my way, names would only be recorded in the books for the purpose of tax collection.” But she did not pursue the question again, instead tilting her head back against the edge of the pool and closing her eyes. “Degg and Uland are persuaded that you lied on her behalf so that she might spread her thighs in gratitude. But was it truth what you said about seeing the wraiths’ tracks?”
“It was.”
“You also said the wraiths ‘escaped’ across the King’s Walk.”
Curse his tongue, then. “Did I?”
“You did. Though everyone else said they charged across to attack the bandits. But you did not say ‘charged’ or ‘attacked.’ So what did you mean by ‘escaped’?”
“I meant they attacked.”
“My dear boy, even if you do not become a king, you must better learn how to lie.”
Aerax said nothing to that. A warning would only make her more curious, and the truth would be a death sentence. To protect Koth, his uncle would have executed Lizzan merely for insisting there were wraiths. And because no one had believed her . . . no one had asked where the wraiths had come from.
But that was the only path where these questions led. Only death waited for anyone who asked them. And on Koth, death was not the end of a punishment.
It was when torment began.
Lady Junica sighed. “But since you did not lie about the wraiths, tell me—how did she survive, except by running and hiding?”
Aerax stiffened. “Lizzan is no coward.”
“I believe it.” Without lifting her head, Lady Junica looked up at him. “And when she spoke before the court, I found her credible. Except she had no answer to that. How did she survive, when no one else did?”
“She is a fine warrior—”
“As were many others. And there were other soldiers with more experience. Most of the high command was there to observe her, and each of them earned their rank by being the finest of Koth’s warriors. Yet she alone survived. So the others on the court argued that the only possible answer was that she hid until the fighting was over . . . and I saw no other answer, either. Now I ask you if there was another answer—because if there is, I should very much like to give that answer to our soldiers and to the Krimathean warriors before they face Goranik.”
Aerax shook his head. “She did not say.”
“Then you should persuade her to. And if she does not easily give up the answer, persuade her harder.”
His muscles tensed. “Harder?”
With threats or violence? If that was what Lady Junica meant, she had sorely misjudged him—and sorely misjudged saying this to him. He liked this woman, but he would kill her here before he allowed her to harm Lizzan.
But it was Aerax who had misjudged, as he realized when she said, “Given how you look at her, I think that you will not have any trouble managing that—and you’ll have many nights upon the road to persuade her with.” Wearing a slight smile, Lady Junica closed her eyes again. “Ahh, these waters truly work wonders on my back. I thank you for the escort and the company while I soak and ramble on.”
Her rambles were schemes that might depose a king and save an army. Snorting out a laugh, Aerax abandoned the ledge and swam to Caeb. The cat was in a playful mood, and as these waters were much warmer than those they usually swam in—and because leaving the pool would expose how his mind was filled with thoughts of persuading Lizzan—Aerax lingered with him.
Lady Junica didn’t linger as long as they did, and she waved away his offer to help her climb out. Wonder slid across her face as she bent easily for her robe and covered skin pinkened from the heat of the pool.
“Truly, I might be able to ride in the morning,” she said with a note of awe, rolling her shoulders. “I feel as if my bones have been oiled—and I am not fatigued at all. Even the mosquito bite that I’ve been itching all day is gone. Imagine if during the red fever . . . If we had . . .” Voice thickening, she closed her eyes. “If my family had come here. But the fever took them too quickly. We could not have traveled so far. And there were wandering healers from outside Koth who claimed to have Nemek’s potions, but they were all exposed as charlatans. Yet this water must be truly