“If she can see, she will not complain,” Riva agreed. “And a bird’s-eye view might keep Tobias from following us!” Her smile faded slightly at the mention of her grandson. According to Riva, Tobias had been withdrawn lately, which was not too surprising. Perhaps he would talk to Darame. The boy seemed afraid of guaard, which could be a problem.…
I am afraid of guaard, too. Three dead, Dirk and White known.… How many others deeply in this? Guaranteed to stand by Dirk, no matter what? “Have you decided what you are going to say?” Sheel asked, focusing on his mother once again.
“You did not warn either of the ragärees about this business, did you?” Riva fixed him with her “mother” expression.
“Of course not. But I did not count on them wanting to be in on the confrontation. Careless of me.”
“You hoped they would sign, and wait? Unlikely, Sheel — even Quenby cannot trust us that far. The trade of her provinces is at stake.” Riva looked distant again. “Sheel… can you rebuild our house?”
Again she avoided answering his question. Riva was nominally Ragäree until Sheel named his co-ruler; she had demanded both the burden and the privilege of confronting Leah before the clans. All the clans, Sheel, she had told him when he explained things at the dawn. What Leah dared to do threatened all of us. She tampered with the genetic basis upon which our houses were founded. If she remained barren, or a child died, would she have lied and taken someone else’s child as her own, leaving us open to blackmail and dissension?
Sweet Mendülay, the burdens I place upon you. “I will try, mother. Avis is supportive, and… even Leah may bear again, if I am not too late.”
“Her children can never rule.” Riva’s voice was final.
“No… they can never rule. I imagine Tobias will be relieved about that.” As he spoke, he glanced over at Mailan. Like a figure carved in stone. Had she said a single word in days? Crow was worried about her. Justice as the guaard deals. I suppose Fion would tell me not to interfere. Standing, he moved to her side.
“I want Dirk alive, if possible. I have a few questions for him.” He waited; finally she looked at him, her grey eyes like granite. “Agreed?” Mailan nodded once.
“Atare?” The word echoed in the groined ceiling above. Turning, Sheel waited for the shadowy figure to approach. It was Fergus, the mock-Sini, dressed now for summer in desert robes proclaiming his hot city. “It is time, Mindbender.” He chuckled. “Andersen arrived this morning. Most of the remaining guaard in the city are on the outer walls. Seems Andersen came prepared for some excitement.”
“There will be no excitement. I want the palace secured against anyone not inside by fifth bell. When whatever happens is over, I will have to spend some time taking oaths.” So will you use drugs on your own guaard? Will you or just Avis be sharing the oaths? “Where is Darame?”
“Here,” came a soft voice. She was walking in from the back, Halsey by her side. He wore the look of a man who has lost an argument. “Tobias is with Avis and the other children.” She spoke Caesarean out of courtesy to Halsey.
“I was afraid Livia would insist on taking them.” The group chuckled at Sheel’s sally, which was also in Caesarean. “We have a bargain, you remember that?”
“You are a target, so I am to stay away from you,” she paraphrased. “I remember.” Tugging at tight off-world clothing, she fingered what looked like a cat knife sheathed on her hip.
What guaard had given her?… Looking around, Sheel saw that Mailan was looking vague again. Conspiracy everywhere.… “Halsey?”
“I have the mag gun Ayers gave Darame earlier, but I do not expect to be a target. I am dead, remember?” He looked like he might say more, but Darame poked him.
“Time, Fergus?” Darame asked.
“Time, Serae.” Turning, the mock-Sini started for the double doors leading to the temple grounds.
Now is the time.… Sheel wanted to kiss her, but both Quenby and Livia were coming up the aisle behind them, and he did not want an audience.
She was not so inhibited. Getting a firm grip on his tunic, she pulled him down to her level and quickly, lightly kissed him. “Be careful. I am a terrible nurse, remember?”
That memory dredged up a smile. “Careful, yourself. No heroes. And watch the tunic, it is the only one I have.” Smoothing the wrinkles, Sheel turned and started for the door before Livia could question that statement. Going to retrieve my throne when I cannot risk returning to my house for fear of activating alarms or setting off a bomb!
“May Mendülay watch over us all as we march on the palace,” came Fergus’s voice from the head of the line.
“The back gate of the palace, Fergus,” Darame reminded him. “Lower your voice. Do you want someone shooting at The Atare?”
Sheel had a dangerous desire to start laughing.
ATARE PALACE
THREEHUNDRED THREEDAY, SEXT
It is going to be fast. Riva Ragäree will say what she must say, and then it will be very fast. The words ran through Mailan’s head like a litany. Walking briskly, avoiding people’s gaze.… Hardly anyone out today. Is everyone so nervous? What has been going on here?
She could see four guaard on the back gate as she approached, one of them trainer Edan. The man did not hesitate, walking up to Mailan and smiling briefly. “They are both within the palace walls.” “They” — Dirk and White. It was all the guaard knew for now, that these two were traitors. “All guns are accounted for; White checked out one recently, and returned two. The second was one of four checked out to Sheel Atare last winter.”
Fion’s mag gun.… Mailan removed her own weapon and handed it to Edan. “Stay close to the Atare. I have something to do.”
Sheel, Darame, and Riva Ragäree finally arrived, Riva’s ever-present guaard at her back. The Seedar and Dielaan ragärees were a bit further behind, surrounded by their own entourages. Unfortunately they were attracting attention, but it could not be helped. Into the palace and through the halls.…
Crow came up beside her, one hand on his knife, one on his mag gun.
“Not yet,” Mailan whispered as they passed into the entrance near the library. Straight ahead through the entry, past the double staircase and stained glass window, on toward the petition room.…
Crow visibly tensed as they heard shouting. “I think they started without us,” he said into her ear. They began moving at a brisk walk.
“Slower, Crow,” came Sheel’s voice. “We must wait on my mother.”
Both Crow and Mailan halted, flattening themselves against the wall until Sheel, Riva Ragäree and her dozen guaard had passed by. Darame winked at them as she followed, and then glanced over her shoulder at the ragärees reaching the entryway.
“Which way do we send them?” Darame asked.
“Left when they enter the room; a table should be waiting for them, if I know the Seneschal,” Mailan replied absently, falling into step behind her. “Keep out of trouble, Darame, I may not be in a position to rescue you.”
Darame shot her a penetrating look. “Do not get yourself killed — Sheel would be very annoyed with you.”
A smile was all Mailan offered as an answer.
“I will stay with The Atare,” Crow told them softly. “Where is Haven? You need help.”
“White is mine,” Mailan announced as they walked through the archway and paused before the huge oak doors of the Petitioning. “Keep the group around The Atare tight.”
The guaard on the door were loyal — startled, but loyal. Sheel waited only until the ragärees reached the end of the entry hall before indicating that the doors should be opened.
Sound hit them like a wave, washing across them with the harshness of seawater. The room was packed; entirely too many people were at each curved table, their brilliant house colors hanging over their portion of the room (evenly divided, Mailan noted — smart of the Seneschal). The galley above was filled with local nobles of Atare, their own whispering a constant undertone. One ambassador – Wall
ace’s, she thought — was actually standing on his chair yelling at the dais. Lights across the corner beams indicated omni broadcasting. Damn.
o0o
Serae Leah, stunning in a formal dress of pale green and alone on the dais except for several guaard, was attempting to restore order, pounding a staff on the wooden block reserved for that purpose. She had had brought out a fine wooden chair from library — the two thrones behind her were empty. So, that she had not yet dared.… Too many people in here, and too many clan guards. Why had Leah allowed them to bring full retinues?
Then Mailan recognized someone sitting at a table. Impossible.… Surely it could not be —
“Is that The Kilgore?” Crow hissed in her ear. “And the guy standing on his chair is the heir to Wallace!”
“Damn me to The Path,” Sheel said weakly somewhere behind them.
“I guess they figured that if Atare, Dielaan, and Seedar were going to have their rulers present, they were not about to lose face by sending lesser dignitaries,” Mailan suggested, watching as Riva and her attendant guaard stepped out into the center of the floor.
The spectacle of Riva in her court gown and twelve guaard in dress blacks achieved what all the pounding had not: silence descended upon the room. Sheel, by the door and surrounded by guaard, signaled to Crow that he was moving along the wall toward the front.
No threat, no challenge — how can Riva be thought to attack her own descendants? Mailan began to search the edges of the room. He was here, somewhere — and he was hers. Where are you hiding, White? There was a possibility he was better than she was — they were about to find out.
“Riva Ragäree, what means this proclamation?” A sudden voice rose above the rest, drowning out several other questions.
“All will be explained, Kilgore, in a moment. First there is other business to be finished.” Riva’s gaze flicked from the man at the table toward the dais. “You know why I have come, daughter.” Leah straightened in her seat. Leaning forward, she opened her mouth to speak, but Riva rushed on: “It is very simple. One live birth in a decade indicates a problem, either with you, my child, or with your husband. It is time to turn to the healers for council. All three of them are currently in Atare. Let there be no more doubts, no more innuendos.”
Leah turned absolutely white, her olive skin drained of color. Mailan paused in her search to see if the woman would faint. Amazing.… After all you have done, did you think they would not call your bluff? You were lost when you failed to realize Sheel believes in his principles. For a second Mailan almost pitied the woman, until she remembered that Fion was dead.
Then she located White.
o0o
“Ridiculous! Tobias is perfectly healthy! No one conceives immediately after a miscarriage, it is unreasonable!” Drawing herself up, Leah said briskly: “This is not to be discussed before the clans.”
“But it is, daughter,” Riva insisted gently. “You see, it is one thing to raise our children to understand their responsibilities. It is another thing entirely when they become so obsessed with their role that they will destroy anything that dares to get in their way. Was that it, Leah? You could not wait for Cort to die naturally? Baldwin would not have served your needs? Caleb was always your friend — did you hide this from even him? And then you feared Sheel suspected. Your pride could not bear it, that he would not name you ragäree — and so you acted.” Riva actually had tears running down her face. “Could you not have trusted your family? Could you not have trusted me? Child, such things have happened to others, and can often be reversed!”
A counterpoint of sound was building beneath her words, confusion plain on the faces of the assembled landholders. Darame was not certain what this appeal was going to trigger, but she wanted to be as close as possible to the platform when it happened. God alone knew where Brant was in this warren of a building. He was not at the embassy or his own home; guaard had already checked. But Leah surely knew, and Darame was going to follow Leah when Leah finally ran.
Leah was on her feet and shouting. “I had nothing to do with it, nothing! I cannot pretend to grieve for that vile old man, I hated him as he hated me, but how could you think I would hurt any of my brothers?”
“Then you did not know that White had Sheel? Was going to kill him if he refused to allow others to control his reign? Come, Leah, we need to talk of many things. Let us leave Sheel and the others to discuss the need for trade agreements. “ Riva was soothing now, as if talking to a frightened child, but Leah was beyond simple reasoning.
“I only wanted what was mine! Nothing else! He was going to place her before me!” Leah stamped her foot, abruptly cutting off the speaker’s microphone.
“No, Leah.” Darame looked up as she approached the dais, and realized Sheel had reached it before her. He was walking toward his sister, his movements slow and precise, holding her attention with his own gaze. “I was going to examine the problem, and not say anything.”
“You would not name me ragäree, I heard you say you would not!” Flaring, angry now, oblivious to the restless crowd below.
“I said nothing would be done in haste. And yes, I would have confronted you. But I could not name you, until I was sure you would bear again.”
Lower, scarcely audible beyond Darame’s crouched position: “I will! I have chosen badly with men, that is all! Do not be foolish, you need me to control the guaard.” Leah was actually backing down the length of the dais, while the guaard on either side of the chair were frozen in their tracks, immobile in their confusion.
“No, Leah. Dirk is no longer captain.… and Avis carries a healthy daughter. I want you, sister, but I do not need you.” Cornering her against the far side of the platform, Sheel reached out and took her hand.
A loud crash in the adjoining hallway seized Darame’s attention. Looking quickly out the side door propped open for ventilation, she saw a blur of guaard uniforms tear by the opening. Has Mailan finally caught up with White?
Conversation erupted on the floor of the petitions room, several courtiers leaping to their feet and trying to reach Riva Ragäree. Her guaard held them back, creating a walking space for her as she slowly approached the dais. Looking over her shoulder, Darame saw guaard entering the balcony to establish order up there.
Leah. Don’t forget about Leah. Turning back, she was in time to hear Leah cry out: “Reversible? You are certain?” Her face glorious with color, Leah pulled free of Sheel’s grip and dashed behind the arras hanging on the throne wall. Darting past the bewildered guaard, Darame was right behind her.
“Darame! Wait!” was all she heard someone yell before her hands were thrusting against a small door. It opened easily and soundlessly; quick footsteps told her in which direction Leah had run. To her right was the sound of fighting — someone had just been thrown into a mirror or window.
No time to think, no time to plan. This pathetic woman actually thought they would still let her be ragäree — what a mess. Was it Sheel who had called? He had enough to do, calming the hysteria in that room. Brant she could handle.… Or, if things looked awkward, she would simply follow him until the proper people caught up. But if the opportunity presents itself, a knife in the back would be convenient. An important fact rose in her memory — the mag gun. Brant always smuggled a mag gun on-world. It was not in his office, which meant he probably had it with him.…
Leah’s scream jarred Darame out of her thoughts and sent her scurrying for cover. The sound continued, terrified, heart-broken. Darame slipped out of the alcove she had ducked into and continued down the hallway. A huddled form down at the end of the corridor — good God, what had happened? Darame stopped abruptly, seizing the banister for balance. Leah’s sobbing form, and the body sprawled across the doorsill was…
“Dirk.” What could best the finest of guaard? Someone Dirk never thought would turn on him. Stepping up to the body, Darame bent past the sobbing woman to check for a pulse. Only a mag gun could stop a guaard, but the gun was laying o
n top of the pack just inside the doorway, and all Dirk’s blades seemed to be missing. That meant…
A hand reached out and caught a large handful of hair, yanking Darame to her feet and into the room. Dumb, dumb, maybe fatally dumb.…
“Darame. I’ve been waiting for you.”
o0o
Havoc raged in the hall, and Mailan was helpless to stop it. A huge number of bodies had surged into the entryway, but she could not pause to distinguish friend from foe. White had no doubt what she intended, and was slashing away at her with unnerving accuracy. Far down the corridor she had seen first Leah and then Darame head toward the back of the first floor, but there had been no breath to tell others to follow.
Was Crow still with Sheel? Sweet Mendülay, let it be so. The moment’s loss of concentration cost her another slice at her left arm. Pain caused her to lose track of her feet, and she slipped in some blood. Blood? Oh — blood. Not mine, please not mine.… In the shard of the broken mirror, she saw something strange, another guaard about to interfere. How many times do I have to say he is mine?
The guaard was striking at her. Twisting and rolling, she managed to elude the slash, grateful for many hard days on mountain trails. I am tougher, White. You may be heavier, more skilled, and more bloodthirsty, but I am tougher. Several familiar faces surfaced from the heaving sea of black, and she yelled: “That one!,” tossing a throwing blade with her right arm. It nicked White’s phantom assistant in the leg, slowing him as he charged off down the hall, a half-dozen guaard in pursuit.
At her back, in the bowels of the building, a woman started to scream. Suddenly the royal house was before her. Several cousins, a few spouses, a babble of voices.… Take these fools away from here!
She recognized first Crow, and then Sheel. The red tunicked figure detached itself from the crowd and sprinted past them, heading down the corridor toward the back. Distracted, White sent a blade flashing after it, and Mailan threw herself at the guaard, forgetting all common precautions, hitting him with all the bone and muscle at her command.
Fires of Nuala Page 40