“But maybe you’re not a pack animal,” Cammon said. Moving slowly, he dropped to the ground on his side of the gate. The raelynx yawned and stretched out on the other side. “Maybe you roam your territory in utter solitude. Maybe you like Ghosenhall, because there’s not another raelynx for hundreds of miles.”
The big cat snorted and settled its massive head on its enormous paws. Its eyelids drooped, but it didn’t quite allow itself to sleep.
“You seem so reasonable right now,” Cammon continued in a soft voice. “Almost gentle. What would happen if this gate swung open, I wonder? Where would you run first? And would I be able to control you? That’s what I really want to know. Would Senneth? I think I could hold you still long enough for hunters to get in place-but even so, could a hunter really bring you down? What would we do if you ever got free?”
“We would vacate the city and run for our lives,” said a voice behind him.
Cammon nearly yelped as he spun around on his knees to see who had possibly been able to come upon him unaware. The raelynx sensed his mood and came hissing to his feet, but both of them calmed down immediately.
It was Queen Valri. Someone to respect, perhaps-Cammon, at least, scrambled up and attempted to give her a formal bow-but not someone to fear.
“Majesty,” he said, a little breathlessly. “I didn’t hear you coming.”
She seemed amused. “That must be a rare experience for you.”
Her smile invited his own. “Very rare! You can see I don’t know how to behave when I’m surprised.”
“I find it so gratifying that I’m still able to surprise someone that I don’t care how you behave,” she said.
This was, for the dark-humored queen, an almost playful observation. “Well, I’ll try not to be too ridiculous, anyway.”
Once she was close enough to the gate, she bent down and spread her fingers so that her palm lay exposed between two of the rods. Cammon held his breath as the raelynx sniffed at her hand. The big cat felt recognition for this human, too, that was obvious. Recognition and something else-affection? Was that possible?
“He likes you,” Cammon said, speaking in that soft voice again.
Valri nodded, as if that wasn’t an absurd thing to say. “I come here once or twice a week, if I can. To check that he is well. He is so far from home and surrounded by people who distrust him. I feel that the least I can do is make sure he is not utterly alone.”
Well, and wasn’t that an interesting speech? Even someone who couldn’t read emotions would have been able to guess that the queen was describing herself and her own situation. “Someday maybe he’ll have a chance to go back home,” Cammon said.
She nodded again. Her hand was still pressed against the bars, but the raelynx had lost interest and dropped back to the ground. “If he hasn’t been ruined by captivity. If it hasn’t changed the very essence of his nature.”
Cammon was at a loss. Was he supposed to respond to that or pretend she was still talking about the cat? “And do you think that will be case?”
She was silent for a long moment and he figured she wouldn’t answer. Then she turned her head and gave him a sad smile. Her green eyes were bright with some emotion-regret, resignation, uncertainty, he could not tell. “At least I chose to come here,” she said. “This creature did not.”
Neither of them said anything for a long moment, but they watched each other steadily. Most of Cammon’s uneasiness had disappeared. He was used to people telling him their secrets; as long as they meant to do it, he was not afraid of what he might hear. “And why did you?”
She looked back at the raelynx. “The king asked me to. How could I refuse?”
“It does not seem,” he said cautiously, “like a very hard life.”
She shook her head. “It could not possibly be harder.”
He thought that over. He knew so little about Valri-only what Senneth and Kirra had told him, and they were as puzzled by the strange young queen as everyone else was. She and Baryn had married six years ago, shortly after Amalie’s mother died. No one knew what House she was from, or where the king had met her, and, of course, there was a certain amount of scandal over their significant age difference. In the southern Houses, the whispers had started a few years ago: The queen is a mystic. She has bespelled the king. But Baryn showed no hallmarks of a man enchanted, as far as Cammon could tell, and he was pretty sure he’d be able to read the signs. Anyway, Valri seemed to spend far more time with her stepdaughter than she did with her husband…
“Are you protecting Amalie?” he said, before it occurred to him not to voice the speculation. “Is that it?” Then he shook his head. “I’m sorry. I have no right to ask such questions.”
But she was nodding again, her gaze still fixed before her. “Every day. With all my strength. Keeping Amalie safe.”
“You are a mystic,” he said.
She shrugged. “Some people might say so.”
“What’s your power?” But he had figured that out for himself. “Concealment. You can hide your thoughts-you can hide Amalie’s. That’s why I find both of you impossible to read.”
“I can hide her,” Valri said quite softly. “So no one can find her.”
“But she can’t hide anymore,” Cammon said, his voice just as quiet.
“I know. And I am absolutely terrified.”
She said it with no particular emphasis, but for a moment she let her guard down-just a little-and he could sense a profound and soul-deep fear coiled at her heart. He inhaled sharply. Immediately, the impression was gone.
“But, Majesty, you are not the only one on hand to protect her,” he said. “Fifty Riders guard the gates, and royal soldiers can be found on every street corner of Ghosenhall. If any man gets past the soldiers, Senneth can call down fire and burn him where he stands.”
Valri turned her head again, just enough to give him a fierce look from those remarkable eyes. “You have to be the one to watch out for her,” she said. “You’re the one who can sense danger. You have to make sure no one gets close enough to hurt her.”
Now he knew. Why the queen had confided in him. To make sure he was firmly committed to her cause. “That’s why I’ve been brought to the palace,” he said, his voice gentle. “I will do my job. I will keep her safe. You were with us last summer-you know I can be trusted.”
“Even if war comes,” she said, continuing as if he hadn’t spoken. “Even if the king and I are both disposed of, and all the Riders chased off, and Halchon Gisseltess installed on the throne. You must watch over her.”
“Of course I will,” he said, though if all those eventualities occurred, he would most likely be dead as well. Amalie, too. “But once she marries-”
Valri made a small sound and rested her head against the bars of the gate. The raelynx glanced up, decided her nose was too far away to make a leap for, and settled its chin back on its paws. “How will we ever find the right man for her?” she said in something like despair.
Cammon was in agreement with the sentiment. “Perhaps the king shouldn’t be rushing her into a wedding.”
Valri straightened up. “And perhaps a wedding is the very thing that is needed,” she said. “I don’t know. I can’t tell. I just know that Amalie will require a very special bridegroom. And I don’t know if one exists in all of Gillengaria.”