to kill me, because they suspected you of drawing on my strength. So Galen believes you can do it, too.' Burrich crossed to me and went down stiffly on one knee. His bad leg stretched awkwardly behind him. He took my lax hand and placed it on his shoulder. 'I was king's man to Chivalry,' he told me quietly. 'Verity knew it. I have no Skill myself, you understand. But Chivalry gave me to understand that for such a taking, it was not as important as the friendship between us. I have strength, and there were some few times that he needed it, and I gave it willingly. So I have withstood this before, in worse circumstances. Try, boy. If we fail, we fail, but at least we will have tried.'
'I don't know how. I don't know how to Skill, and I certainly don't know how to tap someone else's strength to do it. And even if I did, if I succeeded, I might kill you.'
'If you succeed, our king may live. That is what I am sworn to. And you?' He made it all seem so simple.
So I tried. I opened my mind, I reached for Verity. I tried, with no idea how, to draw strength from Burrich. But all I heard was the twittering of birds outside the palace walls, and Burrich's shoulder was only a place to rest my hand. I opened my eyes. I didn't have to tell him I'd failed; he knew. He sighed heavily.
'Well. I suppose I take you to Regal,' he said.
'If we did not go, we would be forever curious as to what he wanted,' I added.
Burrich did not smile. 'You have a fey mood on you,' he said. 'You sound more like the Fool than yourself.'
'Does the Fool talk to you?' I asked curiously.
'Sometimes,' he said, and took my arm to help me up.
'It seems like the closer I walk to death,' I told him, 'the funnier everything seems.'
'To you, perhaps,' he said crossly. 'I wonder what he wants.'
'To bargain. There can be nothing else. And if he wants to bargain, we may be able to gain something.'
'You speak as if Regal follows the same rules of common sense as the rest of us. I've never known him to do that. And I've always hated court intrigue,' Burrich complained. 'I'd rather clean stalls.' He pulled me again to my feet.
If I had ever wondered how deadroot felt to its victim, I knew it now. I did not think I would die of it. But I did not know how much of a life it would leave me either. My legs trembled under me, and my grip was uncertain. I could feel random muscle twitches throughout my body. Neither my breath nor the beating of my heart was predictable. I longed to be still, where I could listen to my own body and decide what had been done to it. But Burrich guided my steps patiently, and Nosy drooped along behind us.
I had not been to the steams before, but Burrich had. A separate tulip bud enclosed a bubbling hot spring, tamed to use as a bath. A Chyurda stood outside it; I recognized him as the torchbearer from the night before. If he thought anything odd about my reappearance, he did not show it. He stepped aside as if expecting us, and Burrich dragged me up the steps to enter.
Clouds of steam fogged the air, carrying a mineral scent with them. We passed a stone bench or two; Burrich walked carefully on the smooth tile floor as we approached the source of the steam. The water rose in a central spring, with bricked sides built up around it to contain it. From there it was channeled in troughs to other, smaller baths, varying the heat by the length of the trough and the depth of the pond. The steam and the noise of the falling water filled the air. I did not find it pleasant; I labored just to breathe already. My eyes adjusted to the dimness, and I saw Regal soaking in one of the larger baths. He looked up at our approach.
'Ah,' he said, as if well pleased. 'August told me Burrich would bring you. Well. I suppose you know the Princess has forgiven your murder of her brother? And in this place, at least, by doing so she preserves you from justice. I think it a waste of time, but local customs must be honored. She says she considers you part of her kin group now, and so I must treat you as kin. She fails to understand you were not born of a lawful union, and hence have no kin rights at all. Ah, well. Will you dismiss Burrich and join me in the springs? It might ease you. You look very uncomfortable, held up like a shirt on the washline.' He spoke so genially, so affably, as if unaware of my hatred.
'What do you wish to tell me, Regal?' I kept my voice flat.
'Will not you send Burrich away?' he asked again.
'I am not a fool.'
'One could argue that, but very well. I suppose I must send him away, then.'
The steam and the noise of the waters had cloaked the Chyurda well. He was taller than Burrich, and his cudgel was already in motion as Burrich turned. If he hadn't been supporting my weight, he could have avoided it. Burrich turned his head, but the cudgel hit his skull with a terrible, sharp sound, like an ax biting wood. Burrich fell, and I with him. I landed half in one of the smaller ponds. It was not scalding, but nearly so. I managed to roll out of it, but could not regain my feet. My legs would not obey me. Burrich beside me lay very still. I reached a hand toward him, but could not touch him.
Regal stood up and motioned to the Chyurda. 'Dead?'
The Chyurda stirred Burrich with a foot, gave a curt nod.
'Good.' Regal .was briefly pleased. 'Drag him back behind that deep tank in the corner. Then you may go.' To me, he said, 'It's unlikely anyone will be coming in here until after the ceremony. They're too busy jostling for positions. And back in that corner ... well, I doubt if he'll be found before you are.'
I could make no response. The Chyurda stooped and seized Burrich by the ankles. As he dragged him away the dark brush of his hair feathered a trail of blood on the tiles. A dizzying mixture of hatred and despair roiled with the poison through my blood. A cold purpose rose and set in me. I could not hope to live now, but it did not seem important. Warning Verity did. And avenging Burrich. I had no plans, no weapons, no possibilities. So play for time, Chade's counsel advised me. The more time you create for yourself, the better the chance that something will present itself. Delay him. Perhaps someone will come to see why the Prince is not dressing for the wedding. Perhaps someone else will want to use the steams before the ceremony. Engage him somehow.
'The Princess-' I began.
'Is not a problem,' Regal finished for me. 'The Princess did not forgive Burrich. Only you. What I have done to him is well within my rights. He is a traitor. He must pay. And the man disposing of him was most fond of his prince, Rurisk. He has no objections to any of this.'
The Chyurda left the steams without a glance back. My hands scrabbled weakly on the smooth tile floor but found no purchase. Regal busily dried himself all the while. When the man was gone, he came to stand over me. 'Aren't you going to call for help?' he asked brightly.
I took a breath, pushed down my fear. I mustered as much contempt for Regal as I could find. 'To whom? Who would hear me over the water?'
'So you save your strength. Wise. Pointless, but wise.'
'Do you think Kettricken will not know what happened?'
'She will know you went to the steams, unwisely in your condition. You slipped beneath the hot, hot water. Such a shame.'
'Regal, this is madness. How many bodies do you think you can leave in your wake? How will you explain Burrich's death?'
'To your first question, quite a few, as long as they are not people of consequence.' He stooped over me, and gripped my shirt. He dragged me while I thrashed weakly, a fish out of water. 'And to your second, well, the same. How much fuss do you think anyone will raise over a dead stableman? You are so obsessed with your plebeian self-importance that you extend it to your servants.' He dumped me carelessly half atop Burrich. His still-warm body sprawled facedown on the floor. Blood was congealing on the tiles around his face, and still dripping from his nose. A slow bubble of blood formed on his lips, broke with his faint exhalation. He lived still. I shifted to conceal it from Regal. If I could survive, Burrich might have a chance also.
Regal noticed nothing. He tugged my boots off and set them aside. 'You see, bastard,' he said as he paused to catch his breath. 'Ruthlessness creates its own rules. So my mother taught me. People are intimidated by a man who acts with no apparent regard for consequences. Behave as if you cannot be touched and no one will dare to touch you. Look at the whole situation. Your death will anger some people, yes. But enough to make them take actions that would affect the security of the whole Six Duchies? I think not. Besides, your death will be eclipsed by other things. I'd be a fool not to take this opportunity to remove you.' Regal was so damnably calm and superior. I fought him, but he was surprisingly strong for the indulgent life he led. I felt like a kitten as he shook me out of my shirt. He folded my clothes neatly and set them aside. 'Minimal alibis will work. If I made too much effort to
