Shapers of Darkness (73 page)

“Silenced you, have I?” the queen said, glancing at her sidelong.

“Have I given offense in some way, Your Highness? Is that why you wished to speak with me?”

That, of all things, brought a smile to Leilia’s lips, though it was fleeting. “No. You haven’t given offense. I’ve been . . . curious about you.”

“I see.”

“Do you?”

“I’ve been a curiosity since I arrived here, Your Highness.”

“Yes, I’m sure you have. Is that why you spend your days in your chamber and your nights wandering the castle corridors?”

She thought the queen a strange women. Her directness was both disconcerting and refreshing, and while Cresenne thought it best to keep her replies circumspect, she sensed that Leilia would not have taken offense had she chosen to be more candid.

“Actually, Your Highness, I sleep during the day to avoid the Weaver who attacks me in my dreams.”

“I’d heard that, but I wondered if there were other reasons as well.”

Cresenne said nothing.

“The child doesn’t seem to mind?”

“She’s hardly known any other way to live.”

Leilia nodded, and they walked in silence for several moments, Cresenne gazing at a bed of brilliant ruby peonies.

“Tell me of the child’s father,” the queen said abruptly.

Cresenne made herself smile, sensing that their conversation had taken a perilous turn. “Her father, Your Highness?”

“Yes. This tall Qirsi who’s been the subject of so much talk throughout the castle.”

“I didn’t know that people were speaking of him.”

“Shouldn’t they? He’s little more than a Revel gleaner, yet
he was Tavis of Curgh’s lone confidant over the last year, and my husband thinks highly enough of him to include him in councils of war. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”

“Grinsa is a wise man, Your Highness, as I’m sure Lord Tavis will attest. I’ve no doubt that he’ll serve the king well.”

“I’m not questioning his worth, my dear. I’m merely asking you to tell me more about him. And I sense your reluctance.”

“I’m not—”

“Don’t dissemble with me.” Leilia glanced at her again, as if gauging Cresennne’s reaction. “Is he a traitor? Is that it? Have you both contrived this elaborate farce to gain Kearney’s trust?”

“No, Your Highness! I swear it! Grinsa’s no traitor!”

Again, the queen smiled. “I believe you. You love him very much.”

Cresenne nodded, afraid to speak. She had come close to losing him so many times, all of them her own fault. She had betrayed him, sent assassins for him, and nearly driven him away with her stubborn, foolish devotion to the Weaver and his movement. And she knew that she might lose him still. Or he her. Who could say whether he would survive the fighting between the Eandi armies, much less his inevitable encounter with Dusaan? Who knew how many more of the Weaver’s servants had been sent to kill her?

“You fear for him.”

“I fear for all of us, Your Highness. I’ve seen how wicked this Weaver is, though I was blind to it for too long.”

“Kearney will find a way to prevail.” The corners of her mouth twitched. “He always does.” When Cresenne didn’t respond, the queen looked at her again. “War is hardest on the women, you know. It’s always been so, though men will deny it. Remaining behind, awaiting the outcome, fearing that the next messenger will bear word that your husband or lover or brother has fallen.” She gazed up at the sky, as if to judge the time. “I envy the women of Sanbira, who fight their own battles alongside the men. Their way strikes me as being far more just.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“You’re humoring me.” She wore a smirk on her fleshy face.

“No, Your Highness! I was just—”

“It’s all right, my dear. I suppose I deserve it. I find it easy to complain here, safe behind Audun’s walls. But given the opportunity to ride to war, I’m not at all certain that I would.” She frowned. “Does that make me a coward?”

“I believe it makes you honest, Your Highness.”

About the Author

D
AVID
B. C
OE
, the author of seven epic fantasy novels, won the Crawford Award for Best First Fantasy for
Children of Amarid
and
The Outlanders
, the first two books of his LonTobyn trilogy. His Winds of the Forelands series, which includes
Rules of Ascension, Seeds of Betrayal
, and
Bonds of Vengeance
, will conclude with
Weavers of War
. He lives with his wife and their two daughters on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee.