He had agents from Yarnarrow far north in Karien, in Fardohnya, even at the Citadel in Medalon. Marla had wanted access to that network and after Luciena's father, Jarvan Mariner, had died, she had set about finding a way to gain it.

She hadn't planned to marry again. Three husbands by the time she was twenty-three had seemed quite enough for one lifetime. But when Elezaar approached Ruxton Tirstone on Marla's behalf, the spice trader quickly realised he had something Marla wanted. He was newly widowed himself, with three children of his own whose futures he had to consider. He had a daughter, Rielle, he wanted to marry well and two sons, Rodja and Adham, who-even with his vast wealth-would never amount to anything other than merchants' sons without the patronage of someone with Marla Wolf-blade's impeccable connections. The common-born spice trader had held out for a wedding with the High Prince's sister and, in the end, Marla had agreed. What he had was too valuable to allow it to fall into the hands of her enemies.

Strange, she reflected, how the most calculated and cold-blooded marriage I've ever entered into has turned into the most amiable. Laran Krakenshield had been a kind but distant husband. Her marriage to Nash Hawksword had been passionate and, for a short while, the happiest time of her life.

But good things rarely last and her second marriage had ultimately proved the most bitter and painful experience of all. As for Jarvan Mariner-Marla's brief marriage to Luciena's father had barely left a mark on her.

But Ruxton was different. Confident and astute, he knew his value to Marla and was unafraid of her influence. He had wealth independent of hers and did not seem intimidated by the power she wielded. And he had benefited enormously from the deal. A royal endorsement for his spices was something one couldn't put a price on.

In keeping with their agreement, Marla had arranged for Rielle to marry Darvad Vintner, the Lord of Dylan Pass and a cousin of the Warlord of Izcomdar. Even that had been extraordinarily easy to arrange. As if Kalianah herself had blessed the couple, they had met at the races in Krakandar last summer and been instantly smitten with each other. A few words in the right ears and the trader's daughter was soon promised to a Warlord's cousin, because she also happened to be the step-niece of the High Prince. Ruxton's sons, Rodja and Adham, would reap a similar benefit from their association with the Wolfblades. They were being raised in Krakandar, stepbrothers of the High Prince's heir and receiving the same education . . .

At least they would be, Marla thought with a frown, if they hadn't so willingly helped Damin, Narvell and Kalan drive one tutor after another from the palace with their pranks.

Still, she decided with a sigh of relative contentment, it has proven a very good arrangement for everyone. Ruxton Tirstone understood Marla's obsession with keeping Hythria safe, just as he understood her obsession with keeping Damin and the twins safe from harm. As a stable economy was as important to his endeavours as it was to his wife's, he aided her where he could, giving her unfettered access to the intelligence his spies gathered across the continent and beyond; intelligence from Karien, Fardohnya, Medalon and Hythria as well as the distant and vast southern continent, the secretive lands of the Denikans on the very edge of the Dregian Ocean. But most importantly, he supported Marla in whatever measures she took when it came to keeping their children safe. They had been married for five years now. Sometimes it felt like a lifetime. Other times as if it had happened only yesterday.

And every time I come home to Krakandar, my children have grown taller. Older. More distant.

"You'll see them soon," Ruxton remarked, glancing across at Marla, as if he knew what she'd been thinking.

"They always seem to have grown so big," Marla sighed, as the carriage rattled on past the lush lowlands of Krakandar. She could tell they were almost home. The deep peaty brown soil of the south had given way to the fertile red soil of the north. The cattle were a deep red-brown, with dopey white faces and haunches fat with juicy marbled beef, not the ferocious black and white behemoths they preferred in the southern provinces, with their stringy meat and their tasteless offal. There were sheep more often now, too, as they travelled north, sitting on the lush grass and watching the large retinue trundle by. Their by-products of meat, wool, leather and parchment were staples of Krakandar's prosperity, even more so since Mahkas had adopted the policy several years ago of encouraging breeding from ewes inclined to produce twin lambs.

There was just something about this place, Marla thought. The water here was clearer, the sky bluer and the grass greener. It was probably just her imagination, she realised; a subconscious need to believe that she had done the right thing to leave her children in Krakandar while she stayed in Greenharbour, covering for her brother's incompetence.

"I've missed out on so much of my children's formative years," she remarked, still staring out of the carriage, "leaving them in Krakandar to be raised by Mahkas and Bylinda."

"And they're all still alive because of that decision," Ruxton pointed out sympathetically. He put a finger between the pages to mark his place and closed the book he was reading. "Don't keep beating yourself up over it, Marla."

"Is the danger to the High Prince's heir so extreme that you need to stay parted from your children for so long each year, your highness?" Luciena asked curiously. Three weeks of close confinement in a carriage with Marla and Ruxton had not yet put the girl at ease with her new family.

She still insisted on referring to Marla and Ruxton as "your highness" and "Master Tirstone" and questioned them often on the smallest details about Krakandar.

"The first time they tried to kill him, Damin was only four," Marla explained, without elaborating about who "they" had been. She turned her attention back to the passengers in the carriage. "I won't risk an attack succeeding."

"My father once told me the worst thing about power was that it made people envious, and that once they envied you, avarice was the next dish on the menu."

"Your father was a wise man," Ruxton told Luciena. Then he smiled. "Although for a man who got rich trading on the misfortune of his fellow sea captains, the sentiment was probably a bit tongue in cheek."

Luciena straightened in her seat, visibly offended. "My father was an honest man! He would never get rich trading on other people's misfortune."

"He traded on their ignorance more than their misfortune, probably," Ruxton told her. "Your father acquired much of his shipping fleet by trading on the naivety of the Denikans. Jarvan Mariner's voyages across the Dregian Ocean were quite legendary, in fact. He was one of the few who ever made it to Denika and back and managed to show a profit."

Marla frowned at Ruxton for repeating such nonsense. It was hard enough winning the girl over without Ruxton impugning her beloved father's memory. "Ruxton is only telling you part of it, Luciena.

But it's true your father acquired much of his shipping fleet by backing the promissory notes on other vessels and then calling them in when their owners couldn't pay after a particularly bad season. I don't know that I'd go so far as to call that trading on other people's misfortune. Or their ignorance. It's a fairly sound and common business practice."

"You have the black heart of a true merchant prince, Marla," Ruxton observed with a wink in Luciena's direction. "No wonder Hythria does so well under your guidance."

"It's probably the only reason I put up with you," she responded tartly.

"She really is very fond of me," Ruxton explained to Luciena. "Really."

Luciena smiled warily, unsettled by their bantering. "I'm sure her highness is very fond of you, Master Tirstone," she agreed, glancing out of the window. "Gracious! Is that the city?"

Marla leaned out of the window and looked in the direction they were heading. As they topped the rise, the high granite walls of Krakandar came into view in the distance. Even from this far away, the city was an impressive sight and she smiled with relief at the thought that they were almost home.

"Yes, Luciena, that is Krakandar."

"It's huge."

"You were expecting something smaller, perhaps? Or something more primitive?"

"I don't know really," the girl replied, obviously not sure what she had expected. "Will it take us long to get there?"

"Less than an hour now," Marla predicted, settling back into her seat. "If the lookouts have spotted us, I imagine they're in a panic right about now, getting ready for our arrival."

Luciena turned to look at Marla. "Do you always get a big welcome home, your highness?"

"Always," Marla replied confidently.

Chapter 14.

Where are the children?" Marla asked, as she ascended the palace steps.

Orleon, Krakandar's faithful chief steward, stood alone on the landing of Krakandar Palace.

There wasn't so much as a one-man guard of honour waiting for them.

"I believe they are on an excursion down in the fens, your highness," Orleon explained with a bow. "Good afternoon, Master Tirstone. Welcome back to Krakandar."

"Good afternoon, Orleon," Ruxton replied cheerfully, less bothered than Marla that there was nobody there to greet them. "You're looking well."

"Thank you, sir. I'm feeling quite well, too."

"Excellent! Has there been any correspondence sent on ahead for me?"

The old man nodded. "A messenger came for you yesterday, sir. He's most anxious for your arrival."

"The fens?" Marla demanded, glancing at Ruxton in annoyance. At that moment, Ruxton's messenger could be bringing them news that Fardohnya was invading and she wouldn't have cared.

"What, in the name of all the Primal Gods, are they doing in the fens?"

"Some sort of educational excursion, I believe, your highness."

"Where is Mahkas?"

"Lord and Lady Damaran are in the city, visiting Lady Damaran's father, your highness. He's been unwell of late. I sent a messenger to advise them of your pending arrival as soon as your retinue was sighted on the highway. I'm sure they'll be back soon."

"And they just went off into the city and let the children go down into the fens unescorted?"

Marla demanded, horrified to think of the danger they might be in. "Where is Almodavar?"

"Captain Almodavar is on a border patrol in Medalon, your highness. But you needn't fear.

Captain Harlen escorted the children on their excursion. And I don't think they were planning anything too strenuous. Lady Kalan and Lady Leila went with the boys. I can have someone sent down to the fens to fetch them. It won't take-"

"Don't bother, Orleon," Marla cut in with a scowl. "I think I'll fetch them myself." She turned to her husband. "Care to accompany me while I find out what those demon-spawn you and I so optimistically refer to as our children are up to in the fens?"

Ruxton shook his head with a smile. "They're all yours, my dear. I'm a city boy at heart. All those midges and bogs and creepy-crawly things . . . no, I think I'll stay behind, find out what news my messenger brings, and see if my daughter is still speaking to me. Feel free to tan the hides of those boys of mine if they've been causing trouble, though."

"Never fear, I will," she promised, before turning to Luciena. "I'm sorry about this. Orleon will see you settled into the palace. I won't be long."

"Could I come with you, your highness?"

Marla looked at her in surprise. "It's quite a walk."

"I don't mind," Luciena shrugged. "And in truth, after three weeks in that carriage I could do with the exercise."

Marla shrugged. "As you wish." She turned to Orleon again. "If Mahkas returns while I'm gone, tell him where I am. And please make sure Luciena's rooms are ready when we get back. She'll want a bath by then, I'm sure."

"Of course, your highness," Orleon said with a bow, and then he snapped his fingers and several guards hurried across from the guard post on the gate and fell in behind them to accompany the princess and her stepdaughter into the fens.

Krakandar was a walled city, built in three concentric circles, the last and most recent ring having been completed only two years ago. Mahkas had proposed the plan to increase the size of the city not long after he became regent, and the construction had boosted Krakandar's prosperity as well as its aesthetic appearance. The only problem they had encountered during the construction of the outer wall was the area around the underground springs that fed Krakandar and provided the city with its water.

While it was a strategically sound move to enclose the city's water supply within the city walls, the ground around the springs was marshy and boggy and a breeding ground for insects, as well as home to hundreds of thousands of birds who thrived on the abundant food supply. The engineers had proposed numerous solutions about what to do with the area, which began with draining the bog entirely, and ended with one rather elaborate scheme to build a series of elevated aqueducts to carry the water throughout the city. Both solutions would have resulted in the starvation of the water birds and other creatures who called the fens their home, something Marla suspected was such an insult to Voden, the God of Green Life, that it would result in Krakandar being laid to waste.

In the end, they had compromised. Enough of the fens were drained to allow a firm foundation for the enclosing wall. A less elaborate network of aqueducts had been constructed to keep the drained area dry and to channel the water into the city's public wells, and the remaining area had been left in its natural state. It teemed with birdlife and all manner of insects, otters and amphibious creatures. Marla had suggested a series of paths be built through the pools to allow the citizens of Krakandar access to the fens and declared the whole area a water park. She had even had a special brick path constructed down from the palace, so there was a private entrance allowing any guest of the palace access to the fens without going the long way around through the city.

It had all seemed a wonderful notion, until the children discovered how much fun you could have in a place like that. Since the first day she had taken the children down to view the newly completed pathways through the fens, Marla had fretted about one of them falling into and drowning in an unexpectedly deep pond, or being taken by some previously unidentified creature lurking in the depths of a murky pool.

The gate to the fens was open as Marla, Luciena and their small escort approached, flung wide as if someone had opened it in a hurry and not thought to close it. A little concerned, Marla picked up the pace and hurried into the cool depths of the overhanging willows that bordered the fens. She was suddenly feeling ill, as a foreboding premonition washed over her.

Her fears solidified into a sick certainty as she heard shouts in the distance. She broke into a run, leaving Luciena and her escort behind, certain it was Kalan's voice she could hear crying out in desperation. The leaf-carpeted path was silent under her feet as she picked up her skirts and hurried towards the cries of pain, the shouts . . .

Marla rounded a small curve in the path and skidded to a halt, stunned by what she found. The path skirted a muddy bog, veering away to the left. Standing on the edge of the path were the twins, Kalan and Narvell, the two Tirstone boys, Rodja and Adham, and Raek Harlen, the Raider captain assigned to watch over her children. None of them saw her; they were too busy shouting encouragement to another pair of boys involved in a fistfight, right in the middle of the muddy bog.

Panting heavily, Marla took in the scene with disbelief. Luciena and the guards caught up just as Raek turned and then bowed hastily when he realised it was the princess who stood behind him.

"Your highness!"

"Captain Harlen."

"I . . . er . . . we weren't expecting you for another few days."

"That is abundantly clear."

Raek glanced a little guiltily over his shoulder at the boys in the bog. Filtered sunlight streaked the muddy quagmire with bands of light that made it hard to tell one from the other. "They're in no danger, your highness."

"Then would it be too much to ask, Captain Harlen, what those boys are doing?"

"Settling a few differences," the Raider replied, as one muddied combatant threw a wild punch at the other. They were covered in mud from head to toe. Marla couldn't tell them apart.

"What are they fighting about?"

"It's complicated, your highness."

The boy on the left retaliated with a blow that slid straight off his slimy opponent. Marla grimaced as he overbalanced and slipped, landing on the other boy, taking him down with him. They both fell into the mud, which made thick sucking noises as they struggled to regain their footing. It was as if the ground was hungry and didn't want to let go of this unexpected bounty.

"Try me, Raek. I'm sure I can handle it."

The tall Raider smiled. "I believe it started when young Leila refused to traipse through the bog to see the tadpole pool Kalan found here the other day."

"I see," Marla replied, glaring at her daughter.

Kalan had just noticed her mother had arrived. She smiled nervously and took a step closer to her twin. Marla could almost see the cogs of her mischievous little mind turning over as she desperately tried to come up with an excuse for being in the fens at all, a place she knew was off limits without the strictest supervision.

"In the ensuing discussion about the merits of various amphibious life forms," Raek continued in the same bland voice, "the boys decided there was an urgent need to collect a number of samples for scientific research."

"Scientific research?"

"You have to give them points for being inventive, your highness."

"It still doesn't explain why they're fighting."

"When Leila complained about going into the fens, Damin called his cousin a sissy. She got upset. Starros felt it necessary to come to her defence."

Interesting, Marla thought. "And where is Leila now?"

"She ran back to the palace in tears, your highness. I believe it was that which prompted Starros to reprimand your son. Things just sort of . . . degenerated from there."

"Who's winning?"

"Starros has the upper hand at present, your highness, although if the fight goes on much longer, Damin will surely triumph. Starros is quick, but Damin has more stamina."

Marla threw up her hands and turned to Luciena. "This wasn't the introduction to your stepbrothers that I had in mind."

The girl was obviously trying hard not to smile. "I imagine it wasn't."

"Which one is he, Raek?"

"The one on the right, your highness."