"What about you?" said Margalit. "Why hide you not likewise?"
"I might; but let us first see whether Thevatas come hither, with or without Estrildis. Then we can better decide."
They went down to supper. Although Sovar's food was excellent, Jorian left half his repast uneaten. Kerin had returned to the Square of Psaan to await Thevatas. When one of Sovar's patrons became drunk and offensive, Jorian was tempted to beat the man up and pitch him out. Such was the tension within him that he felt he would burst if he could not discharge it in some violent action. With effort he controlled himself, and Sovar ejected the unruly patron.
Afterward they went back to the large room and sat gloomily, composing plan after plan to save their skins. They tried out various schemes, according to whether Thevatas came, with or without Estrildis, or did not come, or others came to arrest Jorian.
At last came a light tap on the door and Kerin's low voice: "Here they are!"
Jorian leaped up, overturning his chair, and threw open the door. Three stood in the door frame: the tall, handsome, youthful Kerin; a small, paunchy man of middle age; and a short woman in a hooded cloak, which fell to her ankles and hid her features.
"Come in!" whispered Jorian. He closed the door behind them and turned.
"Have you it?" said the small man.
"Aye. Is this she?" Jorian pulled back the hood. Estrildis's blond hair and round-featured face came into view. She seemed to stare unseeingly.
"Where is it?" demanded Thevatas. "I must begone, to establish my alibi."
Jorian dumped the contents of the bag out on the bed. He extracted the crown from the soiled clothing and handed it to Thevatas, who turned it over, hefted it, and put it back in its bag.
"Good!" muttered the clerk, turning to go.
"One moment!" said Jorian. "What mean you to do? Melt it down for bullion?"
"Nay; I have grander plans." The little man giggled. "Next time you visit Xylar, you shall find me a man of authority, perchance a member of the Regency Council. Meanwhile, keep your mouths shut, and I'll do likewise. Farewell!"
The clerk scuttled out and was gone. Jorian turned to Estrildis. "Darling!"
She turned her head slowly toward him but seemed unable to focus her eyes.
"What ails you, beloved?" Jorian asked.
She did not reply. Karadur said: "Your woman seems under some spell or drug. Smell her breath!"
Jorian sniffed. "There is something strange here… How can we bring her round?"
Margalit grasped the girl by the shoulders and gave her a slight shake. "My lady! Your Majesty! Estrildis! Know you me not?"
"I have had some experience," said Karadur. "Suffer me to try."
He went to the washstand and dipped a corner of the towel in the water. Then he faced Estrildis and began slapping her cheeks gently with the wet towel, repeating her name.
Jorian untied the drawstring at Estrildis's throat and took off the enveloping cloak. His first impression was that his favorite wife had gained weight in the three years since they had parted. Then he looked more closely.
"Margalit!" he said. 'Tell me honestly. Is she pregnant?"
Margalit stared at the floor. "Aye, she is."
"Did you know of this when the demon bore you off?"
"I had a strong suspicion. She had missed a period."
"When is the child due?"
"Methinks in a month or two."
"I cannot be the father. Who is?"
"I had liefer she told you," said Margalit.
Jorian turned back to Estrildis, who seemed to be coming round. Staring wide-eyed, she looked from one to the other, murmuring: "Where am I?" Then she shrieked: "Margalit! Do I dream?"
"Nay, dear one, it is I," replied Margalit.
"But what has made you so brown, like a nomad of Fedirun? Hast been lying all day in the sun?"
Jorian said: "Estrildis, dear!"
She stared at him in puzzlement. "Are you truly Jorian? And all brown, too?"
Jorian said: "You are at the Fox and Rabbit, in Xylar City. We came to fetch you away. But I see that things have changed."
For a long moment she stared wordlessly. Then she glanced down at her belly. "Oh, Jorian, I am so sorry! I could not help it."
"Who is he?"
"A young man of noble family, attached to the Regency."
"His name?"
"I—I won't tell. You would slay him, and I I-I-love him." She began to weep.
Jorian picked up the chair he had upset and sat down in it, burying his face in his hands. Then he said: "Sit down, the rest of you. We must think what to do."
Karadur said: "It is a shame we let that clerk make off with the crown ere we had looked into this matter."
"Spilt milk," said Jorian. "He'll be back at the palace by now, not to be dug out save by a siege. But he'd better not meet me on a dark night. Estrildis, did you wish to wed this other wight?"
"Aye; but the Regency would never dissolve my marriage to you whilst they had hope of luring you back to cut off your head."
Margalit asked: "Jorian, if you knew the father, would you kill him?"
Jorian heaved a deep sigh. "That was the first thought that entered my mind. But then…"
"And the second?"
"Then reason took hold. If I slew him, what should I have but a wife mourning her slain lover and rearing an infant not mine? I thought this would be the most loving reunion of history, but as things be… Why did you not tell me ere this?"
Margalit spread her hands. "I could not foresee the outcome."
"How mean you?"
"Well, you might have died, or Estrildis might have died, or young Sir—the youth in question might have died. Then what good would it have done to tell you, save to make you unhappier than you need be? Besides, my first loyalty belonged to her. I did drop a hint or two."
"So you did. Did they companion often, those twain?"
"During the past year, he came to visit daily. After a while she asked me to leave them in privacy during these visits."
Jorian turned to Estrildis. "My dear, what has this young man that so turned your head?"
"Oh, he is handsome and brave and gallant, like a knight from feudal times. And he comes of noble family."
"You mean, like a knight as described in romances. We still have knights in Othomae. Some are not bad fellows; but others are mere bullies and lechers, who'll cut a commoner down over a fancied slight. And I am homely and hardworking and practical, and my forebears, like yours, were farmers and tradesmen. But tell me why, when Thevatas brought you hither, you acted drugged?"
"Because I had been. That rascal drugged me."
"How?"
"This afternoon he came, saying he could smuggle me out of the palace so I could rejoin my husband. But I refused. Much as I esteem you, Jorian, my heart belongs to—to the other."
"What then?"
"Thevatas went away. After supper he came back, saying he had obtained a pot of rare tea from the Kuromon Empire. He carried the pot wrapped in a towel to keep it warm and invited me to join him. I thought it tasted strange, and the next thing I knew, I was in such a daze that I knew not what I did. I remember Thevatas's wrapping me in that peasantly cloak and guiding me out, telling the guards I was a light leman of his."
Kerin said: "That explains what Thevatas was doing at the apothecary's."
Jorian sat silently as the others watched. Their expressions mingled curiosity, expectancy, and a trace of fear. At last he said:
"I see no way out of this tangle but to cut our losses and run. Kerin can take Estrildis back to the palace gate and leave her there. She can make up her own taradiddle of having walked out by a ruse, to wander the city unescor—"
A sharp knock interrupted. Jorian picked up his scabbarded sword from where it leaned in a corner, drew the blade, and faced the door, muttering: