"Bah! Don't call me that! We don't waste breath on t.i.tles around here. I suppose it's too much to hope Lexie sent these two lovelies to keep me entertained?"

"Far too much," Reithan agreed. "This is Tia Veran, and this is Lexie's daughter, Melliandra."

"And the two on the boat? Who are they?"

"Misha Latanya and Master Helgin, his physician."

"What do you call this, then?" Oscon scowled. "The next generation of trouble?"

"We need your help, Oscon. Antonov has learned the route through the delta. Mil will be invaded any day now."

"Then I can understand why Lexie sent Mellie here," Oscon said with a frown. "But what are you doing with the Crippled Prince in your company?"

"It seems the Crippled Prince isn't as crippled as everyone thinks, your... sir," Tia told him. "He's apoppy-dust addict. Ella Geon has been trying to destroy him the same way she destroyed my father."

Oscon turned his attention to Tia and she received a nasty shock. His eyes were steel-gray, the same shade as Dirk's. She had forgotten Oscon of Damita was Dirk's maternal grandfather. She wondered what his reaction would be when he learned what his grandson had been up to.

Oscon's eyes were much easier to read than Dirk's. They blazed with fury at her words. "Then why bring him here? Why don't you let her destroy him, foolish girl? That's one less Latanya to deal with."

"We've done a deal with Misha to free Dhevyn once he inherits his father's throne," Reithan explained. "But he's no good to us dead or addicted to poppy-dust. Lexie was hoping you'd shelter him here while he recovers."

"Was she? Well, you're here now," he grumbled, "so you might as well stay. But I don't want to hear you. Or see you. Or have you get in my way. I'm far too busy with my work to be running after you. Franco will see you settled and maybe, if I'm feeling generous, I'll see you at dinner."

And with that, Prince Oscon of Damita stormed out of the room and left them staring after him, a little bemused by his brusque and ungracious welcome.

"The prince is writing a history of Ranadon," Franco explained later as he showed them to their rooms. "He's been working on it for years now. Not that it will ever get published while that worm Baston sits on his father's throne."

"Why not?" Mellie asked curiously.

"Prince Oscon's history differs somewhat from the official line, I imagine," Misha suggested, leaning heavily on his crutch. The walk up the sandy path to the house had exhausted him. He was pale and sweating heavily.

Franco snorted with bitter amus.e.m.e.nt. "Differs somewhat? It's outright treason, what he's writing!

But he doesn't care. His study is at the end of the hall on the other side of the house, so if you're quiet, you shouldn't disturb him too much. The girls can share this room. The three of you will have to bunk in together across the hall. Can't do better than that, I'm afraid. This isn't an inn, you know."

"It'll be fine," Reithan a.s.sured him. "Anyway, I'm not staying. I have to get back to Mil."

Tia hadn't known that. "You're just going to leave us here?"

"You'll be safe enough." He turned to Franco, without giving her a chance to argue about it. "We've no wish to put you out, Franco, or disturb Oscon if we can help it. Mellie and Tia will be more than happy to help you if you need it, and I'm sure Master Helgin will be able to ease the prince's ailments if he's required."

"Then the first thing they can do is make the beds up," Franco said. "I'll go find some linen and tell the cook she'd better put some more water in the stew to make it go around." He glanced at the old physician and shrugged. "I'm sure you're greatly skilled, Master Helgin, but what ails Oscon of Damita can't be fixed by herbs and poultices. He's lost his country, his crown and both his daughters to the Lion of Senet, and his only son is a treacherous swine who'd sell his own soul for the price of a loaf of bread. Unless you have some magic potion in your bag to fix a broken heart, there is nothing you can do for him."

Tia walked down the beach with Reithan just before first sunrise to see him off. He carried a wicker cage full of plump gray pigeons that Franco had given him. The birds were the only way Lexie orReithan would be able to get a message to them and let them know when it was safe to leave.

"Don't let Mellie annoy Oscon too much," he instructed as they walked toward the water.

"I won't."

"And keep an eye on Misha. I'm sure he means what he says now, but he might have a change of heart once he starts going through withdrawal."

"I will."

"And try to relax a little."

She glared at him. "Was that a joke? You're abandoning me here with a child, a cripple and an old man, Reithan. How am I supposed to relax?"

"Try anyway, Tia."

"I wish I was going with you."

"Be thankful you're not. I just hope I get back to Mil in time."

"Don't get yourself killed or anything stupid like that, will you?"

He smiled and tossed the cage up onto the Wanderer's deck. "I'll try not to."

Impulsively, Tia hugged him. "Be careful. You're the closest thing I have to a big brother, Reithan.

I'll never speak to you again if you die on me."

Reithan kissed the top of her head, and then waded into the warm shallows to push the Wanderer out into the deeper water of the lagoon. Tia splashed after him and helped him shove the boat free of the sand. As soon as she felt the water pick up the keel she stepped back. Reithan clambered aboard and began to haul in the anchor. He turned and waved as the Wanderer bobbed in the gentle swell, each one taking the small yacht farther from the sh.o.r.e.

She waited until the Wanderer was nothing more than a speck on the red horizon before returning to the house.

Tia found Mellie and Misha in the kitchen with Master Helgin when she returned. They were discussing the best way to tackle weaning Misha from the poppy-dust. He was impatient to get started and resented every grain of dust he was forced to consume in the interim.

"I've been thinking about how to do this," the physician told Misha, as he took the seat beside Mellie at the scrubbed wooden table. "It's going to involve a lot of work. For all of us."

"What do you mean?"

"You need to build up your strength, Misha, not just to fight the poppy-dust, but to reduce the pain and weakness you suffer. Once you start on this road, you'll not be able to turn to poppy-dust to relieve your pain again, not ever."

"I understand."

"You understand my words, perhaps. But I'm not sure you appreciate what they mean," Helgin warned.

"What does he have to do?" Mellie asked.

"Exercise is the first thing. Can you swim, Misha?"

"No.""Then you must learn. You must swim every day. The water will support you and allow you to work your muscles without having to bear weight at the same time. And we must ma.s.sage your muscles daily, particularly the left side, to improve circulation. It will also aid in ridding your body of the toxins that poison it." Helgin turned to Tia. "I will need your help, Tia. I'm neither competent nor strong enough to teach Misha to swim, and my hands are not what they once were. I will need to show you how to give a ma.s.sage properly."

Tia nodded. "I can learn that, I suppose."

"We shall maintain your dose of poppy-dust at its current level for another week or so," he added to Misha, "and then we'll begin to taper it in extremely small quant.i.ties. After that, it's really just a matter of repeating the procedure. Reduce the dose, let your body adjust to it and then reduce it some more."

"How long will it take, do you think?" Misha asked. "Before I'm free of it?"

"Several months at least," Helgin told him. "And that's a.s.suming you suffer no adverse effects once we reduce the dose. This is not something we can rush."

"I will be free of it, Master Helgin."

The old man nodded. "If your head is as strong as your heart, Misha, I've no doubt you will."

Chapter 28.

As Avacas nervously awaited news of the Lord of the Suns, Alenor D'Orlon grew more and more desperate to return home to Kalarada.

The atmosphere in the Avacas palace was unbearable. Paige Halyn was perched on the brink of death, Marqel was now the High Priestess of the Shadowdancers, Misha was a prisoner of the Baenlanders, Kirsh and Dirk were leading an invasion force to Mil, and her lover, Alexin, was fighting by their side against the people he was secretly allied with.

The sheer complexity and danger of it all kept her awake at nights, tossing and turning, second-guessing what would happen next. She was exhausted from trying to find a way to predict the future. Exhausted by trying to think of a way she could protect her nation and herself from the inevitable fallout when the whole thing collapsed in on itself, as she was quite certain it would.

The only bright note in the past weeks had been the arrival of a ship from Kalarada. On it were Alenor's cousin, Jacinta D'Orlon, whom Alenor had sent for to replace Lady Dorra as her lady-in-waiting, a contingent of her guard captained by Tael Gordonov, and, quite unexpectedly, her mother.

Alenor threw herself into Rainan's arms when Lord Ezry announced the former queen into Antonov's presence. The Lion of Senet was obviously displeased by her arrival, but there was little he could do about it, now that she was here.

"Your visit to Avacas is an unexpected pleasure, your highness," Antonov remarked, in a tone implying quite the opposite.

Rainan hugged Alenor tightly for a moment and then looked across the room at Antonov. "I am here for my daughter, Anton, and for no other reason. I should have been summoned the moment she fell ill."

"Alenor has had the best care available," Antonov informed her, a little put out by Rainan's implied criticism. "Everything she needed has been made available to her.""She needed her mother."

Alenor turned to look at Antonov with a wan smile. "You've been so wonderful to me, your highness. And I can't thank you enough for sending for my mother. It must have been difficult for you to do such a selfless thing."

Alenor was quite certain Antonov had done no such thing. But she knew him well enough to know that he went to great pains to portray himself as a considerate and generous man. If he thought Alenor believed he had sent for her mother, he was unlikely to do anything to disabuse her of the notion, which meant he would not send Rainan straight home, or do anything other than treat the deposed queen as an honored guest.

Antonov hesitated for a moment and then smiled. "I was thinking only of you, my dear."

Alenor smiled at him gratefully and then beckoned her cousin forward. "Your highness, this is the Lady Jacinta D'Orlon, the daughter of my late father's brother, Lord Ivan, and the Lady Sofia. She's to be my lady-in-waiting."

Jacinta curtsied a little nervously. Although she was a member of the extended Dhevynian royal family by marriage, that wasn't quite the same as being introduced to the Lion of Senet.

"I shall have to issue a proclamation ordering the lords in my court to restrain themselves," Antonov said gallantly. "Such beauty should not be allowed to roam the halls of my palace unprotected."

"Stop flattering my lady-in-waiting!" Alenor scolded with a laugh. "You'll turn her head, your highness, and I'll never get any work out of her!"

Antonov smiled at Alenor. "It's good to see you smiling and laughing again, Alenor. If your cousin has achieved that remarkable feat simply by arriving in Avacas, then she is already firmly in my favor."

"She's probably exhausted, too," Alenor declared. "May we be excused, your highness, so I can arrange for my mother and my lady to get settled in?"

"Of course you may. Shall we see you at dinner tonight?"

"I'll see how I feel," Alenor promised. "All this excitement has drained me, I fear, but if I'm feeling up to it, we'll be there."

Alenor curtsied and turned to leave, her mother and her new lady-in-waiting following meekly behind her.

As soon as they were alone in Alenor's room, she turned to Jacinta. "What did you think of the Lion of Senet?"

"I think I was very fortunate to have been raised away from court," she replied with a frown. "Is he always so overpowering?"

"No," Alenor a.s.sured her with a smile. "Sometimes, he's worse."

"You should see him when he's angry," Rainan added as she checked the doors to the bedroom and the bathroom to ensure they were alone. "Alenor, what is going on?"

Alenor sank down on to the settee with a sigh. "I hardly know where to begin."

"Let's start with that treacherous little b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Dirk Provin."

"Funny," Alenor remarked, a little hurt. "I thought your first question might be how I was feeling, Mother."

"I'm sorry, darling," Rainan said, instantly remorseful. "It was thoughtless of me not to ask. How areyou doing? You look very pale."

"I've barely left the palace since... it happened."

"And are you fully recovered?" Jacinta asked with concern, taking the seat opposite.

"I'm not sure if recovered is the right word. I'm feeling stronger and the bleeding has finally stopped. But I feel like a part of me is... missing... somehow." She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know how to explain it."

Jacinta leaned forward, took Alenor's hands in hers and gave them a rea.s.suring squeeze. "There'll be other babies for us to spoil rotten."

She nodded, forcing a smile. "I suppose."

"This is obviously upsetting you, Alenor. Perhaps we should discuss Dirk Provin, after all. It might be a little less harrowing for you."

For once, Alenor agreed with her mother. She discovered she really didn't want to talk about the miscarriage. "I'm not sure what to tell you, Mother. He's joined the Shadowdancers, is now the right hand of the High Priestess-which is another saga-and is called Lord of the Shadows. He's with Kirsh at the moment, invading the Baenlands."

"I'd like to meet this Dirk Provin of yours."

"Are you so anxious to involve yourself in the treachery and politics of Avacas, Jacinta?" Rainan asked with a frown.

"Dirk asked me to trust him, Mother," Alenor said. "I don't believe he's doing this to hurt us."

"And, like a fool, you believe him. Stay away from Dirk Provin, Alenor. He will bring us nothing but trouble."

"What do you mean he asked you to trust him?" Jacinta asked, ignoring the queen's disapproval.

Alenor glanced at her mother and realized that to tell Jacinta anything further, she would have to admit to meeting the Baenlanders in Nova.

"Nothing really..." she said, lowering her eyes.

"Tell us about the Lord of the Suns, then," Jacinta asked, taking the hint. "Is it true he's dying?"