« You have had time enough to make certain of what you will say for the next year. What seems to be the problem? Are you at a loss for words? Do you find your oratorical skills have suddenly deserted you?» She paused. «Or are you simply worried about how I might perceive your duplicity in acting without my knowledge in the matter of the Prekkendorran?»
The Prime Minister’s face darkened. «I do not need to apologize for that. I acted when the opportunity presented itself, just as you would have done in my place. Had I waited to consult with you, the opportunity would have been forever lost. Don’t presume to lecture me on how to conduct myself as leader of the Federation. I do what I must.»
« Yes,” she acknowledged. «And you tell me of it in your own good time, it seems. I do not judge you for your decision in attacking the Free–born. I judge you for your failure to inform me of it. It smacks of an independence that verges on rebellion. Have we come to a point where you think you no longer have need of an alliance with me? Or with the Druid order? Does your success whisper to you that you are sufficiently strong that you need ally yourself with no one? Is that the course you have chosen?»
She turned toward the shadowy figure in the corner. «Or do you take your counsel from someone else these days, someone you think may advise you better?»
There was a long silence. Then the figure in the corner rose, a slow languid movement of limbs and torso. «He seeks the counsel of someone who has his best interests at heart, Shadea.»
iridia.»
She breathed the name like a curse. Iridia Eleri—or at least a pale imitation of the Elven sorceress—stepped into the light. Whatever Shadea might have thought she would find, it wasn’t this. There was no reason for Iridia to be present, not as an ally to Sen Dunsidan, not as a creature in thrall to the Prime Minister of the Federation. Even more shocking was how her onetime ally looked—bloodless and drained of life, thin to the point of emaciation, and hard–eyed in a way she had never seemed before. There was something wrong with her, but Shadea could not decide what it was.
« Did you think you had seen the last of me?» Iridia asked, her voice as bloodless as her face. «Did you think me safely away from Paranor and your Druid schemes?»
Shadea stared, not knowing what she thought, except that it wasn’t this.
« You drove me from Paranor,” Iridia continued in her flat, lifeless monotone. «You refused me any chance to gain revenge over the man who had wronged me. You took away my power. You stripped me of my pride. So I came here, to give my services to one who would better appreciate them.»
Shadea looked back at Sen Dunsidan. He shrugged. «She acts as my personal adviser now. Her help has been invaluable to me. I hope you don’t intend to try to rob me of it out of jealousy or a misguided sense of prior claims.»
She grimaced. «Please, Prime Minister, try not to sound as stupid as you act. I don’t care whom you bring into your confidence. Even her. She speaks the truth. She was banished when she failed to live up to her pledge to serve the order. She would not be welcomed back now even if she sought to return voluntarily. I certainly have no intention of trying to make her return by force. But you might think about her failure to serve one master and ask yourself how likely it is that she will successfully serve another.»
« I think I am the best judge of how well a person will serve me, Shadea.» Sen Dunsidan shrugged. «After all, I was smart enough to ally myself with you, wasn’t I?»
« An alliance that no longer seems to have much merit, given what I see of your present situation.»
The Prime Minister moved over to his couch and sat down again, his earnest expression only barely concealing the satisfaction she was certain he was feeling at her discomfort. She would have liked to wipe it away with her fingernails, but she wanted to see where things were going first.
« Our alliance still has value,” he said, motioning for her to sit. She remained where she was. «As I said, I acted as I did on the Prekkendorran because the opportunity presented itself. But the war is not over, and I still have need of your support. And the support of the Druid order. If I am to successfully conclude the war with the Free–born, I must press north and west to force a resolution. I cannot do this without at least the tacit support of the Druids. By the same token, I know that you need my support, as well. You lack any other alliances. The Dwarves, the Elves, the Trolls, and the Bordermen all refuse to give you the allegiance you seek. They have not yet accepted you as Ard Rhys. For that matter, some within your own order have not accepted you.»
She said nothing, holding her temper, showing nothing of what she was feeling. When the time was right, she would squash him like a bug—assuming Iridia let him live that long. Shadea was convinced that the sorceress was making use of him for her own needs and would keep him around only so long as was necessary.
« I don’t say that you won’t find a way to deal with these troublemakers, Shadea,” the Prime Minister continued. «But you must agree that it will make things considerably easier for you if we maintain our alliance rather than cast it aside. And, of course, it will make things easier for me, as well.»
« Especially if your armies suffer another defeat like the one they suffered in the passes north of the Prekkendorran two days ago.» She smiled. «How many men did you lose? More than a thousand? At the hands of some ragtag Elven castoffs you had driven from the heights?»
She enjoyed the look of surprise that appeared on his face, a look he tried without success to conceal. He had not expected her to know of the army’s defeat, a secret he had tried hard to conceal from everyone. But there were no secrets that he could conceal from her.
« You had them beaten, Sen Dunsidan. You had them scattered and disheartened, and you let them drive your pursuit force into the ground. In all the years I served in the Federation army, I never heard of such stupidity. How could you let something like that happen?»
« Enough, Shadea. You have had your fun with me. Now let it alone. 1 intend to rectify matters on the Prekkendorran within a few days. When I am finished, the entire Free–born army will be in tatters, and my armies will be deep within their homelands.»
« If I decide to let you do so.» She kept Sen Dunsidan’s eyes locked on her own, chained by the steel of her gaze. «I am not certain now that I should.»
She saw the rage in those eyes, his hatred for her burning in them. She did not look away. The silence between them lengthened.
« You presume a great deal, Shadea,” Iridia Eleri said suddenly.
Her voice was as cold as winter midnight and empty of feeling. Shadea was taken aback in spite of herself. Something about Iridia Eleri was not right. Something about her was changed, something deep and abiding, invisible to the eye, but there all the same.
She broke eye contact with Sen Dunsidan and glanced over. «It worries me that I may have allied myself and my order’s cause with fools. I will presume what I must to remedy such a mistake.» She studied Iridia a moment longer, then turned back to Sen Dunsidan. «Tell me, Prime Minister—must I do so here?»
Sen Dunsidan sighed. «I don’t want you for an enemy, Shadea. You must know that. I need the Druid order to give its blessing to my efforts. I need to know you will not interfere with my plans. Surely you can see this?»
Shadea walked over to the wine pitcher, poured herself a glass, and drank deeply. She watched Iridia casually as she did so, trying to read something of what it was about her that was so troubling. It was in her eyes, she thought. It was in the way she looked out at the world. The problem was there.
« You need me,” she said, «but not enough to tell me of your plans until after they are executed.»