“Let’s raise him on his com tonight and ask him to visit.”
“Lord Calex doesn’t want to be married to a princess. Of that much, I’m certain.”
“You’d be a perfect wife for him.”
“I’m not going to marry him or anyone,” Brandese said.
“What are you saying? Of course you’ll marry. The king will insist.”
“Go to sleep now, darling. Everything will be all right.”
* * *
“We’ve been summoned,” Rocurt said from the doorway.
“Where?”
“Alorn. Why, Ev?”
“How should I know?”
“Brandese said something.”
“No, she didn’t. She’d never betray me. Not that way.”
“You seem sure.”
“I am. If he’s heard something, it wasn’t from her.”
Evston rolled from the bed.
“Your eyes are bloodshot.”
“I’m sure they are.” He pulled on a pair of trousers and fastened them.
“You haven’t slept. You’ve barely eaten. Are you in love with the girl?”
Evston grabbed a knit shirt and yanked it over his head. “No, but she’s important to me.”
“Then why didn’t you seduce her? Why did you raise me on a com to come and take her home?”
“Let’s go.”
“First sort out that hair. You look like a lunatic poet.”
* * *
“She’s been with someone,” the king said.
Rocurt’s head jerked to look at Evston.
“What?” Evston said to the king. “Not possible.”
“The new physician has arrived, but she won’t submit to an examination. She says there’s no point. She admits she’s been compromised. She claims it was someone called Quallen Laydair.”
Evston shook his head.
“But there’s no one in the realm with that name.”
