wake.
“So,” Vaelin said to Luralyn, “it appears you have gone to great lengths to embroil us in a plot against your brother. Is that not sacrilege?”
Eresa let out a small whimper of alarm, reaching out to clasp the hand of the man at her side. He drew her close, cradling her head against his chest and whispering soft words of comfort.
“If I believed him to be a god, then it would be sacrilege,” Luralyn said. “Instead, it is a vile betrayal that will haunt my heart for the rest of my days.”
From outside there came a sudden uproar, thousands of voices raised as one in a storm of thunderous acclamation.
“What is that?” Sherin asked, obliged to shout over the continuing roar.
“Kehlbrand has completed his communion with the Unseen,” Luralyn said. “Now we will have two full days of revels to celebrate our great victory over the Southlanders and gird our souls for the conquests to come.”
She made for the tent flap, Eresa and Varij close behind. “We are needed to guard the artisans against any overly excited revellers.” She paused before leaving, regarding Vaelin and Sherin with grave eyes. “My brother will send for you soon enough. I suggest you use the time to settle any differences. It’s an ill thing to meet your end with a bitter heart.”
* * *
◆ ◆ ◆
“I heard you lost your woman in the war.”
They stood outside Luralyn’s tent watching the celebrations rage beyond the stone circle. Night had fallen now and the glow of innumerable campfires and torches played over the spectacle of the Stahlhast in the throes of celebration. They cavorted in various states of undress, drank liquor in copious quantities and sang their oddly melodious songs to the beat of drums or skirling pipes. Several brawls had broken out in the last hour, though no blades were bared and Vaelin noticed how men and women who had been assailing each other with balled fists moments before would soon after dance together in happy abandon. Whatever their faults as a people, the Stahlhast were plainly not joyless.
“Stories of the Fire Queen’s great crusade fly far and wide,” Sherin went on when Vaelin didn’t answer. “Though some are so outlandish I afford them scant credit.” She paused, her expression displaying more sorrow than resentment as she asked, “Who was she?”
“Her name was Dahrena Al Myrna,” he said. “First Counsel to the North Tower, greatly beloved of the Reaches and the Seordah Sil.”
“The previous Tower Lord’s daughter. I heard a great deal about her when I visited the Reaches. Much was said of kindness.”
“Kind she was. Also fierce in battle and wise in counsel. Without her the war may well have been lost.” And she died with my child inside her. “If it were permitted by the Merchant King, Sho Tsai would be your husband now, would he not?”
“I expect so, although it’s a question he’s never formally asked.” She gave a smile, faint but still rich in the compassion he remembered so well. “It seems time insisted on passing for both of us. I am not the same me, you are not the same you. And, though I wish you had never come here, I am sorry for what you lost.”
“And I am sorry for what I did. But I won’t lie, Sherin. I would do it again, for so much depended on it. So many lives, including your own. As bad as the Alpiran war was, worse was coming. I needed to be there to meet it.”
She looked out at the unconstrained revels beyond the stones. “So many lives stand to be lost here too. These people seem so . . . human now. But the Princess has left me in no doubt as to the evil they will wreak upon the world. That’s why I came, Vaelin. I had to, but I didn’t know you were ever supposed to be a part of it. Our journey was rich in delays and distractions, taking far longer than it should have. I put it down to her fascination with the world beyond the temple she had escaped after so many years. What a fool I was not to realise. I was bait to lure you here.”
She stepped closer, lowering her voice although the continuing din of the Stahlhast celebration would surely prevent their being overheard. “The Princess lied to me. Which means she may be lying about everything. For all we know she’s been driven beyond reason by her endless years. This entire