She hesitated only slightly. “Yes.” Her gaze met his, defiant, challenging. He sighed. This was not going to be easy “Do you have any idea what you’re doing?” he said.
“I knew exactly what I was doing.”
“Did you? Need I remind you that we are guests here, serving the purposes of a sensitive political alliance? Perhaps Aedan has forgotten. Eight years is a long time for a human, after all. After such a time, things begin to take on a sense of permanence for them.
But when this war is over, we are returning to Tuarhievel, and it is entirely possible the time will come when the humans shall be our enemies again.”
“Aedan Dosiere shall never be my enemy,” Sylvanna said. “And when this war is over, I shall not be going back with you. Unless you plan to force me.
I know I am no match for your power.”
Gylvain sighed and shook his head. “I would never wish to force you to do anything against your will. You know that, or you should. But you are not thinking clearly.”
“I am not confused. I love him. And he loves me. I can give him what he needs.”
“No,” said Gylvain, sadly, “you cannot. I sensed that this was coming, but I had hoped you would know better. You are an elf, and he is human.
You could never give him what he needs. You could satisfy his desires in bed, but even if that was all there was to your relationship, it would be most unwise.
Suppose he gets you with child? Do you know what it is like for half-elves in human society?”
“The soldiers accept us,” she replied.
“Because we have fought with them, side-by-side, for eight long years and earned their respect,” said Gylvain. “But do you recall what it was like in the beginning? Think how long it took for us to earn that acceptance, and we had to earn it with our blood.
Bring a half-elf child into the world and it will be no different for him or her.”
“You could prepare a potion for me that would prevent me from conceiving,” she said.
“Yes, I could,” he agreed. “And I shall, if you insist on persisting with this folly, but think what you are doing, little sister. Even if it turns out to be no more
than an affair of short duration, it will be difficult if not impossible for the two of you to be discreet. Such things always have a way of getting out. Aedan is second only to the emperor in this regime. He is a blooded noble, and you are an unblooded elf. An affair between you would only bring him trouble. It would be cause for scandal. He must wed a blooded noblewoman one day and perpetuate his bloodline.
He must sire a male child who will become the lord high chamberlain to the next Emperor of Anuire. A half-elf child would be unacceptable in such a post and would only taint the bloodline.
“You are just a child yourself,” Gylvain continued, “but by human standards, you are old enough to be his mother. He may not care, but others will make much of it. You say that you can give him what he needs. Well, in that regard, the needs of humans when it comes to love, true love, are much the same as ours. They need someone they can grow old with.
Together. And that is something you can never give him. If you bind your life to his, you will watch him age and die, and it will happen more quickly than you realize. It will only break your heart, Sylvanna.”
“What do you know of such things?” she replied angrily. “You chose celibacy so that you could pursue your craft! Because you have never loved, you wish to deny me the chance to find some happiness, if only for a little while?”
Gylvain approached her and took her by the shoulders gently. “No, I would never wish to deny you anything. Except pain.”
“Then prove it.”
Gylvain sighed deeply. “Very well. I shall prepare a potion for you that will keep you from conceiving a child. If I cannot talk some sense into you, then the very least that I can do is help you take some sensible precautions. But I do not approve of this, Sylvanna, and I fear you will come to regret it. Both of you.
There was a knock at Laera’s door. “Enter,” she said. Maelina, one of the palace servants, came in hesitantly.
“I have brought some news, Your Highness,” she said, curtsying deeply and looking down demurely.
“What is it?” Laera asked.
Maelina was one of her paid informants in the palace. The girl had no idea Laera was spying for Lord Arwyn; she believed Princess Laera was merely trying to keep abreast of palace gossip and court intrigue.
There was nothing unusual in that. Laera knew she was not the only one at court who bribed the servants to report on what their masters and mistresses were doing. Maelina would never suspect a thing.
“It concerns Lord Aedan, Your Highness. You said you were particularly interested in him.”
“Indeed,” said Laera, putting down her embroidery. “No one ever tells us women anything,” she added. “We must strive to find things out for ourselves. We women of the palace must stick together.
What have you learned, my dear?”
Maelina beamed at being included with the princess among the “women of the palace.” It made her feel like a confidante, almost a friend.
“Well,” she said, lowering her voice in a conspiratorial manner,
“he did not sleep in his room last night. When I came to change his bedclothes this morning, they had not been disturbed.”
“Really?” said Laera, leaning forward as if enjoying some salacious bit of gossip. “Where did he sleep then?”
“I do not know for certain, Your Highness, but I made a few inquiries among the other servants and learned he left the palace last night to go to a tavern known as the Green Basilisk. He had left word he could be reached there if the emperor had need of him. That tavern is said to be a most disreputable place. I have never been there myself, of course, but one hears that it is a gathering place for all sorts of lowlifes-artists and the like.”
Laera shrugged. “So he went out to do some drinking away from the nobles of the court,” she said. “After the hardships of the campaign he just returned from, that would be perfectly understandable. He must have had too much to drink and simply took a room to sleep it off.
Nothing much of interest there.”
“Oh, but there is more, Your Highness!” said Maelina, clearly anxious to impart the news. “It seems Lady Ariel became concerned about him. she has always borne a great fondness for him, as you know-and she sent for that elf girl, you know, Sylvanna, the wizard’s sister? She asked her to go after him and see to it that all was well. And do you know what?”
She paused significantly. “Sylvanna did not return last night, either!”
“Indeed?” said Laera, raising her eyebrows. “Well now, that is interesting. You are quite certain of this?”
“Oh, yes, Your Highness. They both came back this morning. Together.
In the same boat. Can you imagine!”
“Oh, I can, indeed,” said Laera with a smile. “You have done well, Maelina.” She handed the girl a purse.
“Oh! Your Highness is most generous!”
“I shall be even more generous if you are able to report further on this matter,” Laera said.
“I shall try, Your Highness. Thank you. You may count on me.”
After the girl had left, Laera leaned back against her chair and chuckled with pleasure. So that fool Aedan was bedding the elf girl!
This was too delicious! The lord high chamberlain, the oh-so-veryproper Aedan Dosiere, was sleeping with an unblooded commoner, and an elf, at that! And he had the temerity to call her a wanton slut! No one had ever spoken to her like that before. No one.
And she had never forgotten it. She would have grown tired of him soon, anyway. In fact, she had already tired of him, but Seaharrow had been such a boring place and there was so little to do…. But the thought that he had been the one to break it off, and the manner in which he’d done it…. He would pay for that. He would pay dearly.
She didn’t think this was anything Arwyn could use to good
effect, for he was only interested in military matters, but it still had definite possibilities.
Most delightful possibilities. She could completely ruin his reputation. But she would have to move quickly. Even now, Arwyn would be preparing to march on Anuire after her report of the previous night.
Michael’s army had come back from their
campaign weakened and demoralized and Arwyn was not going to hesitate to take advantage of it. She smiled. It was so easy to find out what she wished to know. All she needed to do was show concern for the welfare of the troops, ask some questions of their captains under the pretext of finding out if there was anything she could do to help their families, and they would begin blabbing.
Meanwhile, her own reputation as a princess who truly cared about her people was being spread, so that when Arwyn came to conquer Anuire with his army and she was “forced” to marry his son, the sympathy of all the people would be with her. She didn’t feel anything for Derwyn, but at least he was better-looking than his father, He lacked Arwyn’s massive, bearlike frame, but his slender form was pleasing, and he had inherited his mother’s looks, so that he bore only slight resemblance to his brutish father. There was a softness about him, and he would doubtless be a more giving lover than his father, who would have been impossible for her to control. Derwyn would be easy.
She knew he had always been attracted to her. She had seen him watching her and had seen the look on his face when Arwyn’s wizard, Callador, had magicked her to Seaharrow. He had been shocked to learn that she was spying for Boeruine, she could plainly see that, but at the same time, she had seen the way his gaze traveled appreciatively over her form. She had been irritated that Arwyn had allowed him to be present, for she had wanted to keep her role a secret from everyone but him, but perhaps it was for the best. Seeing her again had served to rekindle Derwyn’s desire for her, and she could use
that desire to bring him to heel. Men were such fools.
It was easy to make them do what she wanted.
She had learned her lesson with Aedan. Never let them know you want them. That gave them the upper hand. Give them a taste of passion, enough to make them want more, and then withhold it. Make them earn your favors. And whenever possible, make certain they have more to lose than you.
She had carefully practiced her seductive wiles over the years until she had perfected them. She had started with Leander, a young lieutenant of the house guard, who was putty in her hands within only a few weeks. She seduced him, and it did not take long before she was able to make him do anything she wanted. When she was through with him, she had induced him to desert, tearfully telling him that someone in the palace suspected their affair and that his life would be in danger if he did not flee.
With warm and tender kisses, she had bid him farewell, telling him she would always love him, and he had fled Anuire for parts unknown, leaving behind a promising career and the girl to whom he had been betrothed.
After that, she had refined her skills, careful to select only those men who could be of use to her.
One was the son of a prosperous leader of a merchant guild, who came to her under the pretext of displaying jewels and fabrics. It was through him that she was able to make other useful connections, which eventually led her to the mercenary whom she had used as her first go-between with Arwyn.
That had been very risky, but the man was manageable. it was well known that she had been betrothed to Arwyn, and it was a simple matter to make the
mercenary believe she actually loved the brute and was willing to trade her favors in return for having secret love letters passed back and forth. She had made him think it was he who was manipulating her, and after contact through Callador had been established, she had sent the mercenary back to Arwyn under the pretext of delivering a letter.
Arwyn had obligingly disposed of him.
Her greatest coup had been Lord Korven I s son, Bran, who was a captain in the army. When she had expressed an interest in his duties and professed concern about the war-and about him, of courseBran had proudly told her not only everything that occurred on the campaigns, but all of Korven’s strategies and plans, which she communicated to Arwyn at the earliest opportunity. Callador had given her a special jeweled amulet, which she wore on a chain around her neck. Whenever she needed to contact him, she needed only to pull out the amulet, stare at the jewel, and concentrate, “calling” to Callador. She would receive her answer when the jewel began to glow. When that happened, she needed to wait for only a brief interval before the swirling mist appeared within her room, a portal to Boeruine.
At first, this mode of travel had frightened her considerably. Portals of that nature opened out into the Shadow World, and Callador had halfling blood.
However, the mage had reassured her that while the portal did open up into the Shadow World, it led only through another portal directly into Seaharrow, like passing through the two connecting doors of adjacent rooms. Still, each time she went through, she felt a knot of tension in her stomach, despite the wizard’s reassurances. It would all soon be worth it, 308 though. When Arwyn defeated Michael’s army and took Anuire, he would control the empire. It might require a few small pacification campaigns to bring some of the more distant provinces into line, but that was the sort of thing at which Arwyn excelled. And once the Army of Anuire had been defeated, no one else would be able to field so great a force except Arwyn himself. He would assume the Iron Throne, and Derwyn would become the prince and heir to the throne. And as his wife, she would one day become empress.
She had been afraid Arwyn would insist she honor their original betrothal, and with him as emperor, there was no way she would have been able to refuse. It would have made her empress that much sooner, but she knew she would not be able to manipulate him. At least not as easily as she would be able to control his son. And then she would be forced to share his bed, as well, an idea that was repugnant to her.
Fortunately, Arwyn no longer had any interest in the match. He had only seen it as a means to an end he would now realize without it.
Derwyn would be a far more pleasant bedmate, and much more tractable.
He lacked his father’s strength. And by the time he became emperor, she would have him thoroughly beneath her thumb. She could gradually build up his ambition and drive a wedge between him and his father-which would not be difficult, since Arwyn treated him like a lackey-and then they could take steps to hasten the new emperor’s demise.
But first things first, she thought. She would ruin Aedan Dosiere and get her revenge. She would make him suffer first, and then she would destroy him.
And if she hoped to do that before Arwyn marched upon Anuire, there was no time to waste. A word or two in the right ears and things would be set in motion. From there, they would gather momentum of their own accord. She would only need nudge things along every now and then.
She smiled in anticipation. It had taken years, but at last, Aedan Dosiere was going to get what was coming to him.
Elation on the one hand, anxiety on the other.
Aedan was torn between the two emotions. He had finally realized a dream he’d nursed for years. He and Sylvanna had become lovers. That night in the Green Basilisk….
He had been drunk, but not so drunk that he could not remember, nor not know what he was doing. The wine had merely removed his inhibitions so that he had been able to say those words to her that he had never dared say before. And some physical effect of the wine, combined with the sudden flow of emotions that he had held back for so long, had energized him, kept him going long into the night. It had never been so good with Laera. He pushed that thought away.
When he woke up in the morning, suffering from the effects of the drink the night before, she had already risen and gone out to bring him back a potion that would dispel the headache, and they had made love again.
He had never felt so happy. But at the same time, he felt concern.
How would Gylvain react to this? It would no
t be right to keep it from him. Besides, he would surely
find out. They would not be able to conceal what they felt from him.
He knew them both too well. But it would be wise to conceal it from everybody else. It was a delicate situation that could easily have nasty repercussions for them both. And Michael. What would Michael think?
The emperor had problems of his own. He had fallen into a deep depression after returning from the campaign and had retired to his chambers. He did not come out for three whole days, and the servants had reported that he did not eat the meals they brought to him. What was more, he had started drinking. And Michael never drank before.
For the first day or so, Aedan thought it best to just leave him alone, but on the second day, he had tried to see him. However, the door was bolted, and after Aedan had pounded on it for a while, Michael had yelled at him to go away. Finally, after three days had passed, Aedan’s concern became so great he had the guards batter down the door, assuring them he would take full responsibility.
Michael was sitting by the window, staring out over the bay, dressed only in his nightshirt. His hair was disheveled and his beard in need of trimming.
He had not washed, and there were dark bags under his eyes. He held a goblet loosely in one hand, and as Aedan came in, he didn’t even turn toward him.
“Some people just won’t take no for an answer,” he grumbled. “What exactly is the penalty for breaking into the emperor’s private quarters?”
“I don’t know,” said Aedan. “I assume you’ll have to think of one and charge me with it.”
“Why couldn’t you just leave me alone?” said Michael. He took a long swallow from the goblet.
31,
“Because I was concerned about you, Sire. The servants tell me you’re not eating.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You haven’t eaten for three days.”
“I’ve made up for it by drinking.”
“A drunken monarch is not much use to anyone,” said Aedan. “Look at you, Michael. You’re a mess.”
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