“Capturing a city is the easy part, isn’t it?” Elissia said as the revelation came. “I would never have believed that before getting involved in all this, but now? Do you think I can be trusted to take a quick glance at your king before I start all the jobs you’ve given me?”

  “Of course,” Listan answered, at least having the decency to look a bit shamefaced. “I wasn’t really trying to keep you from him? There wasn’t anything you could do for him, and I knew he’d want your needs seen to? I’ll take you in.”

  Elissia simply nodded when Listen ran out of words, then followed him out of her apartment. It had been perfectly obvious that she wasn’t wanted or needed in the savage’s apartment, otherwise someone would have been by to say otherwise. But for her own peace of mind she needed to know that Derand really was all right, and then she could take care of whatever required her attention.

  There were three servants and twenty men in black leather in the savage’s bedchamber, but the man they all hovered around had no idea all those people were here. Derand lay sound asleep in his bed, and he’d even turned to one side rather than simply lie on his back. That point was more reassuring than any words Listan or the doctor could have spoken, letting Elissia lead the way out again just as quietly as they’d arrived.

  “Even asleep he looks better,” Elissia said to Listan once they were back out into the hall. “How long do you intend to keep him like that?”

  “Another day at the very least,” Listan answered, his rueful smile showing he hadn’t expected her to know what the plan was. “As soon as he wakes up he’ll insist on being back in charge whether or not it’s good for him. If we keep him asleep most of the time, let him wake up enough to eat something light before putting him back to sleep, he might actually be in good enough shape to take over again. This is easier than trying to talk him into taking it slow.”

  Because if Derand refused to be reasonable, there was nothing any of his men could do to countermand his decision. Elissia nodded again to show she understood, then she took a deep breath.

  “Your king might be able to lie around sleeping, but we have things to do,” she said to a Listan who seemed ready to sprint away as soon as he could. “Go ahead and get on with your tasks and I’ll see you later.”

  “I’ll let you know what arrangements have been made as soon as they’re done,” Listan promised as he bowed. “Squad Leader Yarrow here is in charge of your escort, and if you need something he’ll see that you get it. Until later, Your Majesty.”

  And then Listan disappeared, almost in a cloud of dust, and as soon as he was gone Squad Leader Yarrow moved closer. Yarrow was a large man with light hair and eyes and an oddly easygoing manner.

  “Where to first, Your Majesty?” Yarrow asked after bowing. “Lord Listan said that the decision would be yours.”

  “I think I’ll take Lord Listan’s advice and look at the people who were in the dungeons first,” Elissia decided aloud. “Are they really in such terrible condition?”

  “Terrible isn’t the word,” Yarrow said as he began to lead the way back up the hall. “I’m a fighter and I’ve done my share of killing, but there’s no way I’d have the stomach to do to people what was done to the ones we found. My squad was one of those who helped to clear out the dungeons, and I didn’t wonder why some of the men threw their guts up. If I’d had anything to eat before we went down there I would have done just the same.”

  Hearing a solid fighting man talk like that made Elissia uneasy, but she refrained from commenting as they passed her apartment and continued some distance up the hall. They finally came to a wide and open area that had probably been meant as a gathering place for the retainers of visiting dignitaries. Cots had been set up on both sides of the area, and there were quite a few doctors and servants moving around near the cots.

  “We meant to put them in one or two of the apartments, but when we tried to take the first of them inside they started to scream,” Yarrow said from beside Elissia to her right. “The cells they came from were really tiny, so I guess they can’t handle the idea of being inside anywhere. This area is inside, but it doesn’t have doors that can be closed and maybe locked.”

  Elissia heard what Yarrow said, but she was too upset to make any comments of her own. There were something like forty or fifty occupied cots, with a small number set up over to the right. There wasn’t much movement among the people lying to the right, but one woman was moaning in a low, pain-filled voice. She also seemed to be crying softly, and when Elissia noticed that the woman’s wrists were bandaged - and her hands were gone from the wrists down - Elissia quickly turned away.

  “All the bones in the woman’s hands and fingers were broken,” Yarrow said, obviously knowing what Elissia had been looking at. “One of the servants said that the woman was hired to play the harp for Prince Waysten, but the prince didn’t like what she played so he had both of her hands broken before she was thrown into a cell. The doctors had to cut the hands off to save her life, but they don’t expect her to live anyway. They can’t get her to eat anything and they can’t get her to stop moaning and crying.”

  And that wasn’t the worst of it, Elissia realized. Most of the people on the cots to the left were stick thin as well as being covered with scars and welts, as though they’d been starved in addition to being beaten and savaged. Some few lay curled

  up in a ball, but many more trembled or shuddered or just cried softly. They were the strong ones, the ones who couldn’t retreat into a fantasy world until they died, proving that strong isn’t always the best thing to be.

  “I think I’m ready to visit King Limond now,” Elissia said as she turned away from a sight that she wasn’t able to look at any longer. “Which way do we go?”

  “Back this way, Your Majesty,” Yarrow said, gesturing in the direction they’d come from. “And you have our thanks for not deciding to stay longer. If you’d stayed, we would have had to do the same.”

  “That’s one of the benefits in being a woman, Squad Leader,” Elissia answered with as much of a smile as she could produce. “I have no need to prove how brave and manly I am. There are times when I feel really sorry for men.”

  Yarrow produced the same kind of smile Elissia had shown, but added nothing in words. They continued back up the hall to a cross corridor where they turned right, and a few minutes later Yarrow stopped in front of guarded double doors.

  “This is King Limond’s apartment,” Yarrow said with a gesture for the two guards outside the doors.

  “Would you prefer to see him alone, Your Majesty?”

  “Let’s start out with you and your men accompanying me, Squad Leader,” Elissia decided aloud after a brief moment. “If I decide I need privacy to speak with King Limond I’ll say so.”

  Yarrow bowed his acknowledgment of Elissia’s orders while the two door guards opened the doors with bows of their own. Elissia had wondered why Yarrow was suddenly calling her “Your Majesty,” but the reaction of the door guards had answered the question. The two had all but dismissed her presence when she and Yarrow had first arrived, but now the two men were falling all over themselves to serve their queen. Yarrow had accomplished his aim of getting her deference without putting the men - or her - on the spot, which showed how really good a leader the man was.

  The king’s public sitting room was overbearingly opulent, with lots of gold and silver knickknacks and decorations. There were also half a dozen servants hovering around where the king sat with a jeweled cup in his hands, the men and women ready to run for anything the king might want. The servants paid little or no attention to the new arrivals, following the example of their king.

  Limond himself sat sprawled in a chair, his very expensive clothing looking slightly rumpled even though the clothes were obviously fresh. Elissia hadn’t seen the man in years, but the last time she had seen him she’d made certain to stay out of his reach. King Limond had the habit of ?

  touching any females who came within reach, laughing while he did it as if he were joking. Elissia’s father had made sure to have only male servants attend Limond while he was a guest, and the king hadn’t stayed a guest for long.

  Now? Now Limond looked ? blurry, was the only way Elissia could describe him, as though the man were out of focus in some way. When Limond gestured with his jeweled cup and a servant hurried over to refill it with wine, Elissia finally understood why the king looked as he did.

  “Why am I not surprised that you’re drinking wine in the middle of the morning,” Elissia said with all the disgust she felt, tired of being ignored. “If I were responsible for bringing something like Waysten into this world I’d probably drink too.”

  “How dare you!” Limond snapped as he turned his head to glare, showing that he’d been aware of Elissia’s presence all along. “How dare you speak of your betters in such a slighting way? Guards! Take this trollop out and have her whipped!”

  “My betters?” Elissia echoed with a deliberate laugh, seeing Limond’s anger grow when the guardsmen ignored his command. “You’re no better than any other drunk, you just have a more comfortable gutter to lie in. Many of us thought that Waysten had taken over without your permission, but that isn’t true, is it?

  You not only knew exactly what Waysten was doing, you also approved of his actions.”

  “My son, Prince Waysten, is doing exactly as he’s supposed to, realizing his destiny and bringing glory to both of us!” Limond snarled the words after swallowing half the wine in his cup, then he put the cup aside to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand as he staggered to his feet. “As those useless louts of guardsmen won’t do their duty and have you beaten, I’ll happily see to the matter myself. I despise sluts who think themselves the equal of men, and I’ve made sure that this kingdom treats them as they deserve to be - No! How dare you? Release me at once!”

  Two of Yarrow’s men had intercepted the drunk before he reached Elissia, and now held Limond’s arms as he struggled ineffectively to free himself. Listan had said that something had to be done about Limond, and now Elissia knew what that something should be.

  “Have this drunk taken down to the dungeon and locked up,” she said to Yarrow, still showing her disgust. “Put him in a cell next to his son, where the two of them can share the same destiny. You can’t refuse to give people what they beg for.”

  “As you command, Your Majesty,” Yarrow said with a bow before turning to the former door guards and gesturing to Limond. The door guards came over and took Limond from Yarrow’s men, then began to drag Limond toward the door.

  “No, you can’t do this to me!” Limond screamed as he was dragged out of the room. “I am the king, and no one can treat - “

  “If he thinks he’s unhappy now, wait until he sobers up enough to realize his true position,” Elissia said to Yarrow once the small procession was gone up the hall. “After what he’s done he doesn’t deserve to have a soft wall between him and reality, so make sure he isn’t given anything to drink from now on but water.”

  “Since nothing but water is being given to Prince Waysten, he’ll be given the same,” Yarrow responded, looking at Elissia with curiosity. “But Your Majesty? Do you mind if I ask what you think the king has done? It was his son who tried to harm so many people, wasn’t it?”

  “What Limond did was encourage his son to do that harm,” Elissia explained, understanding that Yarrow really needed the explanation. “He spoiled Waysten completely by giving him everything he wanted, making no effort to teach Waysten any values of decency. Then, when Waysten was old enough to take over, Limond stepped aside even though he knew how many people Waysten would hurt. It’s bad enough when ordinary people ruin their children. When you’re responsible for the safety of the people under you, there’s no excuse good enough to let you get away with not paying for your mistake. Now let’s take a look at Waysten’s sister Tellita.”

  Yarrow bowed again with that faint smile he kept showing, and Elissia was led out of the king’s sitting room. This time their destination was only a few doors away, and again there were two guardsmen in front of the double doors. These new door guards straightened to attention when they saw Elissia, so Yarrow just gestured them into opening the doors.

  The apartment they walked into was almost as opulent as the former king’s, but this time there was no one sitting in a chair drinking. In point of fact there was only a single female servant dusting and straightening, and the girl jumped with a low exclamation when Elissia and her escort appeared.

  “We’re looking for Princess Tellita, girl,” Yarrow said to the servant in a soothing voice. “Tell her Queen Elissia of Arvin wants to see her.”

  “Of course, sir, I’ll certainly tell the princess that the queen wants to see her,” the girl answered in a very shaky voice, her fingers toying nervously with the duster she held. “I’ll pass on the message as soon as the princess is available.”

  “What do you mean, as soon as Tellita is available?” Elissia asked before Yarrow could respond. “Is she still sleeping, or has she gone somewhere?”

  “Oh, no, ma’am, the princess isn’t still sleeping,” the girl answered at once, obviously growing even more nervous. “She is here in her apartment, but she’s ? occupied.”

  “Occupied with what, girl?” Yarrow put, his tone now showing a touch of impatience. “And you address the queen as Your Majesty, not ma’am.”

  “Oh! I didn’t realize? !” The girl’s protest trailed off into silence as she belatedly curtsied to Elissia, but Yarrow wasn’t fooled. Elissia heard him take a deep breath as if to calm his rising temper, and then he tried again.

  “You’re going to have to tell us what the princess is doing eventually, girl, so it might as well be now,”

  Yarrow said gently but firmly. “If you’re worried about what might happen to you, don’t be. The princess’s father and brother are no longer in command here, so any power the princess had before now will never be hers again.”

  “I - I can’t speak of it, sir, really I can’t!” the girl all but wailed, having dropped the duster to wring her hands. “Please, the princess is in one of the back bedchambers, but please don’t ask me to show you which one! I couldn’t bear to see - Please, sir, please let me leave!”

  “Let her go, Yarrow,” Elissia said with a hand to the man’s arm, her curiosity suddenly piqued. “We can find Tellita by ourselves.”

  “As you command, Your Majesty,” Yarrow acknowledged, then gestured for the servant to leave. The girl grabbed up the dropped duster and actually ran out of the apartment, and as soon as she was gone Yarrow shook his head. “I have the feeling we’re going to have to question more of the servants to find out about everything going on in this palace. But right now it might be best, Your Majesty, if you wait here until we locate Princess Tellita.”

  “I ? think I’m going to disagree with that, Squad Leader,” Elissia answered slowly while considering the situation. “If I’m going to be responsible for deciding what Tellita’s disposition should be, I need to find out just what she’s involved in. Before someone cleans up the scene or smoothes it over.”

  Having made the decision, Elissia wasted no more time in talk. She led the way to the door behind which lay the hall of the apartment, then followed the hall to the area of the back bedchambers. Most of the back bedchambers were meant for the use of servants and were therefore on the small side, but all the small bedchambers they checked were empty. One of the rooms was also emptied of all furniture but still showed signs of use, and Elissia didn’t know why that would be until the reached one of the larger bedchambers. A sudden scream came from beyond the door, and when Elissia threw that door open she stopped short at what she saw.

  “Hit him again, and harder!” a woman ordered the naked man holding a light whip who was standing near another naked man chained to the back wall. The back of the man in chains was bleeding, obviously from the whip that had been used on him. “He has to learn that he’s nothing but a slave and I’m his mistress, which means he has to do everything he’s told without question. Just as you and the others have to do.

  Whip him harder, slave, and don’t tell me again that you think he’s learned his lesson or you’ll get the same as he’s getting!”

  “Put that whip down,” Elissia said at once as she moved farther into the room. There was another naked man kneeling to the right of the man being whipped, but the kneeling man had his arms wrapped around himself and did nothing more than shake. The kneeling man had obviously been broken, which made looking at him as hard for Elissia as looking at the man who was being whipped.

  “How dare you disgusting interlopers barge in here?” Tellita screamed as she shot out of the chair she’d been lounging in, outrage clear in every line of her body. She was dressed in an expensive red sleep ensemble, lounging robe over a sheer nightdress. “I don’t know what fool guest of my brother’s you belong to, but as soon as I speak to my brother you’ll be answering to me! Every one of you will be whipped even harder than my servant there, and you can be sure I’ll watch every stroke and laugh!”

  “You really ought to keep in closer touch with what’s happening in the world beyond your apartment, Tellita,” Elissia said as she strolled nearer to the angry woman. “Your brother isn’t in charge here any longer, and your father is on his way to a cell in the dungeons. And what was that you said about slaves?

  All the kingdoms on this continent agreed that slavery would be illegal.”

  “Elissia,” Tellita growled, finally recognizing the leader of her visitors. “You must have come because of that idiot brother of yours, typically thinking that you’d be able to find him when no one else could. Well, you won’t find Gardal the lame, and telling me fairytales won’t keep me from commenting on your lack of proper clothing. You look ridiculous enough in gowns, Elissia. Changing into boy’s clothing won’t - “