“I don’t want you tainted by association with me,” Regis cautioned Gabriel, “at least, no more than you already are. It won’t help either of us if Valdir finds another Commander of the Guards.”
“That may be inevitable, but I know which officers can be trusted and which will think only of their own advantage.”
Regis understood that Gabriel included his escort among the loyal. “It would be good to establish a meeting place outside the Castle.”
“It is already done, and passwords put into place. As the Dry-Towners are fond of saying, Trust in Nebran, but tie up youroudrakhi. ”
“Can you get a message to Dan Lawton? I don’t know how fast Valdir will move on Federation membership, but Lawton must find an excuse to delay action. I need time to straighten things out.”
Gabriel gave Regis a darkly appraising look, one that said, If anyone can sort out this mess, it’s you.“I’ll do what I can.”
The party paused at the Ardais entrance. Gabriel and the most senior of the Guardsmen went inside, verifying the safety of the premises. The last time Regis had entered this room, it had belonged to Dyan Ardais. In his time, Dyan had been and done many things, not all of them honorable.
Gabriel reported that all was as it should be and that DomValdir and Rinaldo were waiting. He stepped back for Regis to enter. At first glance, the two men inside appeared dressed for a funeral. Valdir wore a suit of green velvet so dark it looked black and a gold chain around his neck. Rinaldo was dressed in a simple belted robe reminiscent of his monkish habit.
The room was comfortably furnished, used more as a living and entertaining space than the more formal presence-chamber in Dyan’s day. Regis recognized a few pieces of furniture from those times. Dyan’s taste had been heavily masculine, leaning to heavy wood glossy with polish. The newer pieces reflected a woman’s more delicate hand.
Valdir sat on a brocaded divan, Rinaldo on a more modest straight-backed chair. Two men in Ridenow green and orange leathers stood along the far wall.
Dyan’s favorite chair, which must have dated as far back as old Gabriel-Dyan Ardais, was unoccupied. Gesturing for his escort to assume their positions, Regis strode to the center of the room and paused for Valdir and Rinaldo to rise.
After a moment of uncertainty, they did so. Tradition and protocol demanded it. Valdir had grown up in a world that respected the Hastur Domain above all others, and as for Rinaldo, he might well become the next Lord Hastur, but he did not possess that prestige yet.
Regis held the tableau for a moment longer than necessary, enough to see the faint tension in Valdir’s jaw muscles. He lowered himself into Dyan’s chair and gestured for them to sit.
“Now that we are all here together,” Regis said, “I would hear what you have to say to me from your own mouth.”
Let’s not play games,Valdir’s expression said. He had more self-control than Regis had given him credit for.
“ DomRegis, I speak not only for the Domain of Ridenow but for the people of Darkover. If I had my way, the Comyn would be as truly equal as we once were. Unfortunately, the common people require a ruler.”
Valdir paused, perhaps awaiting a response. Regis did not give him that satisfaction. Valdir gave a little shrug. “Since the people cling to their adulation of the Hasturs, they shall have one—but one who looks to the future.” He leaned forward, his face tightening. “Not one who would have Darkover remain frozen in time, while the rest of the inhabited worlds move forward.”
Rinaldo had been sitting motionless, hands folded on his knees in the manner of a monk. Regis imagined a flicker of discomfort in his expression. Perhaps his brother did not agree with Valdir’s argument.
“It was a mistake to reject the benefits of Federation membership,” Valdir declared, “just as it was a mistake to abandon the Comyn Council and give so much power to that flock of squabbling barnfowl you call the Telepath Council.”
“ DomValdir,” Rinaldo said earnestly, “my brother acted from the best of intentions. He and our grandfather served the Domains through many crises. Once a man has been forced to take extreme measures, one cannot fault him for continuing on as he has before. I will not hear my dear brother censured or his achievements so lightly dismissed.”
“So you would put Rinaldo in my place,” Regis said to Valdir, “thinking him easier to bend to your will.”
Rinaldo flushed visibly. Valdir said, “I would elevate him to his rightful place, completing what you yourself began by declaring him your father’s legitimate firstborn son. But there would be no point in supporting his cause if he were not also a man of vision.”
A moment passed. Regis shifted in his seat. “If you speak for the people of Thendara and you truly represent their interests, then why abduct three—two innocent men? Are these not the acts of a man who has placed himself outside law and custom? Why should I reward these crimes with my cooperation?”
“No man such as yourself, accustomed to unquestioned authority and power, surrenders his position simply because it is right,” Valdir replied. “Do you expect me to believe you are willing to have Rinaldo become Head of Hastur?”
“I think you do not know me at all, if you need to ask.”
“ DomValdir, let me speak privately with my brother.” Rinaldo’s voice betrayed his agitation. “I am sure that once he understands the necessity of such safeguards and that no harm has come to either guest, he will be agreeable.”
Valdir scowled. “This is not wise, vai dom.Your brother wears a sword and has been trained in its use, whereas you are a man of peace. Should he turn on you—”
Regis wanted to laugh, except for the bitterness welling up in his mouth. Did Valdir think him such a villain as that? A man who would murder his own kin for gain? A tendril of suspicion brushed his thoughts, and he wondered at how easily Valdir had come into power in his own Domain, how conveniently those in the line of succession had fallen, one by one. What lessons must Francisco, still young and impressionable, be learning?
Rinaldo was reassuring Valdir in such animated tones that it would have been impossible to resist without restraining the monk. Valdir agreed, although reluctantly. Within a few minutes, Gabriel, Valdir, and both sets of guards had withdrawn.
Rinaldo picked up his chair and brought it closer. “I am sorry the situation has come to this—”
“ What happened? Rinaldo, how in the name of—” he could not invoke Aldonesas he would with any other kinsman, “—the Holy Bearer of Burdens did you come to ally yourself with that man? Have you been deceiving me all along, waiting for your chance? Or has even a brief captivity softened your mind?”
“You cannot believe I plannedthis!” Rinaldo shot back with the first sign of temper during that meeting. “ Plannedto be seized, bound, hauled away like a piece of meat? Plannedto be used against the brother who has shown me nothing but kindness?”
Regis let out his breath. Rinaldo had been taken by force, like Danilo and Mikhail. That fact eased his sense of betrayal. Eased it, but did not entirely erase it.
“Does it matter?” Rinaldo moderated his tone. “However we have been thrust into this situation, we must work together now. Valdir is not an evil man, although somewhat prone to extreme measures. I will teach him better.”