People like you are the fulcrums on which the future turns. He gave her ear a nuzzle. Don’t mess it up. I have a reputation to maintain.
Leaving the Hall of Crowns, she was surprised to come face-to-face with Delia of Eldorne and Princess Josiane. Both wore plain dark gowns and veils over their hair. Plainly they were as surprised as she was.
Delia recovered quickly. “Well, if it isn’t ‘Sir’ Alanna,” she sneered, her green eyes glinting. “The Woman Who Rides Like a Man!”
Taking her cue from Delia’s words, Alanna bowed as a man would. “Princess Josiane. Lady Delia.”
“I used to have to dance with her when she posed as a he,” Delia told the tall blonde. “I sensed something was not right.”
“Funny,” Alanna said thoughtfully, “as I recall, you chased me. You made a point of flirting with me, because the men said I was a woman-hater, and you wanted to make me fall in love with you.”
“Liar!” Delia hissed.
Alanna shrugged. “As you like. I was taught not to question a lady’s word.”
“I’m told you were Jonathan’s lover once,” Josiane said abruptly, veiling her blue eyes with her lashes. “Is that why he made you Champion?”
Surprised by the attack from this unknown source, Alanna took a step back. She clenched her hands, her nails biting into newly formed scars, as she controlled her temper. “I’m told you replaced me in his affections—for a little while,” she replied sweetly. “Why didn’t he make you Prime Minister?”
Josiane’s beautiful face changed into an ugly mask. “No one gets the better of me,” she hissed.
“Did you plan to be King’s Champion?” Alanna wanted to know. “You don’t have the training.”
Delia gripped Josiane’s arm; Alanna could see her blood-red nails digging into the princess’s flesh. “I don’t waste time in conversations with sluts, Josiane,” she snapped. “Neither should you.” She literally dragged the princess away, quite a feat in so delicate-looking a woman.
“She could do harm,” Alanna told Liam and Myles later that night as they sat over brandy. Outside they could hear the sounds of the Beltane festival. “I’m no expert, but that Josiane is crazy!”
“There’s bad blood in the Copper Isle kings,” Liam drawled, his eyes sleepy. “They birth a mad one every generation. Josiane’s uncle is locked in a tower somewhere. It comes from being an island kingdom—too much inbreeding.”
“I think it might be a good idea if the Provost’s spies kept an eye on her,” Alanna said frankly. “I don’t trust her.”
“He has her watched,” Myles said reassuringly. “Any foreign noble is suspect at a time like this.”
Alanna fidgeted in her chair. “I wish the coronation was over. The waiting is getting on my nerves.”
“Once he’s sealed to the crown and the land, he’ll be hard to dislodge.” Liam yawned. “And if the Jewel’s all it’s supposed to be, so much the better.”
“In the meantime, we still can find no traces of a plot or plotters.” Myles sighed. “With people starting to arrive for the ceremonies, it will be hard to spot fighters coming to take part in an overthrow.”
“George and I ride through the city every day,” Liam said unexpectedly. “The Lord Provost and Duke Gareth, too. Between the four of us, any group of warriors will be easy to spot. The Provost’s men stand alert as well.” He noticed Alanna staring at him and grinned. “Did you think you could leave me out of your worries? I’m still your friend. I won’t sit idling when there’s a hint of a fight in the offing.”
Alanna smiled gratefully at the Dragon. “It is a weight off my mind, knowing you’re keeping an eye on things, too.”
George glanced into the library. “Ah, here you all are. Myles, I’ve another visitor to cast upon your tender mercies.” He bowed gracefully, ushering the guest into the room.
“Master Si-cham!” Alanna cried, jumping up. The tiny old man in the orange worn by Mithran adepts smiled and held out gnarled hands for her to kiss.
“And Liam Ironarm,” he said, nodding cheerfully to the bowing Dragon. “What a pair of warriors to grace your house, Myles!”
Alanna looked from Si-cham to Liam to her father, baffled. “You know Liam?” she asked. The redheaded man winked at her. “You know Myles?”
“I traveled more when I was younger,” Myles explained. “Si-cham, have a seat. George, thank you for bringing him. Where was he?”
“Cornered near the Water Gate by a set of young louts. The drunken fools wanted him t’dance for the Goddess,” George said, pouring tea for the Mithran priest. “There’s no respect for old men anymore.”
“I’ve danced for the Goddess in my day,” Si-cham admitted with a grin. “Not after such a journey, though.” He drank his tea. “I’m sorry to be so long in answering your summons, George Cooper. I had a thousand loose ends to tie up in the City of the Gods once they realized I was truly going. Also, I do not cover so much ground as I did when I was young. I had to be carried in a litter—a sad comedown for me, when I rode so well.”
“But why are you here?” Alanna wanted to know.
Si-cham put down his glass, his face tired. “George tells me your brother is ill—desperately so, perhaps. He asked me to come to Master Thom’s aid.”
“Now all we have to do is convince Thom he needs it,” admitted George.
At first Thom refused to consider talking to his former master. His rage on learning why Si-cham was in the city scared Alanna, not so much because she feared his temper, but because she heard despair and fear in Thom’s voice as he screamed at her. This made her determined that Si-cham should meet with her twin. Thom resembled a skeleton now; his skin was dry and cracked with the heat that ate at him from within.
A week before the coronation Thom gave in. Even Roger was banned from their meeting, a ban he accepted gracefully. When Thom and Si-cham instructed the palace servants to bring their meals to Thom’s rooms, Alanna gave up waiting for word. They would send for her when they needed her.
She had a number of mundane tasks that needed to be taken care of in the days remaining. Visiting the palace scribes, she had a new will drawn up: The last had been done prior to her Ordeal. They were disturbed to see such a document when death should be the last thing on her mind, but she could not shake uneasy feelings about the coronation. She wanted nothing left to chance, just in case. She took her mail to be polished and her sword to be sharpened. While neither her gold mail nor Lightning required the extra attention, she felt better for having it done. When the hairdresser came to style Eleni’s hair for a court party, Alanna asked him to cut her hair as well. Everyone but George and Buri cried out when they saw her. The coppery locks that had fallen past her shoulders were trimmed back to her ear lobes in the short cut she’d worn as a page. She shrugged at the protests. “I couldn’t keep it out of my eyes,” she explained.
Finally one of the palace servants came to House Olau, four days after Thom and Si-cham had cloistered themselves, to ask Alanna to visit her brother. She did so, wondering what delightful surprise the sorcerers had ready for her.
Thom was pacing when she arrived. Alanna dropped into a chair with a grateful sigh. “It’s baking outside.” About as much as you’re baking inside, she added to herself, noting that his skin was peeling and his lips bled.
Thom looked at her quizzically. “Tell me, Sister Mine, when is your Dragon going to make an honest woman of you?”