Fidelias glanced back at the dead Rhodesian Count and shrugged "To be honest, Your Grace I didn't know I guessed "
Aquitaine half-smiled "Based upon what'"
"Too many years in this line of work And I've met Rhodes He wouldn't step an inch from his way to help someone else, and he'd cut off his own nose just to spite his face Calix was being-"
"-too pleasant," Aquitaine murmured. "Indeed. Perhaps I should have seen it sooner."
"The important thing is that you acted promptly when you did see it, Your Grace."
"Fidelias," Aquitaine said. "I do not like you."
"You have no reason to."
"But I think I can respect you, after a fashion. And if it's to be a choice of who will put the knife in my back, I would rather it be you than Rhodes or one of his lackeys, I think."
Fidelias felt his mouth tug up at the corners. "Thank you."
"Make no mistake, man." Aquitaine turned to face him. "I prefer to work with someone to forcing them to my will. But I can do it. And I can kill you if you become a problem. You know this, yes?"
Fidelias nodded.
"Good," Aquitaine said. The High Lord covered his mouth with his hand and yawned. "It is late. And you are right about moving quickly, before the Crown has a chance to act. Get a few hours sleep. At dawn, you leave for the Calderon Valley."
Fidelias bowed his head again. "Your Grace-I don't have any chambers here, as yet."
Aquitaine waved a hand toward the slave. "You. Take him to your chambers for the night. Give him whatever he wants and see to it that he is awake by dawn."
The slave bowed her head, without speaking or looking up.
"Have you studied much history, Fidelias?"
"Only a bit, Your Grace."
"Fascinating. The course of a century of history can be set in a few short hours. A few precious days. Focal events, Fidelias-and those people who are a part of them become the ones to create tomorrow. I have sensed a distant stirring of forces from the direction of the Valley. Gaius is already arousing the furies of the Calderon, perhaps. History is stirring. Waiting to be nudged in one direction or the other."
"I don't know about history, Your Grace. I just want to do my job."
Aquitaine nodded, once. "Then do it. I will expect word from you." And without another word, the High Lord strode from the hall.
Fidelias watched him go and waited until the doors had closed behind
him to turn to the slave girl He offered her a hand, and she took it, her fingers warm and soft, her expression uncertain
Fidelias straightened his posture, bent, and placed a formally polite kiss to the back of the slave's fingers "Your Grace," he said "High Lady Invidia May I convey to you my heartfelt admnation "
The slave's expression flickered with shocked surprise Then she threw back her head and laughed Her features changed, subtle and significant, until the woman standing before him appeared to be several years older, her eyes holding a great deal more wisdom Her eyes were grey, like ashes, and her hair had delicate feathers of frost all through it, though her features looked no older than a woman nearmg her thirtieth year-all of the great Houses had that kind of skill at watercraftmg (or nearly any other form of furycraftmg one could name)
"How did you guess?" she asked "Not even my lord husband saw through the disguise "
"Your hands," Fidelias replied "When you washed my feet, your fingers were warm No slave in her right mind would have been anything less than anxious in that room She would have had chilly fingers And no one but you, I judged, would have had the temerity or skill to attempt such a thing with His Grace "
High Lady Aquitaine's eyes shone "A most astute assessment," she said "Yes, I had been using Calix to find out more about what Rhodes was up to And tonight was the night I thought I might get rid of him I made sure that my husband was in a mood he would not enjoy being taken from and waited for the Rhodesian fool to shove his foot down his own throat Though I must say, you seemed to pick up on what was happening and ensure that it carried through without any hints from me And not the least bit of furycrafting to assist you "