The men all watched Monil approaching them, and it was perfectly clear that Derand wasn’t laughing any longer. He obviously knew that Monil was about to challenge him, and stupid male honor would force him to accept that challenge. It was a good thing Elissia wasn’t a male and just as stupid? By moving quickly she was able to stand herself in Monil’s way before he got close enough to Derand to speak his challenge.

  “Don’t you dare!” she growled, fists on hips as she glared at a startled Monil. “If you have any feelings at all for that infantile female you call a wife, you’ll stop right this instant!”

  Monil seemed to realize that he’d have to run Elissia down to get past her, and he obviously wasn’t quite ready to do that. He paused a few feet away as he frowned at her, so she quickly shook her head at him.

  “How can you do so badly with someone you claim to love?” Elissia continued, fighting not to make her words unintelligible through rushing. “When you really love someone you do what’s best for them, not what’s best for you. Or don’t you understand that?”

  “I’m in the midst of trying to defend the honor of the woman I love, Madam,” Monil responded, his voice sounding like gravel shifting. “Since that is best for her, I ask you to step aside so - “

  “No, you’re not doing any such thing,” Elissia interrupted at once. “You’re not trying to defend that brat’s honor, you’re just adding to the brattiness of her behavior. If you challenge Derand and he kills you, what do you think will happen to her? He won’t marry her, you know, even if I’m not here to stand in the way.

  You may consider her perfect, but every other man in this room knows the real truth. None of them would have her even on a bet.”

  Monil frowned again with skepticism strong in the expression, but then he glanced past Elissia to the men who stood somewhere behind her. What he saw made him stare at the group of men with disbelief, and it wasn’t necessary for Elissia to turn and look to know what was happening.

  “You’ve just discovered that what I said was true,” Elissia went on, her tone now more gentle. “The other men here aren’t looking at Kaylea with love, and because of that they can see her as she truly is. There’s something terribly wrong when a woman that beautiful isn’t even a small bit attractive to men like these, and if you really do care about her you’ll admit that truth.”

  Pain and confusion now filled Monil’s expression, and he stared at Elissia as he fought some battle inside himself. He looked like the kind of man who didn’t make friends easily, and Elissia could understand what he now had to be feeling. Then he drew himself up just a little and it was clear that he’d regained a certain measure of self control.

  “And what do you consider the duty of a man who loves a woman?” he ground out. “Am I to simply stand by and allow her to be insulted?”

  “When your behavior forces people to be less than pleasant to you, you aren’t being insulted,” Elissia said slowly and clearly. “Did you miss it when your wife called me a stick? In my place she would have screamed for her husband to avenge her ‘honor,’ but my own honor was perfectly untouched. Her calling me a stick didn’t make me one, so what did I have to complain about? You have to remember that you don’t get angry over a lie, because the lie can’t touch you unless you let it. Getting angry over the truth is worse than useless because it is the truth. So in what way was Kaylea insulted?”

  Monil parted his lips, probably to mention that “offer to open your legs for the other men” comment Elissia had made, but he was a man of honor. He knew well enough that his precious wife had been offering herself to Derand, and instead of speaking Monil closed his mouth and clenched his jaws.

  “Did she really think no one noticed what she was doing?” Elissia asked gently when Monil remained silent. “No one else said anything out loud because they didn’t want to cause you embarrassment, but I’m not quite that polite - or I’m more direct, whichever way you care to look at the matter. It’s a lot more pleasant for you to give your wife whatever she wants, but is doing that really good for her? She’s too much of a child to think things through in a proper way, so let me put the question to you: if you challenge my husband and happen to kill him, what do you imagine I’ll do to you and your wife afterward?”

  Monil looked really startled at Elissia’s mild question, the expression in his eyes showing that he hadn’t quite understood what Elissia was like. Elissia held his gaze without difficulty, and Monil slowly nodded his head. He understood now that he and Kaylea would not survive if he managed to kill Derand, and if he was the one who died then his wife would be on her own - and not on the throne of his kingdom.

  Kaylea would be deposed even before his body was cold, and then -

  “It’s odd how a man can turn into a coward and never realize it,” Monil suddenly rumbled, coming closer to flinching now than he had earlier. “When you love someone you really do have to consider them before yourself, otherwise your love isn’t worth the breath you use to declare it. Thank you for speaking to me, Madam, and for keeping me from soiling my honor. My fealty is yours from this day forward.”

  Monil dropped to one knee and bowed his head, an action that shocked Elissia with its unexpectedness.

  The man was acknowledging Elissia as his sovereign, and everyone in the room seemed to understand that. Everyone in the room, that is, with one notable exception.

  “Monil, stop yammering with that stupid female and get on with what you’re supposed to do!” Kaylea ordered, coming closer as Monil rose to his feet again. “I was insulted and you can’t let her get away with it!”

  “If you think you were insulted, why don’t you challenge me?” Elissia couldn’t keep from putting in before Monil could respond. “Having someone else do your fighting for you isn’t acceptable in Arvin any longer, so step right up and issue your challenge. As the challenged party I’ll choose bows at twenty-five yards, and I’ll bet your life that my arrow reaches its target first.”

  Kaylea stopped near Monil in startlement, then her expression changed to one of ridicule. She parted her lips to say something that would certainly have made everything worse, but her words were lost when Monil took her arm in a large, hard hand.

  “Don’t even think about accepting her offer,” Monil growled, obviously angry. “I would bet gold on the fact that she can use a bow, whereas you would barely recognize the weapon. And I’ve come to the conclusion that I have been more concerned with my own well-being than with yours, but that’s about to stop. I love you with all my heart, Kaylea, and I’m about to prove the claim.”

  “What are you talking about?” Kaylea demanded, trying to pull her arm out of his hand. “If you really love me, you’ll do as I asked you to? Where are you taking me? What do you think you’re doing? Monil, answer me!”

  Elissia watched while Monil pulled his wife to the far side of the room to a chair. As he sat and put the woman face down across his knees, every servant in the room hurried to a door and out. In a matter of moments only guests were left, and when the door closed behind the last of the servants Monil nodded.

  “Thank you, Derand, I appreciate that courtesy,” Monil said, having no trouble keeping a struggling Kaylea in place across his lap. “As for you, wife, your very rude behavior was in plain sight of the people left in this room, so your punishment will be delivered in the same way. I should have put a stop to your excesses long ago, but I thought that allowing you your way would make you happy. I now see that if you were truly happy you would also be content, so I’ll have to try something else to achieve that state in you. Let’s see if this works.”

  Kaylea had been squawking like a chicken being plucked while it was still alive, but when Monil took her skirts and threw them over her head she suddenly began to wail. It looked as though the woman knew what was coming and was trying to avoid the punishment, but Monil ignored the pitiful sound as he untied her drawers and then pushed them down to her knees. A moment later his big hand was spanking the bottom he’d bared, and Kaylea suddenly had something real to wail about.

  “I found a great deal of interest in what you said to Monil,” Elissia heard in a murmur, and then Derand was standing to her left. “Were you suggesting that a man who truly loves his wife ought to spank her on a regular basis?”

  “I think you know I was suggesting nothing of the sort,” Elissia murmured back, finding Kaylea’s yowling protests really satisfying. “And it wasn’t my suggestion that he spank the brat, so your contention doesn’t hold water.”

  “We’ll have to discuss the point at another time,” Derand countered, amusement dancing in his dark eyes.

  “Right now I’d like to thank you for saving me from having to kill one of my kings. Monil is an excellent fighter, but his years would have worked against him if he’d faced me? Would you really have ordered him and Kaylea killed if Monil had killed me instead?”

  “Since the situation won’t come up, none of us will have to find out the answer to that question the hard way,” Elissia answered with her own amusement. “How long do you think he’ll keep on with the spanking?”

  “Certainly longer than just a minute or two,” Derand said, much of his attention on the round and reddened bottom under Monil’s hand. “He’ll want her to feel the punishment for a while, but he won’t want to break her spirit. Another ten minutes or so, I’d say, and then we’ll be able to eat.”

  Elissia nodded, then joined Derand in watching Kaylea getting what she deserved. Monil looked more unhappy than satisfied as his hand kept smacking the woman’s backside, adding to the redness he’d already caused. It seemed clear that Monil wasn’t enjoying what he was in the midst of, but that didn’t stop him from doing a thorough job. His big hand kept hitting Kaylea’s squirming bottom hard even though she’d started to cry, but Elissia felt no sympathy or pity for her. The woman had begged for what she was now getting, but?

  But the time would have been more enjoyable if it had come after lunch?

  Chapter 18

  Derand stood beside Elissia and watched Kaylea getting a good, sound spanking, silently thanking the gods for keeping him quiet when Elissia first began to argue with Kaylea. He’d been more than tired of the way Kaylea constantly flaunted herself - especially at him - and so hadn’t interfered when Elissia had immediately taken up the bratty woman’s challenge. There had been a short moment of regret when he’d thought he’d have to kill Monil, but Elissia had handled that situation as well?

  “I admire your taste in sweet, shy, helpless women, Derand,” Paltin murmured from Derand’s left, his tone very dry. “I used to think that Hileen was a handful, but your queen definitely outdoes mine.”

  Paltin was a man with brown hair and eyes who was nearly Derand’s size, and luck had had a good deal to do with Derand’s besting of the other man’s forces. When Paltin had surrendered rather than lose any more fighters, Derand had been very relieved. Now he showed Paltin a small smile, which the other man echoed more widely.

  “I’d say that Monil is a novice at the sport he’s indulging in right now,” Paltin went on in the same murmur.

  “He’s making the effort well enough, but he’s showing nothing of style or flair. It might be best if I have a few words with him later.”

  “It might be even better if we all leave well enough alone,” Derand countered as dryly as Paltin had spoken earlier. “If Monil decides to challenge you to individual combat, I doubt if Hileen will do as well dissuading him as Elissia did.”

  “You could be right,” Paltin conceded with an increase in his amusement. “I’m fairly good with a sword, but I suspect that Monil is better than I am. Ah! I think he’s decided to end the lesson for now.”

  Derand had already seen that Monil’s hand was no longer being applied to Kaylea’s round and squirming bottom, but instead was beginning to raise the woman’s underdrawers back to where they belonged. Kaylea was sobbing now, but a few soft words from Monil lessened the noise the woman produced and then she was set back on her feet. Monil stood while his wife tried to rub at her bottom through layers of cloth, and the man showed nothing in the way of satisfaction.

  “You all now have my wife’s apology for the way she’s been behaving,” Monil said, his lack of happiness clear. “We’ll excuse ourselves right now, and see you all again later for dinner.”

  Derand nodded his agreement and permission for Monil and Kaylea to withdraw, and silence continued in the room until the two were gone and the servants peeked in to see if they were supposed to come back now. Derand’s gesture brought them streaming back in as quickly as his earlier gesture had made them leave, and his guests began to stir as well.

  “I think it would be a good idea to have lunch before anyone else decides to provide us with entertainment,” Derand announced, producing chuckling in most of his guests. “For now, just sit anywhere.”

  The carefully prepared seating arrangements had been ruined by the departure of three people, since Monil’s aide had left not long after his king and queen. It would have been silly to stand on ceremony at this point, and Derand’s guests apparently agreed. They followed Derand and Elissia to the table, the women sitting near Elissia’s end, the kings near Derand’s end, and the remaining aides in the middle.

  Derand still had to introduce his kings to Seea, but that could wait until after lunch.

  The food was welcomed by everyone at the table, and Derand was delighted to find that the meal was still more than just edible. He really was hungry, and the relaxed atmosphere made the meal even more enjoyable. Everyone had been forced to put up with Kaylea’s posturing to keep from offending Monil and possibly starting yet another war, and now that the need was no longer there everyone acted as if a burden had been lifted from their shoulders.

  After the meal, Derand introduced the kings and their queens to Seea. Paltin grinned and kissed her hand while Hileen smiled with full approval. Vandrin strutted forward next to add his own hand-kissing, apparently expecting Seea to be flustered by his blond-haired and blue-eyed good looks as most women were. Seea didn’t quite yawn in the man’s face, and her smile was very warm for Vandrin’s wife Tomia.

  The mousy little woman with brown hair and eyes was usually very quiet, so Derand was surprised when Tomia’s return smile to Seea was clearly filled with amusement.

  Lovar came next with his wife Sissile, his attitude one of near-disregard for the introduction. Lovar, a fairly large man with the same black hair and green eyes that his wife had, most often found interest in nothing but warfare. Socializing tended to bore him, but Sissile made up for his coolness by acting as if she and Seea were already good friends.

  Sholon came last, which was to be expected. Sholon was husky and on the dour side, with dark blond hair and brown eyes. There didn’t seem to be anything in the world he approved of, with the possible exception of going to war. That activity held his full interest, at least while he was winning. Once he began to lose, though, he also began to lose interest. His wife Blissi had auburn hair and dark eyes, and her seemingly perpetual air of annoyance was increased when Sholon simply gave Seea a small bow the way Lovar had. She herself offered a smile, but one that looked as if it were painful.

  When the formal introductions were over, Derand stepped forward and put an arm around Seea.

  “My friends, you’ve all had a long trip getting here so you must be weary,” he said, looking around at his guests. “Since the rain is really coming down outside, why don’t you use this afternoon to relax and refresh yourselves before we gather again for tonight’s feast. My parents and my wife’s are already here, and tonight they’ll join us. Unless there’s something one of you feels needs to be done or discussed right now? No? Then please take full advantage of my hospitality. Servants are waiting in the hall to guide you back to your apartments and to bring you anything you might want or need. Until later? “

  No one seemed hesitant about accepting Derand’s suggestion, and in a matter of moments they’d all left the room. Once the last of them was gone, Derand turned to Seea.

  “So, what do you think?” he asked softly, watching her face. “Have you picked out any suspects yet?”

  “I certainly have,” she answered, making no effort to avoid his gaze. “I have five very definite suspects, at least four of them strong possibilities. How about you?”

  “Unfortunately I’m in the same position,” Derand grumbled, but not at her. “I know it was unreasonable of me to expect you to find the guilty man as soon as you were introduced to him, but for some foolish reason I thought you might. Well, you’ll have a chance to see and talk to them again tonight at the feast.

  My father thought it would be a good idea if he and my mother and your folks didn’t join us for lunch and possibly distract you. I wish his idea had worked a little better.”

  “It worked well enough,” Seea responded, now looking thoughtful. “We can assume that the enemy was braced and prepared for lunch and the introductions, but later might be another story. We’ll have to keep alert for a change in attitude, even if it’s very slight. Now I think I’ll go back to my apartment - “

  “Sorry, my love, but we have a chore to attend to first,” Derand interrupted, mostly to keep from having to chase after her. “It’s time to hold the last audience scheduled before the festivities, and you have to be there with me. When I walked in alone yesterday, it felt as if every person in the room cringed and backed away. It seems the people consider you a buffer between them and their fearsome king, so if we want to hear about their problems you have to join me in listening.”

  Seea’s brows rose as she studied his face, possibly looking for a sign that he was making things up, but since he’d spoken the absolute truth she didn’t find that sign. No more than half a minute passed, and then she shrugged.

  “Since it’s the last time, there’s no reason not to join you,” she said, an odd smile curving her lips. “How do you think they’ll feel about what I’m wearing?”