"It says here she's been posted to Testra since last winter."

This conversation was starting to exclude Mahkas completely. It was time to put an end to it.

Time to prove that he had his own sources of intelligence, every bit as good as Ruxton's.

"Hablet of Fardohnya has another daughter," he announced.

The spice trader nodded his confirmation of the news. "He's sired half a dozen bastard sons on his court'esa now, and another three or four baseborn daughters," he added, proving yet again that his intelligence was better than anybody else's in the country. "This latest one takes the legitimate daughters to seven, I think."

Smart-arse, Mahkas said silently. "Hablet won't be happy with another daughter," he noted, trying to keep the conversation going in the direction he wanted.

Marla smiled thinly. "No. I don't imagine he will. Speaking of daughters, did you have a word with Leila about this afternoon's little fracas in the fens?"

Mahkas swallowed hard before answering. "Marla, I'm sure she didn't mean to be the cause of so much trouble . . ."

"I'm sure of it, too, Mahkas," the princess replied. "I hope you made it clear to her that she's not to feel responsible for the infantile behaviour of her cousins. I don't want the child feeling guilty because Damin and Starros were looking for an excuse to let off a bit of steam."

His relief was palpable. "Of course. I knew that. I told her not to worry about it."

"Too much idle time on their hands," Ruxton laughed. "That's the problem with those boys. Still, I suppose once Elezaar starts to whip them into shape, they'll have more to do with their time than fight each other."

"What's the dwarf got to do with it?" Mahkas asked with concern. He loathed Marla's deformed little pet and resented every moment he was forced to allow the court'esa under his roof.

"He's taking on the role of tutor until Damin leaves for his fosterage at the end of summer,"

Marla explained. "In the meantime, Ruxton's going to see if he can find a suitable replacement. I wouldn't mind getting hold of a Medalonian tutor, actually. Their women are better educated than any other tutors-male or female-on the continent. Particularly in the areas of government and economics."

Mahkas smiled condescendingly. "Surely you'd not consider allowing your sons to be taught by a woman, Marla?"

The princess leaned back in her chair and studied him curiously for a moment without saying anything.

Immediately, Mahkas realised his mistake. "Of course, I don't mean to imply that a woman couldn't . . . I mean, it's not that I think . . ."

Ruxton laughed at Mahkas's stammering efforts to extricate himself from his blunder. "You're going to have to work a lot harder to get out of that one, I fear, brother-in-law." He touched Marla's shoulder in a gesture of familiarity that Mahkas found more than a little disturbing. She looked up at him with a smile. "I'll leave that with you," he told her. "There's a paragraph a bit further down detailing how much Hablet's spending on the Temple of Jelanna in Talabar that might interest you. Particularly as he's planning to import the marble to reface the temple." Ruxton straightened up then and walked around the desk, bowing politely to Mahkas on his way out. "I trust you'll excuse me, Mahkas. I need to spend some time with my own children or they'll start thinking I really have abandoned them. We'll see you at dinner, I hope?"

"Of course," Mahkas replied.

We'll see you at dinner, I hope? he repeated sarcastically to himself. This is my home. Who does this damn trader think he is?

Mahkas turned his attention back to Marla as Ruxton let himself out, closing the door behind him. "I didn't mean to offend you, Marla."

"I know you didn't. And I know you're not that fond of Elezaar. But he's a very good teacher. I can vouch for that myself. And he knows the children. They won't be able to cause mischief with him the way they have with everyone else."

"Perhaps you should think about getting rid of Starros," he suggested.

"Why?"

"Well, he's obviously the ringleader. He is the eldest, after all. Perhaps without his disruptive influence-"

"I would have thought the situation quite the opposite. My spies tell me it's Starros who often curbs the excesses of the others. Even Damin bows to his foster-brother's wisdom on occasion. That's not a gift to throw away lightly."

"You have spies in the palace?" Mahkas asked with alarm.

Marla laughed. "It's a figure of speech, silly. And don't worry about Starros. I have plans for him."

"You do?"

"Don't looked so worried, Mahkas. I just want him to continue his education while Damin's away. I may have need of that boy some time in the future."

"I see," he said carefully, wondering if now was a good time to broach the subject again about Damin and Leila. Marla seemed in a surprisingly good mood, given the circumstances of her arrival. "And what of the others? Do you have plans for them?"

"Well, Rielle is marrying young Darvad soon, and Ruxton expects his boys to follow him into the spice trade. Luciena and I will soon come to an agreement about her inheritance, and I'm rather hoping she and Xanda hit it off, because that will solve the problem of whom she should marry rather neatly.

Travin is the heir to his father's estate in Walsark and is doing quite well, according to your last letter.

Narvell is the heir to Elasapine, so there's not much doubt about his future. As for Kalan, well, she's young yet. I haven't really decided what to do with her. No doubt there's a match out there that will suit us strategically, if nothing else."

"And Leila?"

"Leila is your child, Mahkas. I wouldn't presume to plan a future for her."

He nodded his agreement. "Of course. You know, however, that I believe she and Damin . . ."

Marla sighed. "Yes, Mahkas, I know. And as I've told you before, even a betrothal is years away for Damin. He turns thirteen in a few weeks. I have to get him through the next two years after that first, before he even gets access to a court'esa. I'm not going to commit either Damin or Leila to a marriage they may not want when they get older."

"Leila adores Damin, Marla. She speaks of little else."

Marla smiled sympathetically. "Then let's see how they feel about each other when they're old enough to understand what marriage is all about, shall we?"

"As you wish."

Marla rose to her feet and rolled up the scroll from Ruxton's messenger. "It really is very rude of me to march in here and take over this way. Why don't you take your seat, Mahkas? I'm sure you have lots to tell me about what's been happening over the past year."

She obviously didn't want to talk any further on the subject, so Mahkas had little choice but to bow to her wishes. He took the seat Marla offered him, thinking at least she hadn't said no to the marriage and while ever that situation remained, there was hope that he would one day become Warlord of Krakandar in his own right and no longer be the regent for anybody.

Chapter 16.

The family gathered for dinner that evening, as they always did on Marla's first night home.

Dispensing with a formal arrangement in the dining hall, Orleon had arranged the tables in a much smaller horseshoe shape so that everyone could see each other. With the princess and her husband, her brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and the various children belonging to all of them, the diners numbered more than a dozen.

Marla had deliberately seated Damin next to Luciena and had warned him-quite openly in Luciena's hearing-to be on his best behaviour. The young prince smiled at Luciena when he arrived at the table. She wasn't sure if it was because he had heeded his mother's warning and decided to do his best to make his new stepsister feel at ease, or if it was simply in his nature to do so.

"So, you're the new one, eh?" Damin enquired cheerfully, as he took his seat. "Welcome to the lunatic asylum."

Luciena studied the boy curiously, trying to detect if he was genuine in his welcome or mocking her somehow. After a moment, she bowed her head politely. "Thank you, your highness."

"You don't have to call me that. Nobody else does."

Luciena looked at him in surprise. "Really?"

"Well, the slaves do," he shrugged. "And some of the townsfolk. But nobody around here does.

Mother says I'll get enough of that when I'm older."

That was the last thing Luciena expected to hear. She glanced across the table to where Marla was talking to Mahkas as she took her place, smiled nervously and took a sip from her wineglass. Damin was also served wine, although his was watered down, as was the wine served to all the children. He was a good-looking boy, big for his age, with fair hair and blue eyes, as if the gods had conspired to grant Hythria a prince who looked the part, even if he'd yet to prove he could act it.

"Have you met everyone yet?" Damin asked, looking around the table.

Warm candlelight reflected off the silverware, and the low hum of conversation filled the room with a soft buzz as everyone was seated. Luciena looked around, shaking her head. "There's so many of them."

"Then allow me to introduce them," Damin offered, as the first course was served. He leaned back a little as a slave ladled the clear meaty soup into his bowl and then picked up his spoon and pointed it at the other arm of the table. "The one with the blond hair and the black eye at the very end over there is Starros," he explained, as Luciena began to sip her soup. "He's my foster-brother. Been in the palace since he was five. We all know he's Almodavar's bastard, but he'll never admit to it."

"Who's Almodavar?"

"The senior captain of Krakandar's Raiders."

"Isn't Starros the one you were fighting in the fens this afternoon?"

"What gave it away?" Damin laughed. He also bore a magnificent shiner, even more impressive than the one he'd given Starros.

"Just a hunch," Luciena replied with a smile, relaxing a little with the wine, the tasty soup and the generally convivial atmosphere of the room. Despite her reservations, she felt herself warming to the young prince. There was little artifice about him and no hint of arrogance she could detect. On the other hand, this conversation now meant her total contact with Damin Wolf-blade amounted to about ten minutes. Hardly time to take the boy's measure. She indicated the dark-haired young man sitting next to Starros. "The one next to him is Travin Taranger, isn't he, Xanda's brother?"

"That's right. He and Xanda are my cousins. Their mother was my father's sister, Darilyn. She died before I was born."

"And the young woman next to him?"

"Rielle Tirstone. She's Ruxton's eldest. If you want to make friends with her, you'd better do it quickly. Mother's arranged for her to marry Darvad Vintner from Dylan Pass, so she's leaving soon for Izcomdar. The chap sitting next to her is Travin's brother, Xanda, but you already know him."

"I met him in Greenharbour," Luciena confirmed, eyeing the dark-haired young man speculatively. She liked Xanda and was sure he'd gone out of his way to ensure she was comfortable on the journey here. Feeling her gaze on him, Xanda glanced up from the conversation he was having with Rielle and winked at Luciena, before returning his attention to whatever it was Damin's stepsister was telling him. Afraid she was blushing, Luciena quickly turned back to Damin. "Xanda came to my rescue, actually. He was very chivalrous in my hour of need."

Damin laughed. "Good to hear he's doing something useful in Greenharbour besides drinking all the taverns dry. The girl on the other side of him is my cousin, Leila. She's Mahkas and Bylinda's daughter."

"The cause of the fight?"

"News gets around this place pretty quick, doesn't it?" Damin remarked. He seemed a little put out that it was already common knowledge he'd been fighting Starros over Leila.

"Are you sorry you fought your foster-brother?"

"No," the boy replied with a sudden grin. "I was just hoping that we could come up with something more interesting to brawl over than a stupid girl. I don't know why Starros sticks up for her all the time. She really is a sissy, you know."

Luciena glanced at him warily, but offered no comment.

Sensing her disapproval, Damin added a little defensively, "She only ever wants to do boring, girly things."

"Perhaps that's because she's a girl?" his new stepsister suggested.

"Kalan's a girl and she'll try anything we do."

"That probably makes Kalan the exception, your highness, not Leila."

"I suppose," Damin shrugged. "And really, you don't have to keep calling me 'your highness,'

Luciena. It sounds a bit odd, actually, coming from a member of the family, as it were."

"You'll have to get used to it some day."

"But not today."

She smiled. "Very well . . . Damin. Not today."

"Good. Now that's settled, let's get back to the introductions." He pointed with his spoon to the small, slender woman on the head table, her dark hair arranged carefully, her clothes more formal than anyone else in the room. "Sitting next to Leila is my Aunt Bylinda, Uncle Mahkas's wife and, according to my mother, the most patient woman in all of Hythria, because she puts up with us. Next to her is Krakandar's regent, my uncle, Mahkas Damaran."

"I met him earlier, too."

"He's all right," Damin informed her as they watched his uncle drink the last of his soup. "We can usually get anything we want out of him." Then he added in a lower voice, "He gets a little crazy sometimes and you don't want to cross him, 'cause he's a sore loser. Fortunately, he picks on the Medalonians and not us when he's in a bad mood, but he's a good administrator. Mother says Krakandar didn't do nearly as well in the past, even under the governance of the Sorcerers' Collective."

"Then he must be very good," Luciena agreed, wondering what the young prince meant by a sore loser.

"Well, the next two at the table you know already-my mother and Ruxton Tirstone." He leaned back a little so that Luciena had a clear view. "On this side we have my half-sister, Kalan, sitting next to Ruxton, and the boy next to me is Narvell, her twin brother." He nudged Narvell in the ribs. "Say hello to Luciena, Narvell."

"Hello to Luciena, Narvell," his brother said through a mouthful of bread, winking at Luciena.

Damin elbowed him a little harder and grinned. "Idiot."

"The twins don't look much alike," Luciena remarked.

"Don't let that fool you," he warned. "They're like opposite sides of the same coin. Hurt one and you'll have the other down on you like a falling building before you can blink. Kalan's smaller, but she's older than Narvell by twenty minutes. She never lets him forget it, either." He leaned forward and pointed to the two boys sitting on Luciena's right. "Those two reprobates on the other side of you are Ruxton's sons, my stepbrothers, Rodja and Adham Tirstone."

On hearing their names, the boys looked up from their soup. The younger boy, Adham, who was sitting next to Luciena, grinned at her and added in a loud voice, "Don't believe a word he tells you, Luciena. Damin's full of sh-"

"Adham!" Ruxton cut in loudly before his son could complete the sentence. "This is a dinner table, not a backstreet tavern."

"Sorry, sir." Adham winked at Luciena and finished off his soup with a loud slurp.

"So, there you have it," Damin announced. "The entire clan."

"And you don't mind living here in Krakandar? Even though your parents live in Greenharbour?"

she asked, rather overwhelmed by them all. Raised an only child in an almost entirely female household, she was finding this dinner a little more than she'd bargained for. They were all so boisterous. So loud .