Shadowborn (Light & Shadow, Book 1) (28 page)

“
The King has made a formal
declaration of friendship with Ismir,” Temar said. He did not
bother lowering his voice. All of the servants and minor nobles in
our path were chattering excitedly about the same news.

I allowed myself only a moment for a sigh of
relief. Not Miriel, then. But if I was summoned, it could only mean
that this was a surprise to the Duke. Else, he would have coached
all of us on how to behave when the news became public. Often,
Temar would stop by my lessons with a brief message: “If anyone
asks you about…” he would say.

We always worked to a single purpose, all of
the Duke’s household: everyone had their own stories to tell,
rumors to spread. He had instructed me to run errands to one guild
or another, place orders in the Duke’s name, carry messages—all
with the purpose of confusing the Duke’s adversaries on the
council. I was not Miriel, the figurehead, the golden girl, but the
Duke knew that any of us might be watched.

“
A surprise to the Duke,”
was all I said, and he nodded, and then unexpectedly, he
grinned.

“
No one else knew, either,”
he said, as if it were a great joke, and I knew he was thinking of
de la Marque, and of all the adversaries who had thought themselves
ahead of the Duke—only to find themselves outside the circle of
power.

“
The Dowager Queen?” I
asked.

“
Good question.” He
switched to the dialect of the mountains, shocking me; I would have
thought there would be little use for him to know such an obscure
accent. I found myself smiling to hear it again, and to know that I
could reply freely. Now that I spoke with a carefully-cultivated
city accent, I knew how difficult it would be for bystanders to
understand it.

“
I couldn’t say yes or no
to that yet,” Temar said, “but I know what my guess would be. It’s
just as you said, Catwin. The little lion cub has claws after all.”
There was a laugh hiding behind his voice.

For a moment, I considered asking him if the
Duke did not think better now of his plan to be the King’s chief
advisor. The boy had made a fool of de la Marque, and the man could
do nothing about it. He could be as capricious as he liked, could
Garad, and no one could gainsay him. It did not sound like a master
I would choose.

“
So you agree,” I said, and
he looked over at me. “It’s good. For us.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Ambition, little
one? But yes, it could be. If we play it right.”

At Temar’s amusement, I wondered if the Duke
had not been waiting for something like this. For sure, he was no
favorite of the Dowager Queen. He was working to make Miriel
irresistible to the King—he would welcome a show of independence
from the boy. As unexpected as this was, I rather thought the Duke
might be ready to play it for all it was worth.

But was it unexpected to him? That was an
interesting thought, and an unsettling one. These past months,
fading into the background as Guy de la Marque belittled him at
every turn. Had he gambled that eventually, with no one to check
him, de la Marque would make a misstep? And then, relatively
unscathed, the Duke could rise. Having been honored by command of
the troops, he could now play his hand, knowing exactly what the
young King disliked in an advisor. If that was so, he had played
Guy de la Marque masterfully. I thought, as we pushed our way
through the hallways, that I found the idea of the Duke lying in
wait even more unsettling than the thought of Miriel lying in
wait.

Miriel and the Duke were waiting for us when
we arrived in the Duke’s rooms, and the Duke spared me a glare for
a greeting; he was not, then, wholly pleased. He was pacing back
and forth by the window, Miriel standing quietly in front of his
desk. She did not look over at me as I arrived; Miriel had lately
taken to ignoring me, as she had first done.

“
The King has offered a
formal vow of peace and friendship with Ismir,” the Duke said
without preamble. “He has invited an envoy to our courts, against
the advice of the Council. The man will arrive near midwinter.”
There was the faintest curl to his lip, and I realized now that I
had thought only of the machinations of the court, and not of the
heart of the news Temar had brought me. The Duke had fought against
the Ismiri, and regardless of his silence in council meetings, I
knew him not to trust the tenuous peace of the last
decade.

“
We will support the King,”
the Duke said abruptly. There it was: he was bad-tempered because
this had been the chance he sought, and it came at the expense of
his own common sense. “Catwin, if you are asked, you shall say that
I am in favor of the King’s efforts for peace. If necessary, remind
them that my brother died in battle in the last war.”

“
Yes, sir.” I knew, also,
to pass along the names of all who asked. He always wanted to know
that.

“
Miriel.” The Duke turned
his cold gaze on her. “If asked, you are to say that you think the
King brave for leading the country to peace. Not a word against the
Dowager Queen, or Guy de la Marque, and if pressed to it, you will
say that the King has wise counsel, and you are sure that he acted
with their guidance.”

Miriel swept a curtsy, her head down. From
the faint twitch of her mouth, I could see that she had had much
the same plan. I was glad to see her irritation; it marked a return
to the Miriel that I knew. She had passed the last weeks in silent
fear, and even as I understood it, I worried at it. Anyone would
have felt a twinge of sadness to see a young woman dart looks into
dark corners, now rightfully expecting assassins to be waiting for
her.

The Duke had noticed neither her fear nor
her irritation. He nodded and settled into his desk chair. He was
looking at Miriel intently, and I knew that he had put the matter
of the envoy behind him.

“
On the matter of the
King’s marriage…” he said idly, and Miriel’s head came up at once.
I saw the Duke smile. I shot a quick glance at Temar and saw him
watching Miriel intently. I pursed my lips, but there was no way to
warn her. In any case, she should know that she was watched always.
It she had any sense, she would keep her face straight for the
Duke.

“
I hear you have developed
a reputation for being intelligent,” the Duke said to Miriel, and
she gazed back at him, unsure how to respond. She excelled in her
lessons in part because of his insistence that she must, and yet
his tone was not pleased. “Be careful. You make yourself known
already to Isra. Therefore…” He drummed his fingers. “When asked
about the King’s marriage, and whom he will choose, you will say
that it is for the Council to recommend brides for the King, and
that you are sure that he will choose for his political
advantage.

“
If you hear Marie de la
Marque’s name mentioned, you will be surprised, but you will not
disparage her. Sing her praises. You are her greatest supporter. If
asked about Cintia Conradine, you will say the same, and yet make
sure others know she is a risky choice. And too old.” Miriel gave
the faintest of frowns. She curtsied respectfully, but I knew that
her mind was working furiously. The Duke studied her for a moment,
and then looked over at me.

“
They will be presented at
the ball to honor the envoy,” he said, and I took
they
to mean the young
ladies of the court. “At the Midwinter Festival. Your lessons will
be suspended. You are to be at Miriel’s side always. I want to know
who looks at her, I want to know who speaks her name in the
servant’s halls, who greets her and who does not. If any of the
servants who come to her rooms change, you are to let me know at
once, and you are not to permit them into her bedchamber under any
circumstances. Do you understand?” I nodded, and he looked back to
Miriel.

“
Eat no food and drink that
Marie de la Marque has not eaten first,” he said. “If you are
hungry, send for food from my rooms after dinner. I will take no
chances now.”

I saw a flash of worry in his face. This was
earlier than he had planned. He was not ready. I did not know how
that could help Miriel, but I knew that I should tell her.

“
Behave no differently than
you have,” he said finally. “Do not set yourself forward, under any
circumstances. You have done well,” he added grudgingly. As Miriel
smiled slightly, he added, “Your whereabouts are to be accounted
for at all times. Do you understand me?”

His voice was like ice, and her smile
disappeared at once. I knew without looking that Temar would be
watching me, and I fought to keep my expression attentive and my
shoulders relaxed. We had come too far for them to learn the secret
now; I was determined that they should not learn of it through my
actions.

“
I understand, my Lord.”
Her voice was clear and light, her curtsy precise.

I was silent as I accompanied her back to
her rooms. I knew that the Duke’s men who trailed us through the
building were indeed bodyguards, but I knew also that they would
report to the Duke what we had spoken of. I thought briefly of
asking about trivial things, to make it seem as if I was not at all
concerned by what the Duke had said to us, and then decided to say
nothing at all. Miriel and I would walk in icy silence, as we
always did, and the guards could report that we were still not
friends; I had rather that the Duke saw no connection between the
two of us.

“
I have to talk to you,” I
said, when at last we were in her privy chamber, her maid readying
a gown for dinner in the bedchamber.

“
Why, are you leaving me?”
She asked me. “Are you running away at last?” I had been
half-expecting the question for so long that I forgot what I had
been intending to say. I had known that someone would ask, but I
had not thought that it would be Miriel herself.

“
What?” I asked, and she
turned her head to look at me. She had been practicing that,
turning only her head to look at someone. I had seen her posing in
front of her mirror the night before. She swayed her torso to make
an elegant line as she looked, and more importantly, she knew how
to smile dazzlingly and yet leave the focus of her gaze feeling as
if they did not have her full attention. I had never been the focus
of it before, and I found it fascinating.

“
Are you going to run off
and leave me here?” she asked. Her tone was so neutral that I could
sense no hint of reproach. That was unusual. I looked into her
eyes, but could not understand what I saw there.

“
I couldn’t do that,” I
said honestly. It was true, even if I could not understand
why.

“
You’re the only one who
thinks so,” she said, with a hint of her usual sharpness. She
looked back to the mirror, pretending to study her face. I saw that
although her lips were parted attractively, her jaw was
tight.

“
I
would
never leave you,” I said. She
did not look over to me, but she had gone very still. “That wasn’t
what I wanted to speak to you about.” I cast a look over my
shoulder; faintly, I could hear the rattle of the jewel box.
Satisfied that her maidservant was not listening at the door, I
lowered my voice to a whisper.

“
I wanted you to know that
the Duke doesn’t suspect…anything.” I still could not bring myself
to say what had transpired that one night. “I was able to speak to
Temar about it, and ask him why the Duke was suspicious. I made it
seem like it was unfair, like there was nothing to hide. They
aren’t sure anymore, now they think they could have been wrong that
you lied to them.” There was a silence. “Anyway, I wanted you to
know,” I said awkwardly.

“
Oh.” Miriel tilted her
head in the mirror to study the line of her cheek. She took a
hairpin from her hair and tucked one curl down more firmly, and
after a moment of waiting, I bit my lip in silent
frustration.

It had been just as foolish to expect thanks
or trust, I thought bitterly. I knew Miriel well enough, I knew
that she would not quickly forget a slight. It had been foolish to
expect that she would believe me when I explained what had
happened—after all, I now knew that she expected me to run away,
she thought me faithless. For some reason, that hurt more than her
refusal to acknowledge my words. I went to the main room, pushing
the door open as roughly as I dared, and sat down to study. It was
a text on the religious practices of the Bone Wastes, and I did not
have much heart to read it.

“
Catwin.” Miriel’s voice
was not sharp, nor was it worried. I sighed in frustration, marked
my place in the book, and took a moment to compose my face before
returning to her privy chamber. Miriel was in the doorway of her
bedchamber, looking over her shoulder. “You’re to be at my side at
all times,” she said, with no hint of mockery in her voice. “It’s
time to dress for dinner now.”

Bemused, I trailed after her and sat on my
little cot as she selected her dress from the ones laid out by her
maid, and then looked over the contents of her jewel box. When she
had been laced into her gown, a deep blue that offset her eyes, she
looked over at me critically.

“
Change into your other
suit, it’s cleaner. If you’re to accompany everywhere now, you’ll
need new clothes. Not what you wear to fight.” I refrained from
pointing out that I might need to fight at any time, and watched as
she selected small drop earrings of a golden stone, and a thin
chain of gold for her waist. She was careful to wear jewelry, as
every girl did, and yet she wore very little. Anyone who watched
Miriel knew that she possessed many fine jewels, and chose not to
wear all of them.