"Son, I hope you see now that I do understand. I know what lies the Sa'kage tells, and I know what it can cost to get out. The G.o.d was gracious to me. He didn't make me pay all that I owed, but maybe I had to be willing to pay the full price. That's how repentance is different from regret. I had been sorry about how slavery turned out, but I wasn't willing to take responsibility for it. Once I was, the G.o.d could work in me."

"But sir, how are you still alive? I mean, you didn't just leave, you destroyed a business that earned them millions!"

Count Drake smiled. "G.o.d, Kylar. The G.o.d and Durzo. Durzo likes me. He thinks I'm a fool, but he likes me. He's protected me. He's not a man to cross lightly."

Thanks for the reminder.

"The point is, Kylar, if you want to turn away from what you do, you can. You might miss your work. I imagine that you're excellent, and there is a joy in excellence. You can't pay for all you've done. But you aren't beyond redemption. There's always a way out. And if you're willing to make the sacrifice, the G.o.d will give you the chance to save something priceless. But I'm here to tell you, miracles do happen. Like this one," he pointed out the window and shook his head, incredulous. "My daughter, marrying a man as good as Logan. May the G.o.d be with them." sacrifice, the G.o.d will give you the chance to save something priceless. But I'm here to tell you, miracles do happen. Like this one," he pointed out the window and shook his head, incredulous. "My daughter, marrying a man as good as Logan. May the G.o.d be with them."

Kylar was blinking through tears, so he almost missed the count leaning forward further, looking toward the front gate. His eyes cleared as soon as he saw the soldiers push past the old porter. Kylar was on his feet in a moment, but the soldiers didn't come to the front door. They stopped when they reached Logan and Serah, and the count opened the window to hear the captain as he unrolled a scroll.

"Duke Logan Gyre, you are hereby under arrest for high treason in the murder of Prince Aleine Gunder."

46

Count Drake was out the door in an instant. Kylar hesitated at the very place he'd run into Logan ten years ago and started their friendship with a fistfight. He shouldn't go out. There was no time to think how much the guards knew, but if they thought Logan had been involved in the prince's death, who knew what else they thought? The king must be totally paranoid. Whatever was happening, it was never a good idea to bring yourself to the guards' attention.

But seeing the bewilderment on Logan's face dug into Kylar. He was just standing there as the smaller men disarmed him. He looked like a dog you'd kicked for no reason, eyes wide. Cursing himself for his stupidity, Kylar followed Count Drake.

"I demand an explanation," Count Drake said. Despite his limp, he somehow moved with authority. All eyes turned to him.

"We're, we're making an arrest, sir. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you," the captain said. He was a thick little man with yellow skin and almond eyes, but it seemed to take all of his determination just to stand before the count and not be blown away.

"You're attempting to arrest a duke, and you don't have the authority to do that, Captain Arturian. By the third amendment to the common law in the eighth year of the reign of King Hurol II, the arrest of dukes of the realm must be justified by habeas corpus, two witnesses, and a motive. Incarceration requires two of those three." the eighth year of the reign of King Hurol II, the arrest of dukes of the realm must be justified by habeas corpus, two witnesses, and a motive. Incarceration requires two of those three."

Captain Arturian swallowed and seemed to be holding his spine straight only by an act of will. "We, um, habeas corpus is holding the corpse? So I have to bring two witnesses or provide motive before you'll let me arrest the duke?"

"If you have the corpse," Count Drake said.

The man nodded. "We, uh, we do, sir. The prince's body was found last night at the Jadwin estate, and the motive is a matter of... uh. It doesn't bear speaking, sir."

"If you attempt to arrest Duke Gyre at my home outside the provisions of the law, as a n.o.ble of the land, I have the right and the obligation to protect him with the force of arms."

"We'd slaughter you!" one of the guards said, laughing.

"And if you did, you'd touch off civil war. Is that what you want?" Count Drake asked. The man who'd spoken fell silent, and Vin Arturian went gray. "Either produce a motive that would lead a man of known moral excellence like Duke Gyre to kill one of his best friends, or begone."

"Milord," Captain Arturian said, his eyes downcast. "Forgive me. The motive was jealousy."

For some reason, Kylar's eyes moved to Serah. She still looked stricken by the news, but as the captain grew more awkward, she seemed to shrink into herself, as if she knew what he was going to say next.

"Duke Gyre found out that the prince was having... s.e.xual relations with your daughter."

"That's ludicrous!" Logan said. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. For G.o.dsake, she hasn't even made love with me! Her fiance! Aleine gets around, but he would never-"

Logan looked at Serah and never finished the sentence. "Serah, you... you didn't. Tell me you didn't." It was as if his soul had been stripped naked and all the darts in the world sank into it at once.

Serah keened, a sound of such woe it tore the heart, but none of the men moved. She ran away, back into the house, but they stood transfixed in Logan's pain.

Logan turned to the count. "You knew?"

Rimbold Drake shook his head. "I didn't know who, but she said she'd told you. That all was forgiven."

Logan looked at Kylar.

"The same," Kylar said quietly.

Logan took it like another dart. He struggled for breath. "Captain," he said. "I'll go with you."

The soldier who'd spoken before moved forward at the captain's signal and started putting the manacles on Logan's hands. "d.a.m.n, boy," he said quietly, obviously only for Logan's ears, but in the stillness of the yard his words were clearly audible. "You got f.u.c.ked without even getting f.u.c.ked first."

It was only the second time Kylar had seen Logan lose his temper, but the last time, he'd been a boy and he hadn't been nearly as powerful as he was now. Maybe a wetboy would have noticed the muscles tensing in Logan's shoulders and arm. Maybe a wetboy would have had the reflexes to dodge, but the guard didn't stand a chance. Logan ripped his hand away before the second manacle clicked shut and hit the guard in the face. Kylar didn't think he'd ever seen anyone hit so hard. Master Blint, with his Talent-strengthened muscles, could probably hit that hard, but he wouldn't have the ma.s.s behind the blow that Logan did.

The guard flew backward. Literally. His feet left the ground and he knocked over the two men behind him.

Kylar's Ceuran blade was in his hand before the guards. .h.i.t the ground, but before he could wade into battle, he felt the count's fingers dig into his arms.

"No!" the count said.

Guards piled onto Logan, who roared.

"No," the count said. "It is better..." his face was as pained as Logan's, torn between sorrow and conviction. "It is better to suffer evil than to do evil. You will not kill innocent men in my house."

Logan didn't put up a fight. The men took him down to the ground, put the manacles on him behind his back, put a second set on his legs, and finally stood him up.

"Did the count say your name is Kylar? Kylar Stern?" Captain Arturian asked.

Kylar nodded.

"The crown charges you with treason, membership in the Sa'kage, accepting payment for murder, and the murder of Prince Aleine Gunder. We have a witness, corpse, and motive, Count Drake. Men, arrest him."

The captain might have been sympathetic, but he wasn't a fool. Kylar had been so caught up in what was happening to Logan that he hadn't noticed the men circle behind him. At the captain's word, he felt two men take hold of his arms.

He swung his arms forward, only hoping to throw the men off balance so he could fall backward between them. But once again his Talent was there like a coiled viper, and he was suddenly stronger than he'd ever been. The men flew forward and crunched together, meeting along the blade of Kylar's sword. If he'd turned the blade, he could have gutted either of them, even through their boiled leather gambesons. Instead, he sheathed the sword-how had he done it that fast?-he was still falling backward from throwing the guards harder than he intended, and the sword was already sheathed. like a coiled viper, and he was suddenly stronger than he'd ever been. The men flew forward and crunched together, meeting along the blade of Kylar's sword. If he'd turned the blade, he could have gutted either of them, even through their boiled leather gambesons. Instead, he sheathed the sword-how had he done it that fast?-he was still falling backward from throwing the guards harder than he intended, and the sword was already sheathed.

Turning his fall into a back handspring was child's play. Kylar turned and ran toward a wall on one side of the count's small garden. He jumped to grab the lip of the twelve-foot-high wall, and found the wall approaching instead at the level of his knees. It sent him over the wall in a vicious spin, and only by rolling into a ball and some significant luck was he able to land on the other side without killing himself.

He stood and let the Talent go. There were cries coming from within the walls, but they'd never catch him. Kylar was a wetboy now in truth. He wondered what Blint would say. Kylar had achieved his lifelong dream, and he couldn't have been more miserable.

"How was it?" Agon asked Captain Arturian, as they walked through the halls of the castle toward the Maw.

"It was... awful. Absolutely awful, sir. I'd say it ranks with the worst things I've ever done."

"Regrets, captain? They say he killed one of your men."

"If I may be blunt, he rid me of a fool that I couldn't kick out because the man's sister is a baroness. The idiot had it coming. I know it's not my place to say, lord general, but you didn't see Logan's face. He's not guilty. I'd swear it."

"I know. I know, and I'm going to do everything I can to save him." They pa.s.sed the guards who held the underground gate that separated the tunnels beneath the castle from those of the Maw. The n.o.bles' cells were on the first level. They were small, but in relative terms, luxurious. Agon had Elene placed in one of these cells, though her status didn't afford it. He couldn't bear to have her put any lower, and if the king asked, he'd say that he wanted her kept close for further questioning.

Agon stopped outside Logan's cell. "Vin," he said. "Does he know about his family yet?"

The squat man shook his head. "I'd already lost one man, sir. I didn't know what he would do if we told him."

"Fair enough. Thank you." It wasn't the dismissal Agon would have given to one of his subordinates, but though the lord general's rank was the second only to the king's, the captain of the king's guards wasn't technically under Agon's command. Fortunately, though they weren't friends, they were on good enough terms that Captain Arturian took the cue and excused himself. second only to the king's, the captain of the king's guards wasn't technically under Agon's command. Fortunately, though they weren't friends, they were on good enough terms that Captain Arturian took the cue and excused himself.

It wasn't going to be fun to tell a man who'd been jailed for a murder he didn't commit that his family had been slaughtered, but it was Agon's duty. He always did his duty.

Before he unlocked the door, Agon knocked as if he were coming for a visit. As if they were anywhere else besides the Maw. There was no response.

He opened the door. The n.o.bles' cells were ten feet square, all rock polished smooth to prevent suicides. Each had a bare rock bench that served as a bed, and fresh straw was brought in every week. It was luxury only compared to the rest of the Maw, and even with fresh straw, nothing could erase the rotten-egg stench or the ripe tang of ma.s.sed humanity in an enclosed s.p.a.ce that wafted up from the rest of the cells. Logan looked oblivious. He looked like h.e.l.l. Tears streamed down his bruised face. He looked up when Agon came in, but his eyes took a long time to focus. He looked lost, his big shoulders slouched, big hands open on his lap, hair askew. He wasn't alone. The queen was seated beside him, holding one of those limply open hands as one would hold a child's.

Bless the woman. She'd come to tell him herself.

King Aleine IX had totally missed with Nalia Wesseros. Nalia could have been one of his greatest allies. What a queen she would have made for Regnus Gyre. What a queen she would have made for Regnus Gyre. Instead, she'd accepted being pushed to the fringes of Aleine's Cenaria, even welcomed it, and had done everything she could to mother her four-now three-children. Agon had long suspected that the children were all that kept her alive. Instead, she'd accepted being pushed to the fringes of Aleine's Cenaria, even welcomed it, and had done everything she could to mother her four-now three-children. Agon had long suspected that the children were all that kept her alive.

"My queen. My lord," Agon said.

"Pardon me if I don't rise," Logan said.

"None necessary."

"They say that my father is dead, too. Or they say that he did it. That the king sent men to arrest him for killing my mother. What happened?" Logan asked.

"As far as I know, your father is alive. He arrived with only one or two men. He was attacked outside the city. Someone was trying to wipe out all the Gyres but you. Men were sent to arrest him, but not on the king's orders. I haven't found out who did give the orders. Not yet. Those men either fled the city, or they joined your father. I don't know which."

"Lord General, I didn't kill Aleine," Logan said. "He was my friend. Even if he did... what they say he did."

"We know. We-the queen and I-don't think you did it."

"He talked to me last night, you know? He knew I was going to propose to Serah. He tried to persuade me not to. He reminded me of the rumors about Serah getting around. He had this crazy idea that I marry Jenine. I thought it was strange, but that he was being magnanimous. It wasn't magnanimity. It was guilt. d.a.m.n him!"

Logan looked at the queen. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't talk this way, but I'm so, so angry-and I feel so guilty for it at the same time! I would have forgiven them, Your Majesty. I would have. G.o.ds! Why didn't they just tell me?"

They cried silently together and the queen just squeezed Logan's hand.

After a minute, Logan looked up at Agon. "They say Kylar did it. At Count Drake's, I saw him move. He was fast. Too fast. But are you sure?"

G.o.ds. The boy had just been betrayed by his fiancee and the prince. Now he wanted to know if he'd been betrayed by his best friend as well. Agon didn't know if he would survive it-and he needed him to survive it-but Logan deserved the truth. It wasn't in Agon to give him less. "I'm sure Kylar was upstairs when Aleine died. I'm sure he's a wetboy. I doubt his real name is Kylar or that he's a Stern, but I won't know that for two weeks. We've sent a rider to their estates but it's a week's ride each way. I can't put everything together in any other way, son, and I've been trying." The boy had just been betrayed by his fiancee and the prince. Now he wanted to know if he'd been betrayed by his best friend as well. Agon didn't know if he would survive it-and he needed him to survive it-but Logan deserved the truth. It wasn't in Agon to give him less. "I'm sure Kylar was upstairs when Aleine died. I'm sure he's a wetboy. I doubt his real name is Kylar or that he's a Stern, but I won't know that for two weeks. We've sent a rider to their estates but it's a week's ride each way. I can't put everything together in any other way, son, and I've been trying."

"Your being here is a kindness," Logan said. His back straightened. "And I don't want to take that away from you, but I'm guessing that you want something from me or you wouldn't both have come here. Not now. Not so soon."

The queen and the lord general looked at each other. Something pa.s.sed between them, and the general said, "You're right, Logan. The truth is, the kingdom's in peril. I wish that we could be sensitive to your grief. You know that your father is one of my dearest friends and what happened to your house is more than a tragedy. It's a monstrosity.

"But we have to ask you to put your feelings aside, for a time. We don't know how bad the threat is, but I believe that it's dire. When the king decided to get rid of your father one way or another ten years ago, it was I who suggested Screaming Winds. I knew that your father would make the garrison there a real stronghold, and I believed that Khalidor would invade sooner or later. Perhaps because he did such an excellent job, that invasion hasn't come. Most people want to believe that it won't come, because they know that if the might of Khalidor marches, we don't stand a chance.

"I believe that the prince, your mother, and your servants were the first casualties in a war. A new kind of war that uses a.s.sa.s.sins instead of armies to gain its will. We can stop armies, we've been preparing for that. a.s.sa.s.sins are a different story."

"Begging the queen's pardon," Logan said, "why should I care if the king's head rolls? He's been no friend to the Gyres."

"A fair question," the queen said.

"On a personal level," Agon said, "you should care because if the king dies, you'll either stay in prison forever or you'll be killed. On a national level, if the king dies, there will be civil war. Troops will be called back to the respective houses to which they are loyal, and Khalidor's armies will pour over our borders. Even united, our country couldn't stand against Khalidor's might. Our only strategy has been to make it so costly to take us that the price would be too high. With our armies scattered, we'd be defenseless."

"So you think an a.s.sa.s.sination attempt is coming?" Logan asked.

"Within days. But Khalidor's plans rest on certain a.s.sumptions, Logan. So far, they've been valid a.s.sumptions. They knew that you would be arrested. No doubt they've already planted rumors to stir up the people against the king, suggesting that everything that's happened has been his fault or his plan. We have to do something beyond anything Khalidor has considered."

"And what's that?"

The queen said, "Khalidor has hired Hu Gibbet, perhaps the best wetboy in the city. If he wants to kill Aleine, he probably can. The best way to save the king's life is if the taking of it won't gain Khalidor anything. Maybe it's the only way. We have to a.s.sure the line of succession. In a time of peace or if she were older, Jenine might take the throne, or I might, but now.... That simply wouldn't be possible. Some of the houses would refuse to follow a woman into war."

"Well, what are you supposed to do? Have another son?"

Agon looked queasy. "Sort of."

The queen said, "We need someone who's popular enough to win the people's trust back to the throne, and whose claim to the crown would be beyond dispute."

Logan looked at him and sudden understanding washed over him. Emotions warred on his face. "You don't know what you're asking."

"Yes, I do," the queen said quietly. "Logan, has your father ever spoken of me?"

"Only in terms of highest praise, Your Majesty."

"Your father and I were betrothed, Logan. For ten years, we knew we were going to marry. We fell in love. We named the children we would someday have. The king was dying without heirs, and our marriage was to have secured the throne for House Gyre. Then my father betrayed Regnus and broke his word to your grandfather by marrying me in secret to Aleine Gunder. There were only enough witnesses present to ensure the legality of the marriage. I wasn't even allowed to send a message to your father beforehand. The king lived for another fourteen years, long enough for me to have children, long enough for your father to marry and have you, long enough for your father to take control of House Gyre. Long enough for House Gunder to fabricate some ridiculous history that supposedly gave Aleine the right to be called Aleine IX, as if he were a legitimate king. When King Davin died, your father could have gone to war to take the throne. He could have won it, but he didn't, for my sake and the sake of my children. Gunder. There were only enough witnesses present to ensure the legality of the marriage. I wasn't even allowed to send a message to your father beforehand. The king lived for another fourteen years, long enough for me to have children, long enough for your father to marry and have you, long enough for your father to take control of House Gyre. Long enough for House Gunder to fabricate some ridiculous history that supposedly gave Aleine the right to be called Aleine IX, as if he were a legitimate king. When King Davin died, your father could have gone to war to take the throne. He could have won it, but he didn't, for my sake and the sake of my children.

"I was sold into a marriage I despised, Logan, to a man I never loved, and for whom I could never make love grow in my breast. I know what it is to be sold for politics. I even know my literal price in the lands and t.i.tles my family secured after the king's death." There was iron in her as she spoke, clearly, calmly, every inch the queen. "I still love your father, Logan. We've barely spoken in twenty-five years. He had to marry a Graesin after I married a Gunder, just to keep the House Gyre from becoming isolated and wiped out like the Makells were. He accepted a marriage that I've heard had little love in it. So if you think it pleases me to do to you what was done to me, you couldn't be more mistaken."

Logan's father had never spoken of such things, but his mother-it was suddenly so clear-his mother had been reminding Regnus of it for years. Her sidelong comments. Her constant suspicions that Regnus had other lovers, though Logan knew he hadn't. His father's angry remark once that there was only one woman she had any right to envy.

"I have hope that your marriage will not be the agony mine has been," Queen Gunder said.

Logan put his face in his hands. "Your Majesty, words can't express the... fury I feel toward Serah. But I gave her father my word that I would marry her."

"The king can legally dissolve such bonds for the good of the realm," Agon said.

"The king can't dissolve my honor!" Logan said. "I swore! And dammit! I still love Serah. I still still love her. It's all playacting, isn't it? What's the plan, that the king adopt me? That I be his heir until you bear him another son?" love her. It's all playacting, isn't it? What's the plan, that the king adopt me? That I be his heir until you bear him another son?"

"This playacting playacting gets us through a crisis, son," Agon said. "And it keeps your family from being destroyed. You have to stay alive if you want that to happen. It also happens to save you from disgrace and prison, even if we're wrong about the plot." gets us through a crisis, son," Agon said. "And it keeps your family from being destroyed. You have to stay alive if you want that to happen. It also happens to save you from disgrace and prison, even if we're wrong about the plot."

"Logan," the queen said, her voice again quiet. "It isn't playacting, but we've convinced the king that it is. He is a despicable man, and if it's up to him, he will never let Regnus's son take the throne." we've convinced the king that it is. He is a despicable man, and if it's up to him, he will never let Regnus's son take the throne."