“He wanted me to drink the ‘fresh tea’ he’d prepared, and when I refused he settled on strangulation,”

  Elissia answered before the savage could speak. “He told me I was ‘in the way,’ and therefore had to be removed. My guess would be that I wasn’t the victim he originally came here to take care of. Since he hadn’t reached that original victim yet, his employer was able to take advantage of his presence and send him after me. He refused to say who his employer was even when he thought I would take the knowledge into death with me.”

  “You actually asked him who he worked for, Elissia?” Almis said with sudden amusement as he looked down at her. “Even when you knew he meant to kill you? My dear girl, you’ve surpassed even my high expectations concerning your abilities.”

  “Just asking doesn’t win you any prizes,” Elissia answered, knowing that she sounded sour. “If I’d asked in the right way he might have told me what I wanted to know. As it is? As it is I’ve ruined a perfectly good traveling outfit for nothing. Would you gentlemen care to excuse me while I change into something less ? colorful.”

  “Yes, of course you need to bathe and change,” the savage said at once, sounding annoyed with himself.

  “Listan, get that body moved out of here and then have some servants in to clean up. And it might be a good idea to move my wife to another apartment entirely. I’ll ring for maids, and then we’ll wait here until they arrive.”

  “I - would prefer a minute to myself until the maids arrive,” Elissia said just as quickly, actually needing that minute rather badly. “And there’s no need to move to another apartment. This wasn’t the apartment’s fault, just the fault of the man who came into it.”

  “I think giving your wife a minute to herself is a very good idea,” King Almis said just as his son looked about to disagree. “We’ll be right outside the door, after all, and I’d like to speak to you for a moment about extra security measures.”

  “All right, Father, we’ll do it your way,” the savage said after a moment of what looked like inner argument. “But I’ll want only maids you recognize allowed in here. And we need to know when that assassin was hired for your household staff -

  and if anyone was hired with him or at almost the same time.”

  “I’ll take care of that part of it myself,” Almis said, urging his son out after the fighters carrying the body.

  Listan was directing the fighters, and a moment later the door was closed behind all of them.

  Elissia fought down a shudder as she rose unsteadily from the chair and hurried over to the table she’d eaten at. She would have very much enjoyed asking for another apartment, but being elsewhere would have ruined her plans. Later she would need to be in this apartment, to complete what she only now started.

  The cup of tea the assassin had poisoned still sat on the table where he’d left it, so Elissia took it, saucer and all, and quickly hid it under a couch a good number of feet away from the center of the mess. When the servants came in to clean she didn’t want them to find the cup and its contents, not when she hoped to get a couple of vials from her possessions and fill them with the tea. When the time came, she would put her trophy to excellent use?

  Elissia was back in her chair and trying to clean the dagger when the maids were admitted behind the savage. He led them forward, stopping a few feet away from where Elissia sat as the girls hurried forward.

  “I’d like to take that dagger and clean it properly for you,” the savage said, his words even but an odd look appearing in his eyes. “You can be very certain that I’ll get it back to you as soon as you’ve had your bath and are in clean clothes. After that, I expect that weapon to be with you at all times. And my father assures me that these girls were born here in the palace, so there’s no question about their loyalty.”

  “Yes, I could use some help with this dagger, so thank you,” Elissia said as she stood to hand over the weapon. “I won’t be long bathing and changing.”

  “Take as long as you want to,” the savage said, all but caressing the weapon he now held. “My men and I will be right out here waiting.”

  Elissia nodded and then let the girls show her to the main bedchamber, the place her trunks had been put.

  The room was enormous, easily able to hold all the trunks as well as its usual furniture, and its bathing chamber was through a door to the left. Two of the four girls had gone ahead to get the bath water started into the very large tub, and when the other two led Elissia into the room they began to help her out of the bloody clothing.

  It was a bit stomach-turning to find that the blood had soaked down to Elissia’s camisole and underdrawers as well as to her skin, and even more of her body was smeared in the process of getting out of the clothing. By then the tub was half full with four fish figures pouring water into it, so Elissia climbed into the water and immediately began to wash. It would have been nice to soak for a while, but that would have to wait until she could do it in water that wasn’t mostly red.

  It didn’t take long to get her body and hair clean, and when she climbed out there were towels waiting to wrap around and dry that body and hair. Once the water was gone from her body she exchanged that towel for a wrap one of the girls held, a wrap she recognized as one of her own. That let her go comfortably back into the bedchamber to look through the trunks herself, where she picked out what she wanted to wear.

  The day gown she chose was white with tiny flowers embroidered all over, one of her favorites, along with the matching slippers. She’d almost chosen one of her pants outfits instead, but hiding a dagger under breeches would be harder than using a skirt. And right now having that dagger was more important than being comfortable, so wearing the breeches would have to wait.

  Two of the girls had cleaned up the bathing chamber while the other two helped her dress before doing her hair, and then all four went back out into the sitting room with her. The savage was there with his father, and once the four girls curtsied and left, King Almis gestured to Elissia.

  “Come and sit over here with us, my dear,” Almis said, indicating the small ring of chairs he and his son were partially occupying. “There’s something we’d like to discuss with you.”

  Both of the men, now on their feet, were obviously waiting for her, so Elissia walked over and joined them.

  “I’m glad to say you look better than you did a short while ago,” Almis said with a smile that disappeared rather quickly. “Your husband has a plan to find this miscreant who keeps sending assassins, but very frankly I don’t approve of what he wants to do. I’m sure that once you hear the plan you’ll agree with me, so - “

  “Father, please,” the savage interrupted. They were all still on their feet, and the savage looked unhappy but determined. “I’d like to have a few minutes alone with my wife, and then you can put forward your opinion of my plan. The time won’t be long.”

  The savage’s words were polite enough, but it was perfectly clear to Elissia that he spoke an order rather than a request. The same was obviously just as clear to his father; Almis hesitated a moment, and then he nodded.

  “All right, Derand, I’ll leave you two alone for a short while,” he said. “But don’t think I intend to change my opinion - or will hesitate to speak it. I’ll be right outside the door, so call me after you’ve had your ?

  talk.”

  With that the savage’s father left the room, and once the door had closed behind him the savage gestured to the chair behind Elissia.

  “Please sit down,” the savage said in that calm and distant way he’d spoken to her this morning. “I’m no happier about the plan I’ve come up with than my father is, but you’re more than entitled to be a part of solving this problem. And before I forget, here’s your dagger.”

  He pulled a sheathed dagger out from behind him, where it had most probably been stuck down into the back of his swordbelt. The sheath had leather ties that would do a better job than strips of a bedsheet, and a loop of leather around one side of the finger guard would keep the dagger from falling out of the sheath by accident. Deliberately freeing the dagger would be no more involved than flicking the loop out of the way, which made the whole arrangement perfectly fine.

  “Thank you,” Elissia said as she took the dagger before sitting and raising her gown skirt. It was the work of only a moment to tie the sheath in place, and then she was able to smooth her skirt down again and look toward the savage. “What plan do you have that everyone is so unhappy about?”

  “It came to me that the best way to gather my subject kings without arousing suspicion in the guilty one would be to invite them all to a ? happy occasion.” The distance in the savage’s voice was still very much there, as though he discussed the doings of strangers. “No one knows yet that I’ve agreed to free you to go wherever you please, so if we pretend that we’ll be having a second wedding ceremony we’ll be able to mingle with our ‘guests’ for the days of celebration before the ceremony. Working together we ought to be able to find the one who likes to send out assassins.”

  “That sounds reasonable,” Elissia said, ignoring his tone. “Why would your father dislike what sounds like a fairly good idea?”

  “My father thinks that the situation is much too dangerous for you to be involved in,” the savage answered with a gesture of dismissal. “He wants me to forbid you to get any more deeply involved than you already are, and if I refuse to be what he considers intelligent, he’s ready to do the forbidding in my place. He refuses to understand that you’re already involved, so trying to keep you out of the search would hurt us more than help anyone. But I have a different problem with the plan, and if you feel that you can’t go along with all aspects of it then I’ll have to think of something else that doesn’t include you.”

  “What can there be about the plan that I won’t want to go along with?” Elissia asked, instantly suspicious.

  “As long as you don’t expect me to actually go through with that second ceremony I can’t see anything to object to.”

  “No, I don’t expect you to go through with a second ceremony that will have to be put aside,” the savage said with a small shake of his head. “What we will have to do, though, is pretend that we’re deeply in love so we’ll have a good reason for wanting a second ceremony. I need you to understand that I will only be pretending, no matter how sincere I happen to look, so there won’t be any misunderstandings. You’ll have to do the same, and we’ll also have to sleep in the same bed and share sex. Servants always know about these things, and if any others here or in my own palace are in the pay of the enemy? Well, we’d be wasting our time pretending.”

  Elissia sat and thought about what the savage had said, and at first she hated the idea of pretending to be in love. The time seemed destined to be terribly painful, but then it occurred to her that the pain usually came from being in doubt. Unlike the time with him until now, she would not have to waste a single moment agonizing over the question of whether or not he really loved her. She would know he didn’t, so the only pain involved would be from disappointment. That particular pain already had to be lived with, which meant that nothing new would be added.

  But there was also the matter of sleeping with him, although she couldn’t argue the fact that the servants would know about almost everything going on between them. Elissia stirred just a little in her chair at the thought of sharing her body with the savage, hating to admit even to herself that she very much wanted the savage’s body. She’d gotten to the point of wanting him almost every time she saw him, and when she stopped to think about it she realized there was no reason not to indulge the desire. After all, it would only be for a short while longer?

  “As long as we’re both clear on the fact that we’re only pretending, where’s the harm?” Elissia finally said as she looked at the savage again. “I’d be willing to pretend to some worse things in order to be free to go where I please again, and that’s the object of this game. Is your father likely to be a problem when he discovers I won’t let him ‘forbid’ me to do things?”

  “If he gets too persistent, just remind him that you’re his sovereign,” the savage said with an odd smile of satisfaction. “Every now and then that’s what I have to do, and he can’t very well deny it. We’ll start the game as soon as he’s back in here, and make sure you don’t mention or show that dagger. He thought it wasn’t ‘ladylike’ for a woman to have a weapon, and wanted me to surround you with my fighters instead.”

  The savage shook his head as he rose to go to the door, seeing nothing of Elissia’s smile of amusement.

  The savage knew well enough that she wasn’t worried about the way other people defined the word

  “ladylike,” and he obviously agreed with her. And since they were playing a game, Elissia intended to relax and enjoy it. She’d probably never have another chance at some fun, so there was every reason to indulge the opportunity?

  Derand felt almost lightheaded with relief as he went to the door to call his father back into the room. His instincts had been right about the way Seea saw things, and as long as she thought he was only pretending to love her she’d have no trouble accepting whatever he said and did. Belief was her problem, belief in other people, and now she didn’t have to agonize over whether or not to believe.

  Opening the door showed Derand that his father was in the midst of a desultory conversation with Listan, who had brought a squad of the fighters to guard Seea and the apartment. Derand’s father turned at the sound of the door opening, so Derand nodded once before asking his father to join them again. His father smiled with brief amusement, then put on an expression that was obviously ready to be stern and parental. It had been his idea that Seea ought to be “forbidden” to go along with the plan, an attitude that was almost guaranteed to make her do just the opposite, and Derand’s father was obviously pleased that his idea had worked. Now he’d have the fun of playing stern while Seea ignored him.

  “Now it’s my turn,” King Almis announced as soon as he and Derand were back near the chairs. “I’d like a few private words with your lady, Derand, so please wait outside for short while.”

  “As you like, Father,” Derand agreed mildly, then turned to Seea. “I’ll be right outside, love, and when I come back I’ll want to hold you a while. I came much too close to losing you, and I need to be reassured that you’re still all right.”

  He leaned down to touch her lips with his, and then he turned and left the room. It was ridiculous that the only way he could hold and make love to his woman was to claim that he didn’t love her, but if that’s what it took then that’s what he’d do. Judging the needs of other people was foolish; if you loved that other person you

  gave her what she needed without making any judgments.

  “How is it going, my king?” Listan asked once he was out in the hall. “Is your queen really all right?”

  “She seems to be,” Derand answered softly as he looked around. “And so far the plan is also all right. I now have a reason to be with her most of the time as well as to be worried and concerned. If I’d had to be aloof and uncaring for much longer I probably would have turned violent.”

  “I assigned some of the men to help your father’s fighters check into the background of the staff,” Listan said after voicing a sigh. “There’s nothing I can say to excuse my lapse in judgment, my king. Once we’ve returned home I’ll understand perfectly when you replace me with someone you can rely on. If the queen had been killed the fault would have been no one’s but mine.”

  “Come on, Listan, give me a break!” Derand protested, instantly aware of how careful he had to be.

  “Don’t I have enough problems right now without you adding to them? I know you’re upset about Seea’s almost being killed, but the attack had nothing to do with your reliability. Even if her apartment had been guarded, would the door guards have refused to allow entrance to a servant who’d come to clean up?

  And the man had been working as a servant for a while, so even checking on his identity wouldn’t have done any good. Whoever is responsible for this mess, it certainly isn’t you.”

  It was clear to Derand that Listan wanted to argue what his king had said, guilt having made the man certain he was to blame. But the common-sense points Derand had made worked to calm the guilt the way little else would have. If Derand had been gentle and understanding with Listan the man would have felt even guiltier; acting tired and beset had been a much better idea.

  “Well, from now on no one will enter that apartment without being accompanied by my fighters,” Listan grudged after a moment, still not looking terribly happy. “The men will stand between the servants and your queen, and if anyone tries anything else they won’t live long enough to regret their foolhardiness.”

  “If someone else makes a try, do your best to capture the man rather than kill him,” Derand said, back to speaking softly. “I need information more than I need another dead body, and the slime can always be put to death later. Make sure the men understand that if they have to choose between killing the attacker and letting him get away then they can kill him, but other than that I want them to try to take a prisoner.”

  Listan bowed his agreement and went off to pass the word along to their men, so Derand had nothing more to do than wait. The wait lasted longer than he thought it would, but finally the door opened and his father gestured to him.

  “Your lady is just as stubborn as you are,” King Almis complained when Derand walked into the sitting room again. “She refuses to listen to reason, and I’m tired of wasting my breath. I’m going to leave you two mules to be stubborn with each other, and we’ll see you later at dinner.”

  Derand’s father gave him a wink before stalking out of the apartment, at the same time giving Derand the job of needing to keep his face straight. His father was a great lover of intrigue, and as long as only the would-be assassin was dead the king would relish every part of Derand’s plan.

  The rest of the day went by very pleasantly for Derand. He ordered in fresh tea for himself and Seea, and then he kept his word and sat with her on a couch with his arms around her. For her part Seea made no effort to hold herself away from him especially when servants entered, and that made things even better.