The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

I turned to him. This close, the impulse was too strong to resist. I cupped his cheek in my hand and leaned up to kiss his forehead. He started in surprise but then smiled shyly, his cheek warming under my palm. I smiled back. Viraine had been right; he was so easy to love.

Tell me everything, I whispered.

He flinched as if struck. Perhaps the magic that bound him to obey Arameri commands had some physical effect; perhaps it even hurt. Either way, there was a different kind of pain in his eyes as he realized I had issued the command deliberately.

But I had not been specific. He could have told me anythingthe history of the universe from its inception, the number of colors in a rainbow, the words that cause mortal flesh to shatter like stone. I had left him that much freedom.

Instead, he told me the truth.

13

Ransom

WAIT. SOMETHING HAPPENED BEFORE THAT. I dont mean to get things so mixed up; Im sorry, its just hard to think. It was the morning after I found the silver apricotstone, three days before. Wasnt it? Before I went to Viraine, yes. I got up that morning and readied myself for the Salon, and found

* * *

a servant waiting for me when I opened the door.

Message for you, Lady, he said, looking immensely relieved. I had no idea how long hed been standing out there. Servants in Sky knocked only when the matter was urgent.

Yes?

Lord Dekarta isnt feeling well, he said. He will not be joining you for todays Consortium session, should you choose to attend.

Tvril had intimated that Dekartas health played a factor in his attendance at the sessions, though I was surprised to hear it now: he had seemed fine the day before. And I was surprised hed bothered to send word. But I hadnt missed that last bit; a subtle reprimand for my skipping the session the day before. Suppressing annoyance, I said, Thank you. Please convey my wishes for a swift recovery back to him.

Yes, Lady. The servant bowed and left.

So I went to the highbloods gate and transferred myself down to the Salon. As I had expected, Relad was not there. As I had feared, Scimina was. Once again she smiled at me, and I merely nodded back, and then we sat beside each other, silent, for the next two hours.

The session was shorter than usual that day because there was only a single item on the agenda: the annexation of the small island nation Irt by a larger kingdom called Uthr. The Archerine, former ruler of Irta stocky, red-haired man who reminded me vaguely of Tvrilhad come to lodge a protest. The king of Uthr, apparently unconcerned about this challenge to his authority, had sent only a proxy on his behalf: a boy who looked not much older than Sieh, also red-haired. Both the Irti and the Uthre were offshoots of the Ken race, a fact that apparently had done nothing to foster genial relations between them.

The core of the Archerines appeal was that Uthr had filed no petition to begin a war. Bright Itempas detested the chaos of war, so the Arameri controlled it strictly. The lack of a petition meant the Irti had had no warning of their neighbors aggressive intent, no time to arm, and no right to defend themselves in any way that would have caused deaths. Without the petition, any enemy soldiers killed would be treated as murders and prosecuted as such by the law-keeping arm of the Itempan Order. Of course, the Uthre could not legally kill, eitherand they hadnt. They had simply marched into the Irtin capital in overwhelming numbers, literally forced its defenders to their knees, and booted the Archerine out into the street.

My heart went out to the Irti, though it was clear to me they had no hope of succeeding in their appeal. The Uthre boy defended his peoples aggression simply: They werent strong enough to hold their land against us. We have it now. Its better that a strong ruler hold power here than a weak one, isnt it?

And that was what the whole matter boiled down to. What was right mattered far less than what was orderly, and the Uthre had proven their ability to keep things orderly by the simple fact that theyd taken Irt without shedding a drop of blood. That was how the Arameri would see it, and the Order, too, and I could not imagine the Nobles Consortium daring to disagree.

In the end, to no ones surprise, they did not: the Irt appeal was rejected. No one even proposed sanctions against Uthr. They would keep what they had stolen, because making them give it back was too messy.

I could not help frowning as the final vote was read. Scimina, glancing over at me, let out a soft amused snort that reminded me of where I was; quickly I schooled my expression back to blankness.

When the session ended and she and I descended the steps, I kept my eyes forward so that I would not have to look at her, and I turned toward the bathroom so I would not have to travel back to Sky with her. But she said, Cousin, and at that point I had no choice but to stop and see what in the unknown demons names she wanted.