“The late assassin probably got to this inn before we did and then waited, so he didn’t have to get past the outer guards,” Derand interrupted to say. “Check to make sure that no one else registered with him or even at the same time, get the body out of here, and then get the men settled down again. And put someone in the kitchens, to make sure that nothing ? unusual is added to the breakfast I’ll want in just a few hours. Then go back to your own bed.”

  Listan almost argued the last of that, but Derand knew that his expression was one that Listan had learned not to argue with. Instead of arguing Listan had two of the men remove the body before he bowed and left, closing the door as well as possible behind him. That meant it was time for Derand to have that talk with Seea?

  Chapter 7

  “Seea, please remind me to thank my father and yours,” Derand said as he walked to the bed and sat on it. “That’s the second time you saved my life, and you were here to do it only because they had us marry.

  Are you all right?”

  “I wasn’t the one fighting,” Seea answered obliquely, but at least it was an answer. Flat and distant and almost uninterested, but an answer.

  “I’m glad you’re unharmed,” Derand said as warmly as he could, pretending he didn’t notice the flatness and distance. “Seea… I think we need to discuss our relationship a bit more. I’m not insisting that you obey me completely because I don’t believe you capable of doing things on your own. I know you’re more than capable, but you lack experience for living safely in my world. And didn’t you once ask me to punish you if you did something that wasn’t good for you?”

  Derand asked the question knowing she’d probably refuse to answer him, but at least it ought to give her something to think about. It was a good point that he should have brought up sooner, but before he could congratulate himself Seea stirred where she lay.

  “If I’d given my word to obey you completely you’d be dead right now,” she stated, faint anger tingeing the words. “Obeying someone else completely means making no decisions of any sort on your own. All you can do is stand around waiting to be told what to do, because anything you decide to do on your own could be against the wishes of the person you’re supposed to obey. You don’t want a woman you want a well-trained dog, so why don’t you go and find one.”

  “That’s not fair!” Derand protested, stung by everything she’d said. “I never - !”

  Derand’s words broke off before he could insist that he’d never said he didn’t want Seea to make her own decisions. The line of logic she’d thrown at him was valid, especially the part about saving his life.

  He’d made it very clear that he didn’t want Seea involved in any dangerous situations, and picking up a dagger to use on an assassin who might turn on you before you killed him was a very dangerous situation.

  “Now that you mention it, this was the second time I saved your life,” Seea went on before Derand found anything constructive to say. “The first time I didn’t even hear a simple thank-you, and this time you decided to thank two other people entirely. And Torban didn’t understand why I knew a reward was completely out of the question.”

  “All right, you are due a reward, and for both times,” Derand responded at once, now more hurt - and embarrassed - than stung. “I never thought I’d have to use ordinary words to someone who loved me and whom I loved in return, but - So what do you want? Gold? An entire new wardrobe? Name it!”

  “I want my freedom,” Seea answered instantly, but not with eagerness and not even bothering to sit up.

  “When you flatly refuse, don’t forget to mention it’s because you love me.”

  Derand’s mouth had opened automatically to give her exactly that answer, but her comment made the words refuse to come. Seea was twisting everything around to make him look in the wrong, but he wasn’t! He just couldn’t find a way to prove the contention…

  “Any man who saved the life of a king not once but twice would be given everything his heart desired,”

  Seea went on, and now it was faint bitterness that colored her words. “A woman doing the same… Hey, she’s only a woman so let’s give her what we want her to have: complete slavery. If we tell her it’s really a reward she won’t be bright enough to know the difference.”

  “Seea, stop it!” Derand demanded harshly, the pain beginning to grow too high to bear. “You’re cutting me to pieces with everything you say, and none of it is true! I do love you, so much that I can’t abide the idea of losing you! Since when is it wrong to protect the woman you love?”

  “It becomes wrong when you make her life not worth living because of your needs,” was the immediate answer, weariness suddenly in her voice. “But I really hate to waste my breath so let’s drop the subject now.”

  And with that she turned over, as if intending to go back to sleep. He’d told her to state her idea of a proper reward and she had, but not with any expectation of getting that reward. She’d called being married to him slavery, and she’d baldly shown that she didn’t believe he loved her. His reason for treating her the way he had was still valid, but - What good was retaining life if it made you lose the one you loved in a different way…?

  “All right,” Derand heard himself saying, defeated as never before. “All right, you win. I can’t stand the idea of making the life of the woman I love not worth the living, so I withdraw the demand that you obey me completely. Are you happy now?”

  “At least as happy as any other slave,” she answered after a very brief hesitation, not even bothering to turn around as her tone went back to being flat and dead. “I ask for freedom, and you grant me the gift of needing to obey you only some of the time. But you did make the effort, so just consider me ungrateful.”

  “Damn it, woman, what do you want from me?” Derand roared, reaching over to turn her back to him and shake her just a little. “In this world women are expected to obey their husbands, even women who think they’re smarter than everyone else! I may have made myself High King of Arvin, but I can’t change the world!”

  “I don’t remember asking you to change the world,” she responded, saying nothing about whether or not he was hurting her arms. “I asked for my freedom in exchange for having twice saved your life, but you considered the price too high for the services rendered. If the situation should even come up again, I’ll have to remember that you refused my terms.”

  Derand let her go with a small push and then got to his feet to stalk around the room. Anger made him want to shout all sorts of things at her, things he would be sorry he said once he calmed down. Avoiding the need to make a later apology seemed like a much better idea, so Derand moved up and down and back and forth across the fairly small room. But by all the gods he was tempted to beat the woman more soundly than she was likely to appreciate, but at the moment that would solve nothing but satisfying his anger. No, he had to talk to her, so it might be best to start with a question.

  “You said you wanted freedom,” he began after turning back to see that she’d lain down again. “Does that mean you expect me to let you run around doing as you please no matter how bad an idea you get?

  If one of my enemies takes advantage of the opportunity and kills you, will I then be allowed to say ‘I told you so’?”

  “If you give me the freedom I want the problem will never come up,” she said after a very long moment.

  The words sounded reluctant, but more out of weariness than regret. “I’ve never had any desire even to see Arvin, not to mention live there. If you put the marriage aside and let me go back to my father’s palace I’ll be as safe as you claim you want me to be.”

  “So you really don’t believe I love you,” Derand said, his own weariness suddenly rushing up to choke him. “And you can’t possibly love me if all you want is an end to our marriage. Well, if that’s the reward you want it’s yours. I’ll make the arrangements right now.”

  And with that Derand left the room, the pain inside him worse than any wound he’d ever gotten. The woman he loved didn’t love him, didn’t believe he did love her, and wanted nothing more than to be away from him. Never in his life had he so wished that he could break down and cry, but somehow he managed to control himself as he sent one of his guards for Listan before going into a room across the hall from the one Seea lay in. The room Elissia lay in, not Seea. Seea was the woman he loved and who loved him in return. Elissia was a stranger who would soon be gone.

  By leaving the door to this new room open, Derand made it easier for Listan to find him. Derand was sprawled in a chair when Listan almost went past the room, then stopped abruptly and entered.

  “My king?” Listan said as he looked around. “If you want to move the queen to this room, I can - “

  “Close the door and sit down, Listan,” Derand said in a voice that was very much like the one Seea had been using. “The queen - will be going back to her father’s palace, after which she’ll no longer be the queen. I want you to arrange an escort to take her back first thing in the morning.”

  “My king, are you sure?” Listan asked gently, his expression close to being stunned as he sat in the chair near Derand’s. “Was she all that upset at seeing you kill the assassin? I hadn’t thought she was that delicate a young lady, so there’s a good chance she’ll get over - “

  “A delicate young lady, now there’s a laugh,” Derand interrupted, but couldn’t quite find the laugh he’d mentioned. “No, Listan, she isn’t upset at seeing me kill an assassin because she was the one who killed him just before he killed me. She saved my life again, and as a reward she wants me to put our marriage aside and send her back to her father. I was sure she loved me even though she never said the words, but now it’s fairly obvious that she doesn’t.”

  “That makes no sense, my king,” Listan protested, his expression odd. “The queen may never have mentioned her love for you aloud, but if you’d seen the way she shafted the torturer who wanted to start taking off parts of your body… And if she was that eager to be unmarried, why didn’t she simply stand back and let the assassin get rid of you for her? You surely can’t believe that she wasn’t aware of how much power she would have if she went to Arvin as your widow? She’s probably one of the very few people who would be able to keep the Federated Kingdoms from separating again, and if you think about it for a moment you’ll see that you agree.”

  Derand, about to shake his head in denial, suddenly discovered that he did agree with Listan. Seea would have been able to continue with what he’d started, so why -

  “So why did she kill the assassin instead of letting the man finish his job?” Derand asked, speaking to Listan rather than just to himself. “When he crashed through the door the noise must have wakened her, so while he and I fought she had enough time to come all the way awake. That means she didn’t just grab up the dagger unthinkingly, but took it and used it deliberately. If she doesn’t love me, why wouldn’t she be as practical as I know she can be?”

  “The only answer I can think of is that she does love you, but for some reason believes that her love isn’t returned.” Listan spoke quietly and gently, but the look in his eyes was sharp and directly on Derand.

  “Could there possibly be a reason for her to believe that, my king?”

  “I … found it necessary to punish her,” Derand grudged, feeling that twinge in his middle again. “What I did was for her own good, but the punishment made her extremely unhappy. That unhappiness should have turned into a strong willingness to do things my way, but instead she seems to now see herself as a -

  slave.”

  “Considering how the queen feels about things done for her own good, I’m not surprised.” Listan sighed, now looking almost as upset as Derand felt. “She also went from being completely in charge of Ramsond to being nothing but a woman punished by her husband. The queen is a woman of great pride, my king.

  Your punishment must have been extreme for her to speak about having become a slave, and I have to say that she hasn’t looked well this last day or so. And I’m also forced to remember her comments about being nothing but a woman… “

  “Comments I assured her weren’t going to be true about her in our marriage,” Derand grumbled, only now able to see his biggest mistake. “It worried me that I was taking her back to an unsettled realm like Arvin, so I decided to make sure she would be safe. I should have waited instead until we were actually there and she was fully involved in the various chores she’ll do so well with. And now I’ve promised her that I’ll let her go, but I don’t want her to leave me. So how do I retrieve my word without dishonoring myself even more than I’ve already done?”

  “Your association with the queen has always struck me as being very much like a campaign,” Listan commented, the words thoughtful. “If the queen were an enemy you wanted to win over and turn into a friend and ally, how would you go about doing it, my king?”

  Listan’s question made Derand stop emoting and start thinking, which was exactly what he needed. Ideas immediately began to flood his mind, strategical ideas to win the war he was in the midst of. This war could well be the most important one of his life, and as soon as the ideas firmed up he gave orders to Listan, orders which the other man accepted with a wide grin. The first battle of the war would be fought in the morning, and that one had to be won. If it wasn’t… No, Derand refused to think of failure. He had to win so he would… He would…!

  Elissia woke up when she heard the gentle tapping at her door, at first having no idea why she was alone in the room. Then memory of the night before returned, and she knew that the savage hadn’t come back to the room while she slept. She also now remembered that he’d promised to free her, but that wonderful news didn’t bring her the complete relief and happiness it should have. Which was very foolish of her, so she pushed the thought away and said, “Who is it?”

  “A maid to help you dress, Your Majesty,” came a woman’s voice, and then the door opened a crack.

  “May I come in?”

  “Yes, of course,” Elissia said, firmly pushing away the faint disappointment she felt. “Have you brought a wrap?”

  The inn girl had brought a wrap, so Elissia put it on before she got up to wash. The girl also carried an outfit Elissia didn’t recognize, which made Elissia remember that she hadn’t chosen from her own possessions the night before. Well, tomorrow she’d be back in her own clothes, if not by tonight. Her father’s palace was less than a full day’s ride away.

  The inn girl left as soon as Elissia was completely dressed, giving Elissia time to add something she’d prepared the night before. Once that was done she realized that she’d still heard nothing about her escort being ready to leave. Elissia waited no more than a minute before heading toward the door to find someone to ask, but just as she got there someone knocked. Thinking it was a fighter coming to tell her the coach was ready, Elissia was startled when she opened the door to find the savage standing outside.

  “Your coach will be ready in just a little while,” the savage said after blinking at the suddenly opened door. “Our breakfast has been brought up, and I would appreciate your sharing it with me. It’s right in here.”

  He gestured toward a room across the hall, and Elissia hesitated only a moment before stepping out of her own room and heading for the other. Making a fuss now would be pointless; once she left she would never see the savage again.

  A full breakfast had been laid out on the table, so Elissia sat down and poured herself some tea. The food looked tasty and fresh, but when Elissia found that her appetite still hadn’t returned she gave all her attention to the tea. Odd how the prospect of going home was just as depressing as staying here had been…

  “You don’t expect me to send you back to your father looking like that, do you?” Elissia suddenly heard.

  She glanced up to find that the savage had taken the chair on the opposite side of the table, and now sat staring at her. “You’re pale and thin and look as if you haven’t eaten in a week,” the savage continued in the same mild way. “If you don’t do justice to that food in front of you, your father and brother will think I deliberately starved you.”

  Which may make me change my mind about sending you back, Elissia finished for him in her mind. That was something she definitely didn’t want, so she reached for the food with a sigh. She’d eat as much as she could stuff down if that was what it took to escape.

  The food really was good, but Elissia’s mind wandered as she ate. The night before she’d been shocked when the savage had agreed to let her go, something she hadn’t believed he’d ever agree to. She’d known all his talk about how much he loved her was nothing but talk, and hadn’t expected him to prove the point for her quite that easily. But he had shown her the truth, and soon she would be on her way out of his life forever…

  Just as Elissia put her fork down, finding it impossible to finish the last of her food, there was a knock at the door that continued to stand open. The savage put down his own fork as Elissia turned to see Listan in the doorway, gesturing to his king. The savage got up and walked over to Listan, listened to the soft words the man spoke, then he spoke soft words of his own. Listan nodded and bowed then left again, and the savage returned to his chair.

  “It seems there may be a small problem,” the savage said after picking up his teacup, the expression in his eyes distant. “That assassin from last night was alone here at the inn, but some of my men found indications that he may have had

  accomplices camped in the woods. There’s no sign of those accomplices themselves, only indications that they’re around, and it also wasn’t possible to tell which way they went after their track was wiped out.”

  “Why should that be a problem?” Elissia asked, not seeing his point at all. “If those people were able to wipe out their tracks then they can’t be a very large force at all. You have five hundred fighters all around you, so you can’t possibly be worried that they’ll try for you again.”