“What of me?” asked Alia, who had listened without apparent interest. “I am no ally of this Liathano, whom I do not meet or know. I am no ally of these womans who are sorcerers, who mean to do my people harm. That is why I come to you, Henri, to ally against them.”
Henry drained his cup of wine and called for another. Beside him, Adelheid sat with the composure of stone. Only her hair moved, tickled by a breeze that wound among the lamps hung from the ceiling. “If I send an embassy to your people, then we can open negotiations.”
Alia’s jaw tightened as she regarded him with displeasure. “None among your kind can pass through the gateway that leads to our country.”
“So you say. But you are here.”
She opened her left hand, palm out, to display an old scar cut raggedly across the palm. “I am what you call in your words a sorcerer, Henri.”
“Do we not already harbor mathematici among us? They might travel as you did. We are not powerless.”
“Father!” protested Theophanu, although she glanced toward Adelheid, “you would not allow condemned magic to be worked for your advantage—?”
Henry lifted a hand to stop her. She broke off, looked at Rosvita, then folded her hands in her lap and regarded the opposite wall—and the tapestry depicting St. Thecla’s draught of the holy cup of waters—with a fixed gaze.
“You do not understand the structure of the universe, Henri. I was born in exile, and for that reason I can travel in the aether. I have walked the spheres. None among you would survive such a journey.”
Sanglant’s lips moved, saying a word, but he made no sound.
Henry shook his head. “How can I believe such a fantastic story? It might as well be a fable sung by a poet in the feast hall. I and my good Wendish army are marching south to Aosta to restore Queen Adelheid to her throne. You may march with us, if you will. A place at my table is always reserved for you, Alia.” He turned to regard Sanglant, who stood with hands fisted and expression pulled down with impatience. Hereby lay the danger in giving a man command for all his young life; soon he began to expect that no person would gainsay him, even his father. “You, Son, may march with my army as well, if you will only ask for my forgiveness for your disobedience. I will show every honor due to a grandchild of my lineage to your daughter, as she deserves. There is a place for you in my army. If you ask for it.”