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and the apartment. Derand's father turned at the sound of the door opening, so
Derand nodded once before asking his father to join them again. His father smiled
with brief amusement, then put on an expression that was obviously ready to be
stern and parental. It had been his idea that Seea ought to be "forbidden" to go
along with the plan, an attitude that was almost guaranteed to make her do just the
opposite, and Derand's father was obviously pleased that his idea had worked. Now
he'd have the fun of playing stern while Seea ignored him.
"Now it's my turn," King Almis announced as soon as he and Derand were back
near the chairs. "I'd like a few private words with your lady, Derand, so please wait
outside for short while."
"As you like, Father," Derand agreed mildly, then turned to Seea. "I'll be right
outside, love, and when I come back I'll want to hold you a while. I came much too
close to losing you, and I need to be reassured that you're still all right."
He leaned down to touch her lips with his, and then he turned and left the room. It
was ridiculous that the only way he could hold and make love to his woman was to
claim that he didn't love her, but if that's what it took then that's what he'd do.
Judging the needs of other people was foolish; if you loved that other person you
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gave her what she needed without making any judgments.
"How is it going, my king?" Listan asked once he was out in the hall. "Is your
queen really all right?"
"She seems to be," Derand answered softly as he looked around. "And so far the
plan is also all right. I now have a reason to be with her most of the time as well as
to be worried and concerned. If I'd had to be aloof and uncaring for much longer I
probably would have turned violent."
"I assigned some of the men to help your father's fighters check into the
background of the staff," Listan said after voicing a sigh. "There's nothing I can say
to excuse my lapse in judgment, my king. Once we've returned home I'll
understand perfectly when you replace me with someone you can rely on. If the
queen had been killed the fault would have been no one's but mine."
"Come on, Listan, give me a break!" Derand protested, instantly aware of how
careful he had to be. "Don't I have enough problems right now without you adding
to them? I know you're upset about Seea's almost being killed, but the attack had
nothing to do with your reliability. Even if her apartment had been guarded, would
the door guards have refused to allow entrance to a servant who'd come to clean
up? And the man had been working as a servant for a while, so even checking on
his identity wouldn't have done any good. Whoever is responsible for this mess, it
certainly isn't you."
It was clear to Derand that Listan wanted to argue what his king had said, guilt
having made the man certain he was to blame. But the common-sense points
Derand had made worked to calm the guilt the way little else would have. If
Derand had been gentle and understanding with Listan the man would have felt
even guiltier; acting tired and beset had been a much better idea.
"Well, from now on no one will enter that apartment without being accompanied by
my fighters," Listan grudged after a moment, still not looking terribly happy. "The
men will stand between the servants and your queen, and if anyone tries anything
else they won't live long enough to regret their foolhardiness."
"If someone else makes a try, do your best to capture the man rather than kill him,"
Derand said, back to speaking softly. "I need information more than I need another
dead body, and the slime can always be put to death later. Make sure the men
understand that if they have to choose between killing the attacker and letting him
get away then they can kill him, but other than that I want them to try to take a
prisoner."
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Listan bowed his agreement and went off to pass the word along to their men, so
Derand had nothing more to do than wait. The wait lasted longer than he thought it
would, but finally the door opened and his father gestured to him.
"Your lady is just as stubborn as you are," King Almis complained when Derand
walked into the sitting room again. "She refuses to listen to reason, and I'm tired of
wasting my breath. I'm going to leave you two mules to be stubborn with each
other, and we'll see you later at dinner."
Derand's father gave him a wink before stalking out of the apartment, at the same
time giving Derand the job of needing to keep his face straight. His father was a
great lover of intrigue, and as long as only the would-be assassin was dead the king
would relish every part of Derand's plan.
The rest of the day went by very pleasantly for Derand. He ordered in fresh tea for
himself and Seea, and then he kept his word and sat with her on a couch with his
arms around her. For her part Seea made no effort to hold herself away from him
especially when servants entered, and that made things even better.
When the same four girls came in to help Seea dress for dinner, Derand was able to
go to his own apartment and do the same. When he was dressed he left orders for
his few possessions and small amount of clothing to be moved to Seea's apartment
while they were at dinner, and then he went back to wait for his wife to be ready.
She came out wearing a breathtaking gown of silver lace with matching slippers,
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