"And are they as I a.s.sumed?"

Marietta made no eye contact with him this time, in fact she seemed to stand

more rigidly apart from him. "Your Highness-" She stepped forward and whispered, "Catriona, really, don't you-""Yes or no?" The imperious tone left no room for equivocation.

Marietta regained her composure. "Yes. They are what you a.s.sumed."

The queen showed no visible response to the news, but her voice was very tight when she responded. "Thank you, Marietta. Tell Tibbus I appreciate his swiftness." She paused to clear her throat. "Please leave us now."

Archer thought her a.s.sistant was going to argue, but she merely tightened her mouth and nodded, then left quietly through the door they'd entered yesterday.

"Mr. Archer, I must have more information from you."

He faced her squarely. "I have told you all I can."

"Perhaps and perhaps not. I would like to speak with Baleweg."

"As I said yesterday, he's not comfortable at court. It would draw undue attention to him and that wouldn't be wise for Talia, or for you."

The queen considered this, then said, "I would ask something else of you, then."

"What would that be?"

"I want more information on the Dark One. To better help me understand just how powerful Chamberlain's sway might be. I need to know how far his

a.s.sistance with Chamberlain reaches. I feel it likely extends beyond attempting to thwart our mission to return the healer to court."

Archer agreed she had a point, but said nothing.

"I understand the wisdom of keeping the Old One at a distance from this court, but in lieu of that, I would like you to go to him and request his help in this matter. Surely he knows more about his counterpart than he's revealed thus far."

"Why not do something about Chamberlain now? Remove him from

parliament, strip him of his t.i.tle and power."

"With or without the Dark One's a.s.sistance, Chamberlain is a danger to me.

As I said before, I do not have the proof I require for a swift judgment in parliament. There would be severe political repercussions if I failed, and Chamberlain has a large enough following as it is."

"Loyalty that comes under penalty of threat-"

"-is still loyalty," the queen rejoined. "I will reward the Old One's a.s.sistance in whatever manner he wishes.""It's been my experience that Baleweg is not motivated by reward.""Ah, yes. His loyalty is to our departed royal healer." She paused a long moment, as if deliberating, then abruptly said, "As this has been a day for revelations, there is another matter I must discuss with you. Something that has nagged at me since meeting Miss Trahaern yesterday. It regards a story told so long ago I'm sure it's more myth than fact, but at the risk of appearing ridiculous, I ask anyway." She eyed him steadily. "I have no real understanding of what powers the Old One and the Dark One have mastered, but the myth stands that they can transcend time and move from place to place by the sheer power of their minds." She focused on him directly. "Do you

know anything about that?"

For several moments Archer debated what to reveal but realized that there was no point in skirting the truth any longer. "I know that their powers are great.

And yes, the manipulation of time is among their achievements. I don't know how they do it, or all the rules of nature that allow it to happen. But it does."

"d.a.m.n." Her quiet vehemence surprised him. "How stupidly arrogant and

blind I have been." She suddenly gripped her head and it was clear she was in an extreme amount of pain. Archer went to step forward, but she stopped him immediately. "Come no closer." She took a moment to manage the pain, but Archer remained concerned. He understood her illness to be the sort that ravaged the body from the inside, not contagious in anyway. Maybe she simply couldn't stand the fact that she must appear so weak in front of another.

That he could understand.

"Should I call for Marietta?"

She shook her head. With her eyes still squeezed shut, she asked, "Is that where you found her? In another time?"

Archer saw no reason to hedge any longer. "Yes."

She opened her eyes, her expression severe, but the resentment was aimed at

herself. "My father was certain Eleri had managed to leave this time. No one believed him, no one. Even after he married and I was born, he persisted in his belief. As I grew older, I joined those who thought my father was merely clinging to false hopes. I pitied him his weakness and thought him a fool."

She rubbed again at her head.Archer hated feeling so helpless in the face of her obvious suffering. She was worsening by the moment. "You should let Talia see you. Maybe she learned something from her mother's room today-"

The queen lifted her hand. "That will not come to pa.s.s."

She sounded so certain, so final. He wasn't the type who gave up and he knew all about fighting for his life. He'd always thought of the queen the same way.

"How can you be so certain? Why did you have me track her down in the first place?"

She looked sharply at him. "Call it the last, desperate act of a dying woman. I

had no other hope, nothing to lose. Frankly, I never thought you'd find her mother and of course I had no idea there was a daughter." She stopped again, her attention shifting, as if she were grappling with some other, insurmountable situation. "I still can't believe it," she said, almost under her breath. "I should have believed him. Perhaps if we'd had more faith in him, he'd have had the support necessary to find her sooner," she said, her voice filled with quiet despair. "My mother was so bitter... so bitter. And I let that bitterness color my perception of-" She broke off and dipped her head. "If only I'd trusted him, understood more clearly what I know now. Things could have been so different."

Archer had never paid any real attention to the royal family. Everyone had known that Gynan and his daughter were somewhat reserved around each other, but he thought that all royals were naturally stiff and formal. "You do have faith in him," he said. "Maybe it just took being that desperate to realize it. Otherwise you would have never considered hiring me, to try again when everyone else except your father had accepted failure."

She looked to him, surprised.

"I don't claim to know anything about you, or him. But I imagine he understood your skepticism," Archer continued. "And yet I suspect he would be fiercely proud of you. Everything you've done for your kingdom, your people, would be considered an honor to him." Archer knew he'd far

overstepped his bounds. But right now he wasn't talking to her as his queen, but as someone struggling with issues of life and death, love and hate. Those he understood well.

"I wouldn't have expected such insight into the heart from you," she said, finally looking at him. "You speak as if it comes from experience. Yet I know your past to be anything but heartwarming."

Archer recalled her allusion to his past on their first meeting. His gaze

narrowed. "What do you know of that?"

"I prefer to know as much as possible about those I hire. Good business practice." A very slight smile curved her lips. "If it's any consolation, it took some digging." Her mouth smoothed and he could see her struggle against the pain. "So if your insight didn't come from your past, perhaps there is someone new you learned such wisdom from."

Archer thought of his heart and immediately pictured Talia. "Perhaps there is."

Her gaze narrowed then and he was pleased to see a certain sharpness return, even if he was the focus of it. "Talia?"

He saw no reason to deny it. After all, she knew better than anyone where

they'd spent the night. "Yes."

"I must admit I am surprised once again. I hadn't placed such importance on your liaison. You haven't known each other long." Her mouth twisted into a dry smile. "But then I should be used to the suddenness of love." The smile

vanished, a frown suddenly replacing it as if another thought had just occurred to her. "You have plans, then?"

He was surprised by the question and her apparent disapproval of the

possibility. Odd that she didn't mind him having wild s.e.x with Talia in her own castle, but was unhappy thinking it might be more than that. However,

now was not the time for arguing about his worthiness or lack thereof.

Especially given his answer. "There are no plans. Talia's only commitment when she came here was to help you and your unborn child. It remains that way."

"How very mature, your love for her. I don't think I could be quite so generous." Her gaze drifted to her stomach and she covered it almost protectively with her hands.

Archer realized how distinctly different she was now in contrast to the day she'd hired him. It was clear now that this baby meant a great deal more to her than insurance that the House of Dalwyn would continue their rule.

"Surely if she's come this far, you should let her try. You said yourself you

had nothing to lose."

The queen didn't look at him. She just kept rubbing her hands over her stomach.

Archer felt something primal shift within him as he watched her stroke her unborn child. He had always valued the preciousness of life, or he wouldn't have fought so hard to keep his intact. But this touched him in some deeper place. The vulnerability of the child within her called to a part of him he'd thought long buried. And despite the fact that he better than anyone knew that not everyone shared the value he placed on it, he couldn't look at the queen's face at this moment and not believe that she felt the same way.

"Please," he said as gently as he knew how. "Let me get Talia. Let her try."