nothing but a marriage-one of his family to one of the King’s. Any man or woman with the King’s blood will do. Whether legitimate or not.” With those words, he fixed Laela with a penetrating stare.

She frowned. “That’s nice, but there’s nobody here with his blood except him.”

“If you say so, my lady.” Vander smiled again. “Now, I will leave you to rest and consider your next discussion. I hope that my advice is. . useful.”

With that, he stood up and left the room with Ymazu.

Laela stared up at him. “Huh. I know what he’s gettin’ at.”

“So do I,” said Oeka. “He still believes you are the King’s daughter.”

“The Emperor does, too,” said Laela, remembering. “When we first met him, he looked straight at me an’ made some comment about Arenadd’s family rising to power. An’ I suppose I do look like him a bit. .”

Impulsively, she snatched up a hand mirror and examined her reflection carefully. There was the hair, obviously, and maybe something a bit similar about the nose and the chin. .

Not for the first time, she wondered whether it could be true. Could she really be his daughter?

No. She dismissed the notion, yet again. It was impossible. He couldn’t father children; he’d told her so himself. And he’d never been with a Southerner. There was no way.

And yet. .

“If I was his daughter,” she said slowly, “then I could do the marriage. I could finish this thing myself.”

“But you are not his daughter,” said Oeka.

“I know, but. . I dunno. Maybe I could. . pretend, like.”

Oeka’s neck feathers rose. “You mean lie? To the Emperor?”

“Yeah. I mean, no. Of course not. Don’t be daft. I couldn’t do that.”

Oeka slowly scratched her flank and made a low, soft, rasping sound. “Could you do this thing?” she asked eventually. “Are you willing to?”

“I couldn’t,” said Laela. “No way. Could yeh imagine the trouble I’d be in when the truth got out?”

“It depends,” said Oeka.

“On what?”

“I have been listening, too,” said the small griffin. “And I think I understand how this thing would work. This mating is not about power, only symbolism.”

“So?” said Laela.

“So it does not matter that you are not his daughter and will never inherit his throne. The Emperor does not want a marriage between the current or future ruler of the North-he only wants a member of the King’s family, any member. He said so himself today.”

“So what does that mean?” said Laela.

“That it will not matter to him if you do not rule. As long as you are a Taranisaii in name, it will be enough.”

Laela rubbed her chin. “What do yeh think I should do, then?”

“Tell the truth,” said Oeka. “Or part of it. Say you are the King’s daughter, but are not legitimate. You are a Taranisaii but will not inherit the throne. Tell him that, and tell him you are still willing as a Taranisaii to accept a mating with a member of the Emperor’s own family. See if that will satisfy him.”

Laela stared. She mumbled something, began a proper reply, and then trailed off into silence.

Oeka huffed. “I know I am not clever like one of your kind, but I have used my best judgment. I do not know if my advice should be followed. . Decide for yourself. I am sure that your own reasoning will be better.”

Laela found her voice. “Since when did you start soundin’ humble? Dear gods, the world really has gone mad.”

Oeka snapped her beak. “I have given all I have to offer. It is your decision.”

“You’ve been happy t’make decisions for me before.”

“Yes,” Oeka admitted. “But no matter her species, every female must choose which male will fertilise her eggs. That is her decision and nobody else’s.”

Once, Laela might have laughed at her partner’s awkward choice of words, but not now. Now they only served to sharply remind her of what was really at stake here. Not Arenadd’s quest or the Emperor’s anger if she was caught, or even the slaves whose freedom depended on her now. She was more than willing to help them, and to do her duty as Arenadd’s aide.

The real question was how far was she willing to go for their sake? Was she willing to do what Oeka had suggested-that is, marry some Amorani man she had never met? Sleep with him, most likely? Was she willing to betray Yorath?

“I gotta think about this,” she muttered.

“Think, then,” said Oeka, looking quite relaxed. “Take the time you need.”

“Right,” said Laela, and that was more or less all she said for the rest of that afternoon.

She couldn’t sleep that night. Telise brought her a beautifully refreshing dinner of fresh fruit and some very mild wine, all of which did a lot to make her feel better, and the doctors had sent over some thick, gritty medicine that tasted vile but finally got rid of the headache.

Afterward, she should have been more than ready to sleep and let herself recover, but she didn’t. Her mind wouldn’t let her.

Neither would her chest. Fear and worry were emotions that seemed to live inside her rib cage, and that long, awful night it felt ready to burst. Her heart fluttered periodically and made her feel ill.

She tried to relax, tried to make herself sleep, tried to tell herself that everything would be all right-but she couldn’t. And the answer to her problems just seemed so simple. All she had to do was accept that this was beyond her. There was nothing she could do about it except go home and hope that Arenadd got better.

But she found herself thinking of Inva instead. She had come to like the older woman, and to sympathise with her. She was obviously very intelligent, and highly educated as well. She deserved a chance to live free. But where was she now? Punished, Telise had said. Sent away. And Laela had a horrible feeling about just where that might be. Inva had suffered, and was probably still suffering, and all because of Laela’s own stupidity.

Laela rebelled at that. No, it wasn’t her fault what had happened to Inva. It was the system that had done it-the system that forced people to live the way she did and treated them like so much rubbish by way of return. It was the system that had punished Inva when she hadn’t done anything.