The Will of the Empress - By Tamora Pierce Page 0,151

The word for my court is that I am bound for the Carakathy hunting lodge for relaxation. No one must know my true intent. I want all of them to feel my hand on them. If we must raise the magical border to stop them, I will keep all three of those young people in Namorn. Pershan and Quenaill will remember who is the ruler in this empire."

Isha curtsied. "Very well, Your Imperial Majesty."

"Put a guard on Trisana," Berenene snapped. "Have her watched. Place your best people on alert. She is not to leave Dancruan, should she be in any condition to try."

*

That same day, Tris got out of bed. She ached from head to toe and had to be helped into a bathtub, but she was on her feet. Grimly she made herself walk the circuit of her room twice that day, five times the next. The healers ordered her not to test the healing, ignoring her glare. On the third morning, as she stood on the landing and contemplated the stairs to the next story down, Ealaga came up to her.

"Are you supposed to do that?" the lady asked.

"I'm supposed to be with my family," Tris replied. She gripped the banister and took one step down. "It's a very nice bed, Ealaga, and you've been wonderful about sharing books, but I do them no good here. None of us believes Sandry will be allowed to dance out of Namorn."

Ambros's wife steadied Tris. "Dressed yourself, I see," she remarked, redoing the topmost button on Tris's gown. "Come to my room and tell my maid how to pin your braids."

"I'd appreciate that," Tris said. For once she did not thrust away the offer of help. I don't want to admit I can't walk down on my own, she thought. "I want to visit the palace tomorrow, but when I try to tuck up my braids, I get dizzy lifting my arms." Tris paused to catch her breath, thinking, Five more steps and then I'll sit down. I'm in splendid condition for a fight, I am!

"The palace?" Ealaga asked, puzzled. "You aren't fit to visit anywhere, let alone the palace. Who did you wish to call on? We can invite that person here."

"I'd rather have my chat with Viymese Ladyhammer somewhere else, if you don't mind," replied Tris, taking the next step with trembling legs. "It may not go well."

"That chat seems like a very bad idea to me." Ealaga was as full of practicality as her husband. "Surely your business with her is best left undone."

"It is not," the redhead answered. "I've had plenty of time to pick apart that whiff of magic I smelled before I decided to do bad tumbling tricks on the stair. It was her work. I don't know what I did to Ishabal to deserve that, and I don't care. I just want to express my unhappiness in the clearest possible way." They had reached the second floor. Tris leaned against the banister, her face beaded with sweat from exhaustion as much as pain.

Ealaga helped Tris into her own dressing room. "Well, then, if you're foolish enough to want to quarrel with a great mage, I can't be sorry to tell you that your luck is out. Viymese Ladyhammer is not at the palace. She and her imperial majesty left some days ago, to do some hunting." She guided Tris onto a chair and rang the bell for the maid.

Tris watched Ealaga's face in the looking-glass. "Do you know where?"

Ealaga met her gaze with sober eyes. "She has a residence in the Carakathy Hills, near Lake Glaise and the Olart border."

"Where the Imperial Highway crosses the Olart border," Tris said.

"Yes." Ealaga beckoned to her maid. "The empress often goes there, Tris. It doesn't mean anything."

Tris shifted in the chair so she could meet Ealaga's eyes. "You don't believe that."

Ealaga sighed and took a seat of her own. "It's said she was in a rage when she left, and Pershan fer Roth was missing. The gossips believe he may have gone to try to persuade Sandry to marry him after all."

Tris took a moment to explain to the maid how each braid was tucked and the mass of braids coiled before the silk net Tris offered her was pinned in place over them. As the woman got to work, Tris bit her lip, her brain racing. Shan is the empress's toy, thought the redhead. Her lover. If he went after Sandry — if he was fool