directly atop his broad chest.
“Hiatea, save us!” the runecaster gasped. The two-headed giant was wearing the same armor Basil had nearly ripped off Arlien’s back earlier, save that the enchanted suit was now much larger. “An ettin!”
“Wrong.” The silky voice sounded much like Arlien’s, save that it was much deeper and more resonant. “ The ettin.”
Basil wasted no time asking what Arlien meant by the correction. He swung the bench at his foe’s knee. The seat snapped down the center, sending the two halves clattering across the floor. The ettin’s leg did not buckle.
It did not even twitch.
Basil glimpsed an enormous fist descending from on high, then a horrific clap sounded inside his skull. His head snapped sideways, and his feet left the ground. He slammed into a wall. The entire flank of his body erupted into pain, and a loud crack reverberated through the chamber. For one awful instant, Basil thought some part of his body had made the terrible sound. Then he felt a stone crash into his hip and realized the impact of his body had merely knocked a block from the wall.
The verbeeg raised his head and saw that his vision was no longer dim. He could see clearly enough to identify Prince Arlien’s cleft chin and patrician nose on the ettin’s second head. The features were, of course, three times their normal size.
The ettin ducked under a low-hanging beam and dropped to a knee beside Basil. The runecaster pushed away, scuttling across the floor like a crab. The ettin reached out to grab him-and the sound of booted feet came pounding up the stairway.
“In Stronmaus’s name, what’s happening up there?” It was Cuthbert’s voice. “Stop it at once, I command it!”
“Help!” Basil yelled. “Hurry, we’re in danger!”
The pounding in the stairwell grew louder and faster.
One of the ettin’s arm’s pulled back, but the other continued to reach for Basil. The brute’s enormous body twisted sideways, as though it were suffering some kind of seizure.
“Stop it, Arno!” hissed Arlien. “We don’t have time.”
“We gotta kill him, Julien!” Arno grunted. “If he lives-”
“Let me worry about that,” growled Arlien-or rather, Julien. One of the hands placed itself over Arno’s brutish face and shoved the head back over the shoulder, and Julien said, “You go back where you belong.”
As Basil struggled to his feet, both of the ettin’s hands busied themselves pulling the breastplate back into place. The giant began to shrink immediately. By the time the verbeeg had returned to his wobbly legs, the ettin was once again the size of a human. Basil grabbed the stone block that had fallen on him and raised it to hurl, but was checked by the sight of a guard rushing into the room.
“Don’t!” the man ordered. He stepped over to point his halberd at Basil’s throat. “Put it down!”
Five more soldiers streamed through the door and immediately rushed to stand at their companion’s side.
Basil reluctantly lowered his stone to the height of his chest, but did not place it on the floor. “I’m not the dangerouth one here!” The verbeeg’s smashed nose gave his voice a heavy nasal accent, while the blow to his head had left him with several broken teeth and a thick tongue. “Ith Julien!”
The guard frowned. “Who?”
“Him!” Basil pointed at the ettin disguised as a human prince. “Prince Arthlien.”
“I assure you, I pose no danger to anyone-except those who would harm Queen Brianna.” Arlien was glaring at Basil, at the same time tying his armor closed with the remnants of two torn straps. The prince glanced at the altar, where Brianna had pulled herself into a seated position. She was peering around the room with the blurry- eyed look of someone who had drunk too much wine. “Fortunately, she’s safe enough at the moment”
“That seems something of an exaggeration,” said Cuthbert, stepping into the chamber. The earl wore only his long sleeping gown, but his eyes were alert and sharp. He walked directly to the altar and, making a face at the sweet odor hanging so thickly in the air, took the queen’s arm. “Majesty, what happened? Are you well?”
Brianna tried to focus her eyes on the earl, then gave up and looked over his shoulder. “Your queen is tired,” she breathed. “Very tired.”
Cuthbert winced at the smell of her breath. “So I see.” He pulled her tattered dress back up over her shoulders, then asked, “Are you injured? It looks as though you’ve had a struggle.”
Brianna swayed, but shook her head. “Don’t worry. The queen’s not hurt.” She leveled a cross-eyed gaze at Arlien, then said, “She had a little fight”
Cuthbert motioned three of his guards toward the prince, then asked, “With who? Arlien?”
“Of course not!” the imposter snapped. He kept his eyes locked on the queen’s as he spoke. “I’m the one who came to her aid-isn’t that right, Brianna?”
Cuthbert’s eyes flashed in anger. “Prince Arlien, tonight I will ask the questions! Is that clear?”
“As you wish-tonight”
The earl turned back to Brianna. “Who did you fight with, Majesty?”
“The queen fought with… the prince,” Brianna answered, thinking hard. Her eyes turned in the imposter’s direction, then she asked, “Why would Arlien fight with her? He loves her! Maybe the queen was dreaming.”
Cuthbert eyed her tattered dress. “You weren’t dreaming.”
Brianna scowled. “The queen was dreaming!” she insisted. “Don’t you argue!”
The earl rubbed his fingers across his eyes, then turned to the imposter. “What happened here?”
“It wasn’t a fight-at least not until Basil arrived,” Arlien replied. “When I came to check on Her Majesty, I found her extremely disoriented from her long vigil before the altar. I was trying to convince her to drink a restorative when Basil charged in and attacked. I don’t see how he could have thought I was threatening her, but I suppose it is vaguely possible.”
Cuthbert looked at the runecaster and scowled. “Well?” he demanded. “What do you have to say?”
Basil pointed his battered chin at the prince. “Thath man ith an impothter-an ettin!”
The earl rolled his eyes. “An ettin?”
“Hith armor keepth him dithguithed,” said Basil. “That’th why he never taketh ith off!”
The imposter stepped toward Brianna. “My injury isn’t entirely healed. As I’ve already explained, my armor’s magic won’t finish the process if I remove it, even temporarily.” The prince began to undo the straps he had just tied together. “But if the queen wishes, I shall remove my breastplate and show her what’s underneath.”
“Waith! Keep away from the queen!” Basil snapped, remembering how quickly the ettin had appeared the last time Arlien’s armor had opened. Still holding the rock in his hands, the verbeeg waved the guards toward the prince. “Be ready. The change will come very fatht!”
The imposter rolled his eyes, then stopped untying his breastplate straps. “I’ll wait until you’re ready, Basil.” The prince glanced at Brianna, who sat wobbling at the edge of the altar, then added, “Providing it is the queen’s wish that I ruin my armor’s enchantment to defend myself against the charges of a known thief and liar.”
Brianna shook her head. “The queen wishes… no such thing,” she slurred. “She can attest to who you are.”
“I don’t think you can attest to much of anything at the moment, Majesty,” said Cuthbert “Perhaps we would all sleep better if the prince did show us what’s beneath his armor.”
“No!” Brianna shouted. She frowned, startled by the vigor of her own voice, then fixed her glassy eyes on the earl. “When the fighting starts… tomorrow, we’ll need him at his best. I–I forbid him to remove his armor.”
The earl raised his brow, but inclined his head. “Then perhaps we should all return to our chambers. We’ll sort this out in the morning, when Her Majesty is, ah-” The earl gave Brianna a sideways glance, then finished, “When she’s feeling a little more like herself.”
“No! Thath’ll be too lathe!” Basil blurted. “She could be gone by then!”
“Gone?” Cuthbert demanded. “How could she go any place?”
“Don’t you thee?” the runecaster explained. “The printhe ith an impothter. He’th here to kidnap her.”
“I can assure you there won’t be any kidnappings tonight, my friend,” the earl hissed. “Everyone will be locked in his or her own chamber, and even an ettin can’t fight past all the guards I intend to post around Queen Brianna tonight.”
Arlien’s eyes flashed with irritation, but he did not object. “A wise precaution, Earl.” He glanced in Basil’s
