“They’re almost guaranteed to be shocked, but there’s a good chance they won’t go so far as to lynch you,” Derand responded, firmly ignoring her comment about a “last time.” “If that opinion turns out to be wrong, do feel free to point out the error.”

  “Your opinion about whether or not I’ll be lynched,” Seea clarified, amusement behind the wry words.

  “All right, if they lynch me I’ll be sure to tell you first that you were wrong. Shall we go?”

  Derand bowed and offered her his arm, and she inclined her head before taking the arm. From the way she behaved she might have been dressed even more lavishly than Kaylea had been, which almost let Derand forget that she wore nothing but breeches and a tunic. A woman in anything but a gown still seemed wrong to him, but his not making a fuss just might get her back into that gown faster. At least he fervently hoped so?

  There was a shocked silence when they entered the audience room, and then a babble of noise arose that had to be quieted by sharp rebukes from the guardsmen in the room. By then he and Seea were seated on their thrones, so the audience was begun. In spite of a lot of fluster the people did come forward more eagerly and confidently, which made Derand smile to himself. His new people had taken to his queen a lot more quickly than they had to him, so it was now also his duty to make sure Seea stayed by his side.

  The bad weather had thinned the usual crowd quite a lot, mostly leaving just those with really serious problems to present. The first two men to come forward hesitantly mentioned an outlaw band that was making travel through a certain wooded area very unsafe for anyone without a strong escort. Recently the band had also started to raid nearby farms, so the outlaws seemed to be getting bolder.

  “If the area allows for it, you might give those outlaws someone to rob,” Seea murmured to him when the man who had been speaking fell silent. “But don’t give these people any details of whatever you intend. If I was in charge of those outlaws I’d have someone hang around here to find out things like that.”

  “So would I,” Derand responded in a similar murmur, then he raised his voice. “Thank you for bringing the problem to our attention. We’ll certainly look into the matter and take appropriate action. Who’s next?”

  The two men who had come to talk about the outlaws hesitated a brief moment before turning despondently and walking away. The words Derand had used usually meant a complete brush-off, something they’d wanted to argue before they decided they’d be wasting their breath. Well, the men might be disappointed now, but as soon as Derand’s fighters caught those outlaws the people would feel a lot better.

  The next three petitioners had personal problems, and Seea handled all three. Two of them were, in effect, complaining that fame and wealth hadn’t fallen on them out of the sky, and Seea told them bluntly that if they didn’t make their own efforts the gods weren’t likely to do it for them. The two, one man and one woman, tried to prove they were trying by how much they prayed, but Seea refused to waste more time with them. She had the guards help the two to move on, and then listened to the third. That man had a legitimate problem, so she sent him over to the scribe.

  The last petitioner was a merchant, whose clothing showed that he was at the very least well-to-do. The man started out hesitantly, as though expecting to be told that only members of the lower classes would be listened to, but his confidence grew when he wasn’t interrupted. He also had a legitimate problem involving the business practices of certain merchants in adjoining kingdoms, and that was something Derand wanted to hear about. If there was actual trouble brewing, it might be headed off with a few words to whichever of his kings were involved.

  With no other petitioners waiting, Derand was able to end the audience and take the merchant to a smaller room where they might talk while Seea returned to the apartment. The merchant, a heavy man named Astrof Lindera, turned out to be a good deal more shrewd and knowledgeable than his original hesitance had suggested he would be. Derand was given a good deal of information, much of it presented clearly as Lindera’s opinions, a clarity that impressed Derand. He would have to do some checking, but if Lindera turned out to be as honest and intelligent as he seemed then Derand meant to make the man part of his government.

  The private audience continued longer than Derand had originally intended, and suddenly it was time for him to dress for dinner. He thanked Lindera for coming forward and promised to be in touch, and then there was only one other thing for Derand to take care of. He’d have to go looking for Listan or send for him, he thought, but stepping out of the room showed him Listan in the hall and obviously waiting for him.

  “My king,” Listan said with his usual bow when Derand appeared. “The queen said you would want to speak to me when you finished with the merchant.”

  “How did I get along before she was with me?” Derand asked with a laugh as he gestured Listan into walking with him. “Yes, there is something I need you to take care of, namely a band of outlaws that have started to raid some of the farms. But their main occupation is robbing travelers who appear in their neighborhood without a proper escort, so the queen and I thought it might be a good idea to supply a victim or two for them. The best idea should be to have the supporting fighters sneak into the woods first, so they’ll already be in position when the innocent travelers are attacked. And make sure that word about the proposed venture doesn’t get spread around. Since we don’t know who any of the outlaws are, we won’t know if any of them happen to be listening.”

  “If there’s anyone with brains leading the band, there will be someone listening,” Listan said sourly, making the opinion unanimous. “I’ll make sure our preparations look like nothing more than some ordinary battle practice. Is there anything else, my king?”

  “One other thing,” Derand said, pausing next to the corridor leading to his apartment. “Have someone with common sense look into the background and dealings of that merchant Astrof Lindera. I’m thinking about having him formulate our policies on trade, and I want to make sure he’s as honest as he seems.”

  “I’ll see to it, my king,” Listan said with a bow before walking off, leaving Derand free to continue on to his apartment with all business taken care of.

  Seea was using the main bathing room again, so Derand used the other and then dressed in an outfit he considered “finery.” Brown silk combined with cloth of gold made him look expensively dangerous rather than ordinarily sinister the way black leather did. Derand didn’t particularly like the outfit, but he’d reached a point where anything that wasn’t black was a great relief. The day might come when he would be able to wear pink if he chose, but that day was still a long way off.

  After closing a swordbelt around him that held a fancy jeweled sword instead of his usual, workmanlike weapon, Derand headed for the sitting room with the intention of waiting for Seea. Consider his surprise when he walked in to find her already there, obviously waiting for him. She wore the most breathtaking gown of gold with touches of light brown, her beautiful red hair threaded with more gold and jewels. Her gown was literally the opposite of his outfit, but before he could ask about that she showed a very amused smile.

  “I hope you won’t consider me bold for observing how ? lovely you look,” she said, all but taking the last of the words out of his mouth. “You ought to dress up more often.”

  “My father warned me to be wary of flattery like that,” Derand answered with the best scowl he could manage. “He said that women who told me things like that were after my virtue and most likely didn’t mean what they said.”

  “Oh, but I assure you I do mean it,” Seea said at once, her amusement increasing. “I’m a woman of honor, after all, so you can certainly take my word as to my good and honorable intentions.”

  “Hmph,” Derand said with very clear doubt as he sent suspicion with his gaze. “We’ll just see about that?

  ” But that was as long as Derand could keep up the act. A grin broke through to banish his scowl, and he moved closer to Seea. “But now that you’ve brought up the subject of loveliness, allow me to return the observation to its source. And I’d like to know what made you choose that particular gown for tonight.”

  “I saw your servant laying out your own outfit and decided that a united front couldn’t hurt,” she answered with a small gesture of her head. “If your guests have heard any stories about our relationship, they ought to decide that we’ve settled matters to our mutual satisfaction. If not, we can always bully them into backing down.”

  “Please, madam, I would never even think of bullying my guests,” Derand responded with injured dignity as he looked down at her. “If any bullying is necessary, you’ll just have to do it alone. Shall we go?”

  Seea laughed as she took the arm he held out, and they went to the dining room where all their guests would be. Derand was faintly worried about what would happen when Seea and her parents and brother were in the same room again, but nothing like a confrontation occurred. Seea simply acted as if her family wasn’t there, and none of them made the effort to go to her.

  Every woman in the room was beautifully dressed for the feast - with the single exception of Kaylea. She wore a very plain gown and nothing of jewelry, and her expression of misery said that the choice wasn’t hers. Apparently Monil had decided to extend her punishment, which was rather wise of him, Derand thought. If the woman needed a reason not to offer herself to every man in reach, she now had two reasons to keep her to moderation.

  Drinks and small snacks were being circulated by servants with trays, and Seea took a glass of white wine before going over to join the queens she’d met only a few hours earlier. Derand chose a glass of strong red before he made his own way over to the kings, and just as he reached them one of his fighters entered the room -hurriedly. Derand saw the entrance out of the corner of his eye and quickly turned as the fighter located him and strode over.

  “My king, a private word with you, if you please,” the man, Captain Hael Ventra, requested. Derand excused himself from his guests and took Hael aside, and once they stood alone Derand nodded for Hael to continue.

  “My king, it’s a good thing we were told to keep an eye on the fighters brought here by your guests,”

  Hael went on in a soft voice. “We were expecting trouble from them, but instead we were there to keep trouble from happening to them. Men were hiding in the tents erected for their use, and once the newcomers settled down the men jumped out and attacked them.”

  “Were any of the fighters killed or badly hurt?” Derand asked at once, silently cursing whoever was behind these attacks. “And what about our own people?”

  “None of ours was hurt, and only a few of the visiting fighters were bruised,” Hael answered just as quickly. “We stopped the attackers in all but two instances, and in those two instances the fighters protected themselves. We were able to capture three of the attackers rather than kill them, but I seriously doubt if any of them knows anything worthwhile. They’re more like hired thugs than skilled fighters.”

  “Question them anyway, and if you feel you have to be severe then do it,” Derand said, hating the need to give orders like that. “Let me know if you find out anything, and Hael - my thanks to you and your men for a job well done.”

  “It’s our pleasure to serve you, my king,” Hael answered with satisfaction in both eyes and voice. “I’ll send word if we learn anything.”

  Hael bowed before turning and striding out of the room again, and Derand was able to return to his guests. All five of the men watched him walk back, obviously wondering if Derand would pass on what he’d just been told. As a matter of fact he had to pass on what he’d been told, and not just to watch the men’s reactions.

  “I think you ought to know that someone is trying to stab me in the back instead of coming at me in direct challenge,” Derand said as soon as he stood with the others again. “Both my queen and I have been attacked by assassins, and we even caught men who had been hired to attack you on your arrival here.

  For that reason I had a close eye kept on your fighters, and it’s a good thing I did. Your men became the new targets, but the attacks were stopped and your men are unhurt.”

  “By the gods!” Paltin exclaimed along with sounds of surprise from the others, his outrage letting him speak first. “The foul coward was trying to ruin the games you’ve arranged, and if our fighters hadn’t been able to participate we would have blamed you. Do you have any idea who the miscreant can be?”

  “So far there hasn’t been even a single clue,” Derand answered, making no mention of the fact that he was fairly certain the man to blame was among those he spoke to. “If you’ve been wondering why I’ve had my fighters decorating all the hallways, that’s the reason. But don’t let the sight of black leather make you careless. There was even an instance when the attackers were dressed like my own men, and if one of my guests gets even so much as a scratch while under my roof? Well, we could find ourselves back to where we were before the truce agreements.”

  “Kill anyone who looks suspicious, that’s what you have to do,” Lovar put in, now looking less bored and more interested. “And definitely kill anyone who tries to attack. That ought to teach the fools.”

  “Capturing as many as you can is a better idea,” Monil said as most of the others agreed with Lovar.

  “You can ask questions of the dead, but you can’t expect to get any answers.”

  “So far we might as well be questioning the dead,” Derand said sourly as the others considered Monil’s suggestion. “Hirelings don’t know their ultimate employer, only the intermediate man with the silver or gold. If we get very, very lucky we just may get our hands on that one. If we do? “

  There was no need to speak the rest of that sentence, which the nods Derand got from the others told him clearly. If his men found someone with knowledge who didn’t have the dedication of that “tax collector” he’d had put to death without using torture, breaking the man ought to be possible. It was just that torture was so unreliable a method of gaining information. If the man being tortured was strong enough, he’d be able to plant false information with his dying breath?

  Derand’s guests discussed the problem among themselves until dinner was announced, and then everyone went to the table. Derand had noticed Seea speaking briefly to Kaylea a short while earlier, and Kaylea had been left with a very odd expression. None of the other women had approached the beautiful blonde, but being excluded had to be normal for Kaylea. She herself never made any effort to join the other women, and she’d seemed determined to alienate every female in a five mile radius. Now, though, things had changed for her in a less than pleasant way, but Derand couldn’t find any sympathy for the woman. After all but begging for punishment for so long, she couldn’t complain now that it had been given to her.

  The feast was a marvelous success, and no one but Seea’s parents and brother retired early. But the kings and their queens and aides had traveled a far distance, so the partying didn’t continue into the wee hours. When Sholon said it was time he and his queen returned to their apartment, the others decided to do the same. Derand’s parents joined the general exodus, so he was free to take Seea to their own apartment just a few minutes later. They separated to change out of their finery, then came together again in their bedchamber once the servants were gone.

  “I didn’t want to ask you before I was sure no one could overhear us, but now I need to know,” Seea said as soon as the door was closed behind the last servant. “What happened that got you men so agitated before we went to table?”

  Derand, seated in a chair with a cup of tea near his hand, told her about the attack against the fighters his kings had brought with them. Seea listened carefully, then shook her head.

  “I’m glad you and I both mentioned that possibility to Listan,” she said after blowing out a breath of annoyance. “If the games you have planned were ruined, more than one of those men would use the excuse to go back to starting real wars? So which groups of men were the ones who were able to defend themselves?”

  “By the gods, I was so angry I forgot to ask!” Derand exclaimed, suddenly realizing why Seea wanted to know. “The enemy would be unlikely to enjoy seeing his own men hurt or killed, so they could well have been told to stay alert even if no details or reasons were given them. I’ll have to get us the answer first thing in the morning.”

  But one answer Derand knew he already had: he hadn’t told Listan anything about guarding the visiting fighters, so it had been Seea’s efforts alone that had done the job. He’d been just about to admit the truth, but something had made him keep the information to himself. Exactly why he felt like that he didn’t know, but he knew better than to mistrust his instincts. Hopefully, the answer would soon come to him?

  “You were watching your guests while you told them about what had happened, I know, so did you see anything that made you suspicious?” Seea asked next. “Did any of them react in a way he shouldn’t have?”

  “Unfortunately none of them showed anything specific,” Derand answered with a shake of his head.

  “Lovar was all for killing every attacker in reach to teach them not to try the same again, but Monil wanted to save as many as possible and put them to the question. First the others agreed with Lovar, and then they agreed with Monil. Did you notice any of them acting strangely during the feast?”

  “They all started out looking kind of grim, but most of them managed to relax during the meal,” Seea answered with her own small headshake. “I have the feeling I saw or heard something that I dismissed too quickly, but right now I can’t think what it is. Maybe it will come to me after a good night’s sleep. I wish you your own good sleep.”

  And with those words Seea looked at him, obviously expecting him to take his tea and go. Derand instantly found himself drowning in confusion, and the condition must have shown itself on his face.