Shadow Queen - By Deborah Kalin Page 0,54

for his Majkan tribe and for the whole of the Turasi.

‘Has the gadderen started without him?’

Roshi shook her head. ‘Not precisely. Dieter has spent much of his time watching over you. When he isn’t here with you, he’s closeted with them. Not much happens, though, except the consumption of vast quantities of food and ale. The thralls say Vestenn’s absence has the other drightens worried.’

Worried, but apparently not yet united. If they knew or even simply suspected an army camped on the southern march, they should have ratified someone by now. What held them back?

‘Which way do the drightens bend? Will they ratify Dieter as Duethin?’

‘I’m not privy to their counsels,’ she shrugged. ‘But they seem … reluctant.’

Reluctant? It made no sense. The man had all the pieces in play: support from the three most powerful drightens; support from the Skythes; even the threat of an Ilthean army at the gates.

‘And Dieter?’

‘He …’ She trailed off while she considered her answer. ‘He is fractious.’

A sly, dangerous hope sparked within me. If I could play on the drightens’ prevarication, if I could nudge them into refusing Dieter … If he were refused the throne, he could be held accountable for the Aestival slaughter. I might see justice done. Although that didn’t mean I’d get to sit the throne. Why support me, when the drightens might each angle for their own interests? At least Dieter would be banished back to the swamps of the northwest where he belonged. Inexplicably, that thought brought a pang of guilt – and sadness.

‘If you won’t rest, you need to eat,’ Roshi said, standing.

‘I’m not hungry,’ I said, queasy at the very thought of food.

But Roshi set her chin and refused to let me out of bed until I promised to eat. The food – black bread soaked in soft-boiled egg – proved problematic. Sore and bruised from the after-effects of the poison, I had also developed a fear of eating. When Roshi brought me the meal, my throat closed over and I struggled against an urge to gag.

Gently, Roshi put the tray on my lap, then lifted a piece of the bread, took a generous bite, and chewed slowly before swallowing.

The simple gesture, apology and penance both, brought a sting of tears to my eyes. It took all my strength to force my voice through my throat.

‘Thank you,’ I said.

When I’d eaten as much as my tender stomach could handle, Roshi let me rise. The effort of walking from the bedchamber to the couch exhausted me, however, and I sat down to rest a moment.

Night had settled, bringing chill winds and dark thoughts for company. I rested my head on the back of the couch and closed my eyes while I caught my breath.

The door opened, admitting a rising murmur of conversation from without. I didn’t look. It would only be Roshi, slipping out to return the uneaten food to the kitchen.

‘I’m glad to see you’re regaining your strength at last.’

I turned at Dieter’s voice, my eyes opening in time to watch him stop before me. The lines around his eyes were deeper than I remembered.

Awkward and selfconscious, I scrambled to a sitting position.

‘You look tired,’ I said, surprising myself with genuine concern. It was quickly eclipsed by a rising dread, however. I was not ready for this encounter and whatever punishment he had devised. Did he have the vial of blood with him?

He sat on the floor, his steady gaze bringing a flutter to the pulse at my wrists.

‘You look as if you’ve had some hard news,’ he said. ‘Roshi was here, was she not?’

I stared at a crack in the plaster on the far wall to buy some time. If I told him of her guilt, he wouldn’t believe I had not ordered it, not when Roshi could tell him of my desire to escape.

‘She moved fast, when she saw you eating off my plate,’ he prodded, confirming my suspicions. He wanted to know what she had told me of the poison, and whose hand had wielded it.

‘She tripped,’ I said, the lie sounding thin to my own ears. Roshi hadn’t given me much to work with, however, and I feared to say more lest I contradict her outright.

Dieter waited for more, his gaze fixed on the fire. Silence stretched between us.

‘I was prepared,’ he said at length. ‘I’d made alliances to ensure my position, provided I won the throne cleanly. Which I did. Cleaner than I anticipated, if truth be told.’

He turned from