Fire of the Soul (32 page)

Now he was close to despair as he realized
how hungry he still was for her approval and how eager he was to
hold her in his arms again. He felt great sympathy for her
loneliness, yet he knew he could never take her to wife. In order
to honor Chantal’s memory he must deny himself whatever comfort he
might have found with Calia.

“Garit, I beg you to listen to me.” Calia’s
hand rested on his chest, preventing him from leaving the garden
when he would have turned and stalked away from her. “I understand
why you hate me and always will. But please, don’t let your anger
at me interfere with keeping Lady Elgida safe. Despite Mallory’s
presence in Kerun, we must find a way for her to meet Belai and
Kinen. Then we must rescue the boys from Mallory. I have been
thinking.”

“Thinking what?” Garit was wary of her, but
he stayed where he was. The touch of her hand on his chest was
oddly reassuring in a time and place where even the heavenly blue
sky above seemed to be conspiring against him and all he had ever
dreamed of having.

“If Laisren does ask me to return the Emerald
to Ultan, I will refuse to do so unless she releases those boys to
you or to Lady Elgida, and grants permission for them to leave
Kantia.”

“Threats won’t affect her. She can use her
Power to force you to do her bidding. By the way, have you
forgotten that Duran and I are under orders to take the Emerald to
King Henryk, not to Ultan?” He had hesitated to remind her of their
quarrel, but felt a reminder was necessary.

“Of course, I haven’t forgotten,” she
responded, “nor have I changed my mind. I will not give the Emerald
to you. But that stone is the only tool we have to bargain
with.”

“We don’t have the Emerald,” he reminded
her.

“We don’t have the boys, either, and unless
Laisren helps us, we aren’t likely to see them now that Mallory is
in the city.”

“Durand and I will find a way.”

“Yes, like men everywhere, you will unsheathe
your swords and fight. In so doing, you will likely cause the
deaths of your grandmother and your brothers. I cannot believe that
you were ever a diplomat.” She turned from him and headed toward
the guest cottage.

“That was unjust!” Garit called after her. “I
will not fight unless I cannot avoid it. And I will keep my
grandmother safe from your brother.”

Calia didn’t answer him. Garit marvelled at
her brief outburst of temper so soon after her damp-eyed confession
of sadness. Then he wondered why the ache in his chest was soothed
by her irate words that implied she was as unhappy as he about
their dispute over the Emerald.

“You haven’t provided me with any information
I didn’t already have.” With a scowl at her, Mallory swung away
from his wife. “I want – no, I
need
to know where the
Emerald is.”

“Oh, Mallory, I am sorry to disappoint you.”
Fenella reached for him. “I’ll try to do better tomorrow. The queen
was so distracted today. I do wonder if all is well between her and
the king.”

“What did you say?” Mallory had been about to
leave the bedchamber. He paused instead while he considered the
possibilities inherent in Laisren’s distaste for her husband. He
hadn’t bothered to exploit the queen’s lack of affection toward her
spouse because he’d enjoyed Dyfrig’s complete confidence since well
before the king married, and because Kantian queens simply didn’t
matter very much, especially a queen who hadn’t produced an
heir.

“I think they’ve quarreled,” Fenella
said.

“Really? Why should they fight at this
particular time?”

“Perhaps they fought about the Emerald. Some
of Laisren’s ladies think she ought to present it to Dyfrig, so
he’ll become stronger. The Emerald is said to confer great strength
on its owner.”

Mallory could not allow such a gift to pass
into Dyfrig’s hands. A strong king was precisely what he did not
want. If half the tales he’d heard about the Emerald were true,
he’d be hard pressed to overcome its influence by using only his
own, corrupt Power.

“Fenella, I have a task for you at
court.”

“Oh, Mallory, of course. I’m always happy to
do whatever you ask of me.”

She came to him and began to rub herself
along his body like some plump, freckled cat. The urge to slap her
rose in Mallory, so strong that he was forced to channel his anger
elsewhere. Fenella felt his arousal and smiled. Mallory grew even
more angry with her, and with himself for tolerating her
presence.

“Oh, Mallory, my love, only tell me what you
want,” Fenella murmured. She stroked him through his clothing. “Oh,
Mallory, you do care for me.”

Deep inside Mallory a sudden breach occurred
in the strong wall he had long ago erected around his seething
emotions. Rage threatened to overcome him. The urge to use his
Power to destroy Fenella was almost overwhelming. He fought to keep
himself under his usual tight control. Still, he was compelled to
lash out at her, to vent a dislike too long repressed.

“If you say, ‘Oh, Mallory,’ one more time,”
he told her between clenched teeth, “I swear I will beat you until
you cannot stand up.”

“Oh, M-” She must have comprehended the depth
of his anger, because she stopped what she was going to say,
gulped, and said something else, instead. “Only tell me what you
want me to do for you at court and I will do it. Will that persuade
you to want me again?”

She would have touched his cheek if he hadn’t
swatted her hand away. He’d had enough; he could tolerate her
witless affections and her constant desire no longer. He told
himself he could locate the Emerald without Fenella’s inept
assistance.

“You stupid creature, why should I want to
bed you when there are so many more intelligent and beautiful women
here at Kerun?”

“I’m not stupid! I’m not! Oh, Mallory, you
said you loved me.”

“I never said any such thing. I, love you?
Never.” He shook his head in disgust.

“But I want you. I love you. Oh,
Mallory—”

His hand connected with her cheek.

“I warned you not to say, ‘Oh, Mallory.’“ His
hand rose again, almost without his will behind the movement. The
urge to hurt her grew stronger. “I don’t need you, Fenella, and I
most certainly do not desire you. I’ll take what I want without
help from you or anyone else.”

Some time later he left her cowering on the
bedchamber floor, weeping and bruised and finally understanding
that he did not love her and never would.

Still, the rage inside him remained
unappeased. He decided to find a slender, graceful lady of the
court to bed, someone beautiful and clever, unlike dull-witted
Fenella. He wanted a willing, lascivious lady who’d keep him
occupied for most of the night and leave him pleasantly sated in
body, if not in mind.

But on his way to the palace, Hulme
approached him, to report that the maidservant he’d befriended had
disappeared and no one seemed to know where she had gone. Thus,
Hulme had been unable to learn anything more about the exact
location of the Emerald, or what Laisren intended to do with
it.

With his immediate plans to take possession
of the Emerald thwarted and realizing he was going to have to
revise his scheme, Mallory’s fury rose to new heights.

Using his Power on Hulme was a great relief,
though the expenditure of strength left Mallory sorely weakened. He
knew he’d be unable to please any woman, much less take the
pleasure he had looked forward to until he had recovered his
strength. Past experience warned him recovery would require at
least a full day.

Perhaps more than a day, he thought, looking
down at the thing that slavered and grovelled at his feet. Still,
he couldn’t regret his brief loss of control. He hadn’t used his
Power for so long and turning his rage on Hulme had been a
cleansing moment that refreshed and renewed him even as it drained
his physical and sexual stamina.

As for Fenella, he decided he’d reconcile
with her in a day or two. Unlike Hulme, his despised wife hadn’t
entirely lost her usefulness. Fenella did have easy access to the
queen. If he let her wait she’d be all the more eager for his
reluctant embrace and all the more grateful afterward. She’d do his
bidding then and forget what he’d said to her or how he had beaten
her. In the meantime, he’d do a bit of spying on his own. By one
means or another he would learn where the Emerald was hidden and
he’d find a way to get his hands on it.

On the morning of the third day of banishment
from the court Queen Laisren sent for Calia. Sundaria came to the
guest cottage by a back garden entrance, wearing a long cloak and
with her face covered by a veil.

“Who are you hiding from, girl?” Lady Elgida
demanded. “I will not allow you to lead Calia into danger.”

“It’s not danger, my lady,” Sundaria
answered, lifting the veil. “It’s discretion. Calia, will you come
with me? And will you kindly wear the blue gown you wore the
evening when you first met the queen?”

“What a strange request,” Lady Elgida
exclaimed.

The blue gown contained the pocket that had
concealed the gift Ultan had sent to his daughter. Calia understood
the queen’s request to mean that Laisren was going to pass the
Emerald to her and order her to take it to the Great Mage.

“Of course, I will wear the gown,” she said,
her words forestalling any more questions from Lady Elgida. “My
lady, this is an opportunity for me to ask the queen again to allow
you to see Belai and Kinen.”

“Take Garit with you,” Lady Elgida said. “Or
Durand. You need protection.”

“Either man will be too noticable,” Sundaria
objected. “Women slip into and out of the palace all the time
without being stopped. I have never understood the attitude of
Kantian men that women are ineffectual creatures, but their foolish
reasoning can be convenient.”

“I recall that male attitude all too well,”
Lady Elgida said. “I also remember how angry Kantian men can become
when a woman doesn’t behave as they expect. Take care, both of
you.”

“Don’t worry about me.” Calia hurried from
the room to change into the blue gown and her heavy cloak.

Sundaria used a key to open a concealed door
in the garden wall. She locked the door again after they were in
the narrow street outside, then handed the key to Calia.

“Don’t lose it,” Sundaria told her. “After
you’ve seen the queen and are back inside, return the key to
Ilona.”

“Are you saying that Ilona knows what you are
doing?”

“What
we
are doing,” Sundaria
corrected her. “Ilona, you, me – all of us and the queen. Now, come
along. We mustn’t linger in the road.”

The streets became wider as they approached
the palace and more people were present, most hurrying about their
own business and uninterested in two women in plain cloaks. At a
small door in the back wall of the palace, Sundaria showed the lone
guard a heavy gold ring with a design etched into it. The guard
looked at the ring, then admitted them with no questions asked.

Calia was soon lost in the labyrinth of
narrow corridors and many staircases. She assumed these were the
passageways constructed for servants to use, so those who cleaned
the palace, or who carried out the dirty laundry or the refuse
could do so unobtrusively. Then, suddenly, she was in the same
chamber where she and Durand had previously met with the queen.

“Wait here.” Sundaria left the room,
returning a short time later with Queen Laisren.

“No doubt you have guessed why I’ve summoned
you,” the queen said.

“My lady, I do thank you for the trust you
have placed in me,” Calia responded, “but I cannot leave Kerun City
just now.”

“On the contrary,” Laisren said. “You will
leave shortly after dark tonight.”

“I cannot desert Lady Elgida,” Calia
protested.

Their discussion was interrupted by a
mournful wailing outside the chamber. The main door burst open and
a woman garbed in a lurid red gown and a blue head scarf stumbled
into the room. She limped a few paces, then fell on her face before
the queen.

“My lady, I implore you to help me,” the
woman cried.

“Fenella, is that you?” Calia rushed forward
to lift the weeping woman to her feet. She flinched when she beheld
Fenella’s face.

“Dear heavenly blue sky above us,” Queen
Laisren whispered, looking shocked. “What has happened to you?”

“Mallory beat me.” With trembling fingers
Fenella touched the bruises on her face. “He hurt my arm and my
leg, too.”

“I disapprove, of course,” Laisren said, her
eyes suspiciously bright. “No Chandelari man would ever strike a
woman. Still, by Kantian law what occurs between husband and wife
must remain private between them.”

“My brother is a brute and here is proof,”
Calia intervened with some spirit. “Fenella, why did Mallory beat
you?”

“He called me stupid and said he didn’t want
me.” Fenella paused to gulp back a sob. “I loved him, until he hit
me. Now, I never want to see him again.”

“I am sorry for you,” Laisren said, “but you
should not have come here. I cannot contravene the laws of Kantia,
however much I may wish I could.”

“You don’t understand,” Fenella said. She
swallowed hard and stood a little taller, though she still leaned
on Calia for support. “My lady, Mallory has been insisting that I
spy for him.”

“I can easily believe that,” Calia said to
the queen. “When I was younger, Mallory used to force me to spy for
him at Catherstone. He never beat me as badly as he has treated
Fenella, but he meted out terrible punishments to anyone who dared
to defy him, and to a few poor souls who tried to help me.”

“He beat me because I wasn’t able to learn
where you have hidden the Emerald and what you intend to do with
it,” Fenella told the queen. “I’m afraid he will harm Belai and
Kinen next, if I don’t obey him. You have been kind to me, my lady,
and I cannot betray you. Not for a man who cares nothing for
me.”