The Element of Fire (13 page)

"How did it get past the wards?" Thomas asked, looking at the heap of black powder.

Dubell met his eyes frankly. "I've done some work with the wards, nothing that should weaken them. They shouldn't have let this creature pass through. I believe something has affected the ward structure, making the gaps their continual movement creates larger, making those gaps appear in locations predictable to someone. It would take an intimate knowledge of the construction of the wards, at least as great a knowledge as Dr. Surete had, but it would be possible. And, perhaps more disturbing, the spell that caused the golem to shape-change from the appearance of a man to that of the creature we saw here would have to be actuated by someone close at hand."

Slowly, Thomas said, "You mean the sorcerer was here, in the gallery."

"Or an assistant, who carried in the charm designed to trigger the golem. I have looked for Grandier's power-signature, but the ether in this room is free of it." Dubell nodded to himself. "Yes, I believe it was only an assistant who was here tonight."

"What a chance to take," Renier said sourly. "There was a Parscen witchman who tried to cause trouble last year. Surete said there was a disturbance in the wards, and had some of us come with him while he tracked it to the source. We found the witchman hiding in an empty house in the Philosopher's Cross, sitting on the floor and crying like a baby. Surete said he must have tried to do a sending against someone in the palace, but the wards stopped it and followed his magic back to him and took his mind away. We knew that he tried something because he had more witch-poisons and hair amulets on him than you can imagine, but it didn't help him at all."

Dubell's attention had gone back to Kade; his expression was worried.
As well it might be,
Thomas thought. Had the golem been activated by a confederate of Grandier's or by Kade herself? He nodded to Kade, who was still wandering the stage. "Did she tell you why she wanted an audience with Roland?"

"No." Dubell was silent a moment. "Her abilities here, in the mortal world, are not as great as when she is in Fayre, and it is difficult to fatally wound her with anything other than a weapon of iron, but... It appeared the creature was attacking her?"

"Yes," Thomas admitted.

"I hope so, for all our sakes."

The door to the solarium opened and one of the stewards emerged, looking harried and somewhat the worse for wear. He hesitated, then approached Thomas and Renier. He said, "His Majesty will see the sorceress now."

Thomas said, "Good. Go and tell her."

The steward blanched visibly.

Thomas relented. "Very well, I'll tell her."

As Thomas approached Kade looked up, a strange creature not at all like the child he barely remembered, or the fifteen-year-old girl in the portrait. He said, "His Majesty will see you now."

She lifted her brows. "Will he?"

"Yes."

"And I thought he would be so glad to see me he'd have run out into my arms long before this." There was a bitterness underneath the light irony in her voice.

"You were mistaken."

"I suppose." She shrugged, abandoning repartee with a disconcerting abruptness.

Thomas turned and walked back toward the solarium's door without looking to see if she followed.

After a moment she caught up with him. "This isn't turning out right at all," she muttered.

He glanced down at her. "Oh? Who did you plan for the Arlequin to kill?"

She snorted. "You don't really believe that. And I don't know who sent it so you won't find out from me." Her mouth quirked. "Oh, was I supposed to pale and let something slip at that point? I'm sorry, I was thinking of something else."

Thomas didn't slam the door of the solar open with any more force than necessary, and bowed her in with elaborate courtesy.

The old solar wasn't used much, and the three huge windows covering the further wall had already been shuttered by painted panels in preparation for winter. The scene on the panels was a lurid traditional hunting landscape, subtly at odds with the other paintings on the oak-sheathed walls, the hangings of brocaded satin and striped silk, and the delicately carved furniture. Thomas remembered that this room was one of those that had been redecorated after the death of Roland's father; the painted panels reflected the old king's taste, and had probably been left unaltered by mistake. He thought Ravenna might have chosen the room for that rather than its convenience to the gallery.

Roland was slumped in his chair in a sulk, Denzil seated beside him. Falaise's face was still a little reddened under the powder, as if she had been weeping from anger rather than hysteria. She had chestnut hair and blue eyes, and her natural prettiness had been transformed by her coiffure and costume into fashionable beauty. She wore a blue gown trimmed with gold ribbons and seed pearls, and against the somber colors of the rest of the room she looked like an orchid thrown into a dirty alley. Ravenna was the only one who appeared calm. Her hands were busy on her embroidery and she didn't look up at their arrival.

There was a stiff silence in the room and the dregs of a bitter argument lay heavy in the air.

Thomas realized it was his duty to announce Kade, the steward having apparently seized the opportunity to escape. Sensing that calling her "the evil fay sorceress" would probably please her no end, he said, "The Princess Katherine Fontainon," then moved to take his place at Ravenna's side.

Kade's fair skin made her helpless against a sudden blush.

Ravenna looked up and said, "How lovely to see you again, dear child."

Kade curtsied in what had to be an intentionally graceless fashion. "I'm sure it's just as lovely for you as it is for me, stepmother."

"I'm not your stepmother, dear," Ravenna reminded her calmly. "Your mother did not bother with the travesty of marriage with your father, and it would hardly have served the purpose if she had, because he was already my husband at the time. You know this, but it seems to please you to hear me repeat it."

In a whisper plainly audible to the rest of the room, Denzil said to Roland, "Cousin, this is all too dull."

Ravenna snapped, "Roland, send him away. This is private."

Roland glared. "I could ask you to send your paramour away too, mother."

In the ensuing moment of silence, Kade snickered.

Thomas glanced briefly heavenward. Denzil looked at Roland in irritation as the implication in the unfortunate phrasing of the King's retort sunk in.

Realizing what he had said and reddening faintly, Roland continued defiantly, "This is a family matter and he is the only one of my family who is truly fond of me."

"What a sad thought," Kade added helpfully. "Sad, but true."

Roland stared at her, meeting her eyes for the first time since she had entered the room. "What do you want here?"

Kade ignored the question. She looked to Ravenna, who had gone back to her embroidery. After a moment the Dowager Queen said, "And how is your dear mother, child?" as if her prepared greeting had never been interrupted.

Ravenna's expression was as polite as a judge passing sentence; Kade looked ironic and amused. "She's in Hell," she said.

Ravenna's brows lifted. "Wishful thinking, certainly."

"Oh no, she really is," Kade assured her. "We saw her go. She lost a wager."

"My condolences," Ravenna said dryly, as the rest of the room digested that. Kade had just reminded them all of her strangeness, and Ravenna had taken the point. "Now tell us why you've come here in this unseemly fashion, as an actress of all things, bringing an enemy with you and disturbing our peace."

"What are you more worried about, that I brought you a battle or that I was with an acting troupe? Never mind." Kade shrugged, playing with the frayed threads on the edge of her sleeve. "I have quite a few enemies; I can't help it if they follow me about. As to why I'm here..." She paced a few steps, not looking at them, hands clasped behind her back and the dingy lace of her petticoats swirling around her feet. "I just wanted to see my family, and my dear younger brother."

The slight emphasis on the word "younger" made Roland sit up and flush.

Kade looked from Ravenna to Roland, her gray eyes passing over the quietly watching Falaise.

This isn't turning out right at all,
she had said outside, Thomas remembered.

Ravenna just watched her, until Kade said, "I want to make an agreement with you."

"Was it agreement you wanted when you sent my court those cursed gifts?" Roland demanded. "How many of us have you tried to kill?"

"Then there's the death of King Fulstan," Denzil added helpfully, before Kade could answer. "His illness was very sudden, was it not?"

"I see no point in resurrecting either the dead, or the rumors of years past." The gaze Ravenna turned on Roland's cousin should have transformed him into stone. He only nodded politely at her. "Kade, what agreement are you--"

Unable to contain himself, Roland interrupted, "Why would we want to deal with you, sister?" Contempt twisted his voice. "You've threatened us, ridiculed us--"

"Threatened? Oh, what a King you are, Roland." Kade clasped her hands dramatically and said mockingly in falsetto, "Oh, help, my sister is threatening me!" She looked down at her brother, lip curled in disgust. "If I wanted to kill you, you would be dead."

Roland was on his feet. "You think so?" he said. "When you cursed the name of our family--"

"You mewling idiot, so did you," Kade shouted, her sarcasm abruptly giving way to rage.

"You're lying; I never did. It was you who--"

"Silence, both of you," Ravenna said, but something in her tone told Thomas she had rather enjoyed the argument.

Brother and sister stared at each other a long moment. Kade's hands were at her sides, curling into fists, uncurling.

Damn it, he's too close to her,
Thomas thought. The Albon knight nearest Roland had eased forward, ready to snatch him out of his sister's reach.

Then Roland turned away from her and threw himself down in his chair. Kade turned her back on him and walked stiffly to the other side of the room, her hands shaking.

Into the silence Ravenna said, "You haven't said what agreement you want to make, dear."

In a voice almost a whisper, Kade said, "You make me wish I never..." She stopped, shook her head. "Landlaw and courtlaw, stepmother. Landlaw favors the first-blooded child of the female line. That's Roland. But courtlaw favors the first-blooded child of the male ruler. That's me." Kade stopped to watch them a moment, their silence, their concentration.

She shrugged. "Roland's little ass is planted firmly on the throne. That gives him the advantage. And you base your power on landlaw, stepmother. You founded your regency on the rights it gave you. You keep your guard by its traditions." She met Thomas's eyes a moment. He returned her gaze imperturbably. She went on, "But there are still those who think I should have been the heir."

Without looking up from her embroidery, Ravenna said, "Do you want to be Queen, dear? When you were fifteen you said you didn't. You spat on the throne and said it was a foul thing and you wouldn't have it as a gift. And yes, there are still those who would put you on it, or at least long enough to secure the succession for a more manageable candidate."

Kade shrugged. "It's caused you no more trouble than it has me."

"Then what is your solution, dear?"

"I'll sign an agreement formally giving up my claim on the throne and any Fontainon family properties. Have your counselors draw it up." She gestured eloquently at the King. "And I'll even stop 'threatening' Roland."

Ravenna frowned. "And what do you want in return?"

Kade was deliberately silent until Ravenna looked up at her. "The freedom of my old home," the sorceress said softly.

"That's impossible," Roland said, his voice low and harsh.

"Oh, it's hardly that," Kade told him.

Ravenna still looked thoughtful. "And what has brought this change of heart about?"

"I have my own reasons." Kade smiled thinly. "You don't have anything I want enough to make me tell you what they are."

"But why, dear?"

"Because I want it."

Ravenna lifted her brows. "That isn't much of a reason."

Kade made her a half-bow. "It's always been enough for you."

Have to give her that one,
Thomas thought.
Good shot.

Ravenna's hands paused on the fabric and she stared at Kade. Her voice hardened. "You don't know enough to judge me, Katherine."

Kade tilted her head. "Don't I? You've always thought yourself fit to judge me. It's only fair."

"You are young, you know nothing, and life is not fair."

"I know enough, and life is what you make it."

There was a pause.

Ravenna said quietly, "If you are to stay here, there are proprieties that must be observed..."

"No conditions. I haven't made any." Kade smiled. "It's only fair."

The whole idea was so unlikely it took Thomas a few moments to realize that Ravenna was seriously considering it. In a low voice, he said to her, "It isn't worth it, my lady. It's too dangerous."