"When he returned, we learned that he narrowly avoided an arrow, but that it missed him- his horse shied just as the arrow came his way. So the ball showed what might have been, but not what was."
"I understand. And I promise that I won't try to throw myself out the window. But I have to try."
"Very well."
The four women took their places around the ball, holding hands. Kiara drew on a small measure of regent magic to ward their working and bring the power of the scrying ball to life. "Powers that be, hear me! Goddess of Light, attend!" Kiara began, her eyes closed in concentration. "We gather to invoke the ancient Powers. Spirits of the Land, hear me!" she recited. "Winds of the North, obey! Waters of the Southlands, bend your course. Fires of the Eastern Sun, be bound by my command. Land of our fathers under the sun of the West, I compel you by the right of the heirs of Isencroft to reveal what is hidden and find what is dear. Let it be so!"
Alle and Macaria were holding their breath. Kiara opened her eyes as the scrying ball flared and from within, a mist began to swirl. Still holding hands, they stepped closer as Kiara peered at the image. Hazy, as if seen from a distance, an image grew more solid. Kiara could make out the outline of a large stone fortress. Fire lit up the night sky. She glimpsed two figures on horseback and recognized one immediately as Tris. "There he is!"
The scene shifted without warning, to another night view. The battle for the keep raged, but there was panic in the soldiers' movements, and at the edge of the vision, Kiara glimpsed a gray-skinned beast like she and Tris had fought on the road to Westmarch. "Look there!" The night opened as if split like a curtain, and Kiara watched in horror as a man's body tumbled out of thin air. Blond hair matted with blood, cloak torn and burned, the body landed in the snow and lay still. The image flickered and disappeared.
"Break the warding!" Cerise whispered as Kiara stood unmoving, staring in horror at the now-dark scrying ball. "Kiara, break the warding!"
Kiara mumbled the words to dispel the magic and the wardings around them fell. Cerise guided her to a chair as Kiara wavered on her feet, and Macaria and Alle clustered around her. "You can't be certain that what you saw really happened," Alle said, taking the cup of tea Macaria poured and pressing it into Kiara's shaking hands. "We never saw the man's face. We don't know for certain who it was."
Macaria slipped away, only to return with her flute. Wordlessly, she began to play a calming melody, but it took several minutes before its magic quieted Kiara enough for her to speak. "You were right, Cerise. I shouldn't have scryed. We know nothing more than we did before-nothing certain-but I'm more worried now than ever." Cerise laid a hand on Kiara's shoulder. "Tris is a powerful Summoner. You made a ritual vow to each other. If anything were to happen to him, he would come to you. He has that power. Barring that, you know that he's alive. And from your own stories of his training and the battle against the Obsidian King, he's withstood the worst that battle can do. Take comfort in that, and trust the Lady."
A knock at the door interrupted anything else Cerise might have said. Alle went to answer it, and found a courier standing in the hallway. "M'lady. A message for you, from Lady Eadoin." Alle thanked him and closed the door, then ripped the envelope open. She scanned down the lines of Eadoin's spidery handwriting, then looked up at the others, who were watching expectantly. "Aunt Eadoin says that there's been an outbreak of fever among the servants. She's got her hands full with the manor, and she's not feeling well herself. She begs your pardon," Alle said with a nod toward Kiara, "but she thinks it best if she stays at Brightmoor until she's well, so as not to put you and the baby at risk." She paused. "That answers our question about taking you to stay there," she said and glanced at the paper once more, then frowned. "That's odd. She also said to thank the queen for the lovely gift of linens. They arrived last week and she had the servants put them out on the beds." Alle read on, and frowned deeply. "This worries me. Aunt Eadoin enclosed a second sheet. It's very formal. She's made me her proxy, to act in her stead as if I were she." "Lady Eadoin is up in years," Macaria said gently. "Perhaps it's just a precaution." "Perhaps. Or maybe she's sicker with the fever than she's letting on." Alle lowered the letter with a sigh. "I was counting on her help to deal with the rumors about you and Carroway. Aunt Eadoin's always been a voice of reason in the Margolan court-even the troublemakers listen to her. I'm afraid we'll have to wait."
"I'm sorry to hear that Eadoin's not well," Kiara replied. "And I'm completely at a loss about the gift. I didn't send anything. Perhaps Crevan sent something in my name out of protocol." Urgent knocking cut off anything more she might have said. The dogs jumped to their feet at the noise, and even Jae raised his head from where he slept on the hearth. Alle opened the door again, to find Crevan framed in the doorway. The little man looked exhausted and disheveled, as if he had been up all night. He bowed low and stepped inside at Kiara's gesture, carefully shutting the door behind him. "Crevan, what's wrong?"
"I'm sorry to bear this news, Your Majesty. Please understand, I had nothing to do with it." "What happened, Crevan?"
Crevan twisted his thin hands. "The Council of Nobles has convened, at the request of Lord Guarov. Not even so much as a by-your-leave, mind you, except that they ordered me to find them a room where they wouldn't be disturbed, and send up their meals with plenty of warmed wine." He looked plaintively at Kiara. "A thousand pardons, m'lady, but they've sent me with a summons to request your testimony. They meet to discuss the rumors that allege you and Master Bard Carroway have committed adultery and betrayed King Martris. It's in their power, in the absence of the king, to find you both guilty of high treason." Kiara caught her breath. "But the rumors are lies! Nothing improper in the slightest has ever happened. Neither of us would ever betray Tris."
"I believe you, m'lady. But it was for your sake that I sent Carroway away from court. I had hoped to stop the rumors before the talk reached this stage. Now-" Crevan turned his hands palms-up and shrugged.
"Can they do this?" Kiara asked, looking to Crevan and Alle. "Summon the queen? Is it within their power?"
After a moment's thought, both nodded. "In extreme measures, yes," Crevan replied. "I'm afraid so," Alle said.
"They've sent for you at first bells," Crevan added. "Please, m'lady, I urge you to be prompt. The nobles do not like to be kept waiting, even by the king. It sours their mood."
"Thank you, Crevan. That will be all." Kiara watched the door close behind the seneschal in silence.
"This is bad," Alle said, beginning to pace. "If Aunt Eadoin were here, she could sway the Council. Even Lord Guarov treats her with respect. Before the coup, the Lord of Huntwood-Ban Soterius's father-was also on the Council. He was one of Bricen's staunchest supporters. Some of the others we could have counted on for support died under the Usurper's rule-Lord Alton, Lord Montbane, Lord Theiroth-all dead." "Who's left?" Kiara asked, forcing down her own panic and willing herself into the coolness that came in preparation for battle.
"Lord Guarov-we know he's trouble," Alle replied. "Lord Acton-he's the elderly gent you met at the wedding. Don't count him out-he's a spitfire for his age. King Martris brought some of the vayash moru lords into the gathering, but they left court when the king did-I think they're afraid."
"Mikhail could represent Lord Gabriel-if he weren't locked up in the dungeon," Macaria added darkly. "And Carroway is heir to his family's title-but he's not going to be much help either."