while sending a very clear message that it would never be pleasant.
But it was a lovely fall day, crisp and not at all damp. Around her neck Eleanor wore a scarf made of pale wool, plainly knit and as clean as it would ever get. She had made it herself, and her neck was warm. She didn’t know what game the Seneschal was playing; it didn’t matter. She would wake up each day and figure out how to survive and she would make sure the others survived, too. If the Seneschal wanted to kill them, he would have to use a knife.
“Have you thought about what you want to do?” he said.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about the day Theron was poisoned.” The words were carefully chosen. If she accused the Seneschal outright, the magus might pay for it.
Neutrally, he said, “The day he fell ill, you mean.”
“The day Arkady poisoned him,” she said. “He was healthy, and Arkady made him drink something, and he nearly died. I’m not stupid, Seneschal.”
“I never thought you were.” But there was something new in his voice.
“Elban wouldn’t have poisoned Theron, not without being there to see. He liked to watch the suffering he caused. But somebody gave Arkady the order; he never did anything without an order. And when I think about who that somebody could have been, the only person I can think of is you.”
The Seneschal’s flat gray eyes studied her carefully. Finally he said, “It wasn’t a decision I made lightly. At the time, it seemed the best way to protect the rest of you. And I wasn’t happy with the result, if it matters. Arkady told me it would be painless.”
“You did it for us.” Eleanor’s tone was aloof and cool, exactly the way her protocol tutors had taught her that a Lady of the City spoke.
He nodded. “Elban was pushing Gavin too hard, and Gavin was weak. He was going to break. I needed him not to break. I needed more time.”
“To arrange your coup.”
“Yes. Not enough of the guards were on my side yet. Gavin would have killed Theron if Elban had kept pushing him, and I think murdering his brother would have driven Gavin insane, don’t you? I didn’t want him insane. I still don’t. Will you go back to Tiernan?”
“Why should I?”
“Because you can. You can be with your family.”
“My family is here,” Elly said. “Until you try to kill them again. And maybe even afterward; your success rate isn’t great.”
“If I wanted you dead, you would be.” He smiled as he said it. It was an appreciative smile, almost friendly. Eleanor said nothing; merely stood, icy, and watched. The longer they stood, the more his smile withered. Eventually, it died. In its place was something suspicious and hard.
“Where is Judah?” he said.
She didn’t quail. She had trained for this; her whole life had been training for this. And the moment was supposed to take place in a throne room or at a state dinner instead of a deserted courtyard, and she was supposed to be wearing velvet and silks instead of a plain dress and old boots. But it was the same, it was all the same. The Seneschal stared at her, a new awareness dawning. His lip curled in a snarl.
She was not afraid.
Chapter Seventeen
Judah was tired of fighting. The scratches on her cheek were fresh and bleeding and she was tired of impossible decisions that benefited everybody but her. She wanted away. She didn’t want to be sought and found the way they were always seeking and finding each other. She didn’t want the nagging awareness of Gavin at the edge of her mind and she didn’t want the nagging knowledge that Elly was toiling away at some menial chore, and she didn’t want the nagging guilt of knowing that Theron was what he was because of what she’d failed to be. Darid was alive and that was impossibly wonderful, but Gavin had lied to her about it and that enraged her, and she could not think of one without the other, and the mixture made her feel sick. She didn’t want the Seneschal. She didn’t want the magus. She didn’t want any of it.
She went to the old wing, but that wasn’t away enough. She could easily be found there. Only one place existed in the House where she could not be pursued, could not be sought out. So she pushed aside the tapestry, like the magus had done; gazed up at