at, for once she was Rohan’s wife she would often be on public display.
The prince got to his feet as the Sunrunner made her bow to him. As she bent her head and her knees, gaze stubbornly directed on the floor, Rohan stepped between the tables and stood at the dais before her.
“A moment, my lady,” he said as she rose, his voice carrying admirably to the far ends of the Hall. The girl’s cheeks were crimson as she glanced up wildly, eyes like a startled bird’s. Rohan continued, “We wish to thank you formally for your courage today on the hunt. For our sister and her lord, for our lady mother and our aunt, but most especially for ourselves we thank you. You have kept safe the two young lords who are our heirs—until we can get one of our own.”
Andrade settled back to enjoy the show, fully approving Rohan’s words and the furious flash in Sioned’s green eyes. Naughty boy, to use the royal “we” to imply their mutual children!
Rohan held out one hand to her. Helplessly, she put her fingers in his, and a moment later was wearing the emerald ring. Andrade nearly choked. He had placed it on her left third finger, the one reserved for a tenth Sunrunner’s ring and which for a faradhi was never circled by any other.
“It is our desire that you wear this as a reminder of the debt we owe you,” he said. Pulling Sioned firmly up beside him on the dais, he gave her over to Walvis’ escort and as the squire took her to her place at the high table, Rohan lifted his winecup. “The Lady Sioned,” he called out.
The assembly roared out her name and drank to her health. Sioned looked like someone whose health was in need of a few toasts. Andrade grinned behind her goblet and mused on what methods the girl would use to make Rohan pay for this.
He waited until the Hall was quiet, then spoke again. “My lords, I’ve listened carefully to your wants and needs for the lands you hold of me. Your desires are many and varied. But I have never negotiated at a Rialla before, and I am reluctant to commit myself to promises I may not be able to keep. Therefore I ask that before I leave for Waes in three days’ time, you choose from among yourselves three to accompany and advise me.”
Andrade stared. Chay would be going to the Rialla as usual, of course, but for lesser lords to accompany their prince was not done. What scheme was the boy hatching now?
“My father Prince Zehava once told me that the promises of a prince die with him. I do not intend that this shall be the case with me. The vows he made to you in former years are unknown to me, but I do know that he concerned himself first and foremost with the wealth and happiness of his lands. If we are to keep the Desert strong and prosperous, we must work together. But it has occurred to me that—” He paused and took a deep breath, not entirely for effect, Andrade saw with narrowed eyes. “You and your families have served me and mine long and well. Yet with the exception of my lord of Radzyn Keep, who received the grant on his marriage to my sister, none of you truly own the lands and keeps you administer. Upon my return from the Rialla, what I propose is this. In autumn I will travel to each of my holdings, inspect it, allow you to show me its strengths and weaknesses. If all is to satisfaction, I will invest those who show themselves worthy with the privilege Lord Chaynal alone now enjoys.”
Pandemonium.
“I hope you know what you’re doing!” Chay shouted to Rohan over the racket.
“Darling,” Milar said worriedly, “do you think this is wise? Zehava broke all precedent by gifting Chay with Radzyn, and it was for the best, of course, but—”
“You’re out of your mind!” Tobin exclaimed.
But Andrade understood. The vassals would be kept busy readying their keeps for Rohan’s inspection—and when he returned with whatever he decided they deserved from the Rialla negotiations, they would agree to anything in order to have true ownership of their lands. Moreover, Sioned would be accompanying Rohan on this progress, which would afford everyone the chance to get to know her. Lastly—if she read him right, which she believed she did—a war with the Merida was