his throat, taking comfort in his warm coat. He was looking for Affinity, which she usually let him lick off her fingers but, after the vision, she was drained of power. A part of her wanted to run to the abbess right now and ask the mystics mistress if her visions could be trusted. If she did, the abbess would claim her for Sylion Abbey and she couldn't bear that.
'Your father is in a fury. You must find him and apologise,' Seela urged. 'Swallow your pride, kingsdaughter, and marry a barbarian warlord. Because...' She broke off suddenly.
Piro turned to her. 'Why must I marry the warlord, Seela? What do you know, that I don't?'
'I'm just an old woman whose nurslings have all grown up.' Seela looked stricken. 'And I can't keep them safe, now that they must play Duelling Kingdoms for real.'
Piro's skin went cold. 'Where's Father?'
'At the war table.'
The war table was housed in a room directly above the trophy chamber. The table was covered with a scale model of their kingdom, its seas and surrounding enemies.
'You must go back to your chamber and prepare an apology for your father,' Seela said. 'Stay out of sight.'
Piro nodded, intending to do no such thing. It was only as she was walking back to the family's wing that she remembered the old seer's words.
Like mother, like daughter. The seer had been right!
Piro rubbed her arms to settle the goose bumps. Just because the old seer had been right about one thing, that did not mean she was right about anything else. The mystics mistress had said the future held many possible paths... but Piro didn't know how to find the right path.
She would tell her mother about the dream and ask her advice. Silent on her indoor slippers, she ran up the servant steps to her mother's private chamber which was down the far end of the solarium. A tapestry hung over the door to the servants' stair to keep out draughts, but it did not stop the voices.
Piro slowed. That was her mother speaking, but who was the man with her? She crept to the tapestry and parted it a chink to see the new Lord Cobalt standing much too close to her mother, who had her back to him as she looked through the diamond panes of the narrow window.
'I was twenty-two and you were only a year older, Myrella. I adored you. I thought you were wasted on Rolen.'
'And I told you I had room in my heart for only one man.'
'That's not the way I remember it. You told me you loved me and -'
'That I would never betray my husband.' She sighed, turning to face him. Seeing how close he was, the queen brushed past him to pace over to the fireplace. Piro was struck by how small and fragile her mother looked next to Illien, who was almost as tall as her father.
The queen turned to face Cobalt. 'I did love you, Illien. I was lonely. To Rolen I was a means to an end, to you I was a person. But nothing ever happened so we have nothing to be ashamed of. And then your father sent you away.' She summoned a brave smile. 'I have thought of you many times over the years and hoped you were happy.'
He came closer, voice dropping. 'I thought of you, too. Myrella. I never forgot...'
She held a hand up between them in a gesture of refusal. 'What I said still stands, Illien. Rolen's known me since I was eight years old. It took twenty years of marriage and four children but he has learnt to trust me. He loves me and I love him for the good qualities he has.' Tears glittered in her eyes. She cleared her throat, adopting a more formal tone. 'I was so very sorry to hear about your father and bride. Had you been married long?'
'We were wed...' his voice cracked, 'the day before we set sail -'
'Oh, Illien!' She reached out to him.
He went to her, sinking to his knees so that he pressed his face to her chest as he wept. She stroked his dark hair, her voice soothing.
Piro let the tapestry fall back into place, stunned. Her mother had loved Illien? Still loved him? But he was the opposite of her father, cultured, elegant, clever... Piro winced.
Stunned, she retreated down the stairs, her stomach churning. Unbidden, Affinity swelled under her heart like a thousand anxious butterflies. She had thought