“Where did you hear that?” Dan’s chin jerked up. “Why would Tiphani do such a thing? The accusation is ridiculous! Where’s your proof ?”
“Felix himself told me.” Regis paused, letting the words sink in. “I brought her the news, but she was . . . distraught. I’m not sure she understood. She might respond better if you spoke to her.”
“She—she’s not at the Castle?”
“The last time I saw her, she was being escorted back to the Terran Zone. I cannot say of my own knowledge if she arrived there, but she’s not foolish enough to return to my brother. They did not part on amicable terms.”
“Then I don’t know where she is,” Dan said, clearly miserable. “I’ve listed her as a missing person and initiated a search. The gate logs show she entered Headquarters Building, visited our quarters briefly, and then left again. I assumed she went back to Rinaldo.”
“Do you agree that this new information changes the situation? It must affect your actions with respect to our autonomy if no Darkovan was involved in Felix’s abduction.”
Dan drummed his fingertips on the wooden armrest of his chair. The light in his eyes had shifted from raw emotion to rationality. “You’re right, damn you. I can’t charge Tiphani with kidnapping her own son, not without a legal order transferring custody to me, and that wouldn’t be retroactive.” He glared at Regis. “All right, you’ve made your point. What do you want?”
Regis got up and began to pace, letting the movement loosen his muscles and his thoughts. “It’s not so much what Iwant as what is best for us all. I’m grateful that you have trusted me enough to keep the Federation off our backs this past year. I must ask you to do so for just a little longer.”
“While whoever is responsible for these outrages perpetrates more of them?”
Danilo reacted to the Terran’s impassioned tone. With a restraining gesture, Regis slid back into his seat. “I don’t think that will happen. In any event, the situation may be radically altered soon.”
Dan stared at Regis. A long moment passed, and then another, during which neither man spoke. Then the Terran said, “You aren’t going to tell me what you’re planning, are you?”
“I dare not. You will know everything in a little while.”
“And you want me to keep Spaceforce out of Darkovan Thendara until then?” Dan nodded slightly, his expression thoughtful. “What are a few more days—or weeks, for that matter—in the grand scheme of things? This is a volatile time for us, as well. It would be foolish to endanger everything we’ve worked for without giving you a chance to make it right.”
Make it right,Regis repeated silently. If only it were that simple.
Regis went to the door, Danilo following like the shadow of a cloud-l eopard. “I hope,” Regis said, one hand upon the latch, “that when this is over, we will have the chance to talk. To really talk.”
I do not have so many friends that I can afford to lose one needlessly.
Silence answered him. It was too much to ask, and the gulf might never be bridged. That was a risk he must take, for there was no course of action left but to go on.
The door closed behind him with a faint, decisive sound.
35
Regis arrived early at the Crystal Chamber. He and Danilo had planned to ride to the Castle, with Linnea traveling in a litter. She had refused, quite emphatically, and a horse had been furnished for her as well. Danilo had arranged for an armed escort, Gabriel and the three Guardsmen. With their stern faces and practical, unadorned blades, they presented a daunting sight. Pedestrians and riders alike drew back as they approached.
Their passage did not go unmarked. The party had not gone far when a parade gathered in their wake. Followers cheered, “Lord Regis! Lord Regis!” Regis would have preferred a less conspicuous procession, but once he was recognized, there was no possibility of anonymity.
They were the first to arrive, except for the Guardsmen stationed at the entrance. Nothing more had been seen of Tiphani Lawton, nor had Regis heard anything of Valdir Ridenow’s latest plans. In this atmosphere of shifting loyalties, anything was possible.
Light streamed through the ceiling prisms to cast rainbows on the pale stone floor. The enclosures for the various Domains appeared untouched by the passing years. Aldaran would remain vacant, as it had for the last centuries. Rinaldo’s advisors would surely have informed him that as king, he was entitled to take the seat of Elhalyn. Yes, there hung the banner of that Domain, the same Hastur blue, the silver fir-tree crowned with the emblem of royalty. Danvan Hastur’s ornate presence-chair now occupied the front row of the Elhalyn box.
While Danilo circled the Chamber, performing his usual security check, Linnea searched for any hidden larandevices such as a trap matrix and then set the telepathic dampers.
The Comyn began to arrive, using their respective private entrances rather than the double doors through which Rinaldo would make his formal appearance. Draperies fluttered here and there at the back of the enclosures. Regis could not sense anything through the hum of the telepathic dampers, but for a moment, he received the distinct impression of someone lingering behind the curtains of the empty Aldaran box. The next moment, the fabric stilled, and he decided he was mistaken. It had been a stray current of air, nothing more.
Regis looked around the room, noting among them Ruyven Di Asturien, an elderly Castamir lord, Francisco Ridenow resplendent in the gold and green of his Domain, and Kennard-Dyan Ardais with Mikhail at his back. Bettany was absent, but Regis would have been surprised to see her. She must be closeted away with her ladies, grieving for a child that had never existed. What would such a loss do to her?
Gabriel sat in the Alton section, looking grim. Javanne, although as a Hastur she had the right to sit with Regis, had chosen to remain beside her husband. Likewise, Danilo could have claimed Domain-right for Ardais, but his oath and the bond he shared with Regis took precedence over status.
Regis reflected, That is all any of us really wants—t o serve the ones we love.
As the scattered audience settled, Mikhail flashed Regis a grin.
Aldones Lord of Light, Blessed Cassilda, any god who is listening! Keep him safe—a nd Linnea, and Danilo. Keep them all safe on this day.
Regis took his seat in the Hastur box, with Danilo behind him. As if they had been waiting for his signal, the others came to order. Conversation diminished into whispers and then silence. The Chamber seemed to be holding its breath.
The doors swung open, and a Guardsman cried out in ringing tones, “His Majesty, Rinaldo Felix-Valentine Lanart-Hastur, First of that Name, Warden of Hastur and Sovereign of the Seven Domains!”
As one, the greatly reduced assembly stood. All heads turned toward the doors. A procession entered the Chamber, led by a pair of Castle Guardsmen. Their formal uniforms, encrusted with badges and decorations, glittered in the multihued light. After them came Rinaldo’s council, including Valdir Ridenow, and finally Rinaldo himself.
Rinaldo proceeded across the central area at a slow, stately pace. Regis thought his brother could hardly have moved briskly under the layers of fur and jewel-studded velvet and the thick, ruby-set copper chains. Rinaldo’s crown outshone the gold of the crown on the Elhalyn banner, which overlaid but could not obliterate the Hastur fir-tree.
Permanedál,ran the ancient motto of the Hasturs. I shall remain.
Yes, my brother, I am still here.
Rinaldo lowered himself into the carved and gilded presence-chair. He took a moment to arrange his lace-trimmed sleeves. An expression of satisfaction lighted his angular features.