A Posse Of Princesses Part 7

"And you brought her here, so . . . you wanted her to meet Lios?"

"No."

"No? Then whya""

Dandiar looked up at the clouds tumbling across the sky. "This is harder than I expected it would be. Ia"I thought it would be fun. I certainly liked being a scribea""

"Wait. Wait." Rhis pressed her fingers against her head. "I wish this day hadn't started so awry. You are cousins with Yuzhyu."

"Yes."

"And you brought her here."

"Yes."

"But not to meet Lios. But it's fun to be aa"you mean, you're not a scribe?"

"No."

"Thena"who are you?"

Dandiar said gently, "Can't you guess?"

"How should Ia"" Rhis began, but then the puzzle pieces began falling into place. Princess as a cousina"not a scribea"

He was watching very closely indeed, for he said, "Go on." As if she'd spoken.

But she only looked up, unable to hide the sick feeling that replaced the confusion. "No."

"Yes," he said, and let out his breath in a short huff. "Here's the truth. I'm Lios. Lios Menelaes Dandiar Arvanosas if you want the whole name, as set out in treaty before I was even born."

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CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

"Gone?" Rhis repeated. "Jarvas? And Iardith?"

"Yes. Yes. Yes," Taniva said, jerking her chin up and down each time.

"Gone." Rhis drew in a breath. "I'm sorry, but I'm very wet, and cold, and I think I'm dizzy."

She plumped down onto a ha.s.sock.

Taniva scowled at the door leading to Shera's rooms, which had opened. Shera's maid whisked back and forth inside the room. How much had she heard? Taniva strode over in two long steps and slammed the door, then she stood with her back to it.

"If I am home, I know what to do. I ride and bring her back. But here, I do not know what to do. If I go to Lios, will I start trouble? Rhis! You always know what to say, I see this in the few days we are here. So I ask you. What shall we do?"

Shera let out a long sigh. "If the King of Arpalon finds out, he'll have a perfect excuse for war. Not that that is our affair."

"Is. Mine. War against Damatras will mean Arpalon's army marches through my lands," Taniva stated. "I do not care who wants what. When armies march, their trail leaves broken land. Especially if Damatras tries to meet them outside his border, as any smart king will do. It will be in High Plains he does it."

"Jarvas's father is smart," Shera added in a sour voice. "At least, when it comes to fighting. Anything else is arguable, from what I overheard at my mother's court."

Taniva gave her a look of mild appraisal. "You speak right, you."

Before she could go on someone new banged on the door.

"Reez! Reez!"

"That's Yuzhyu," Rhis said, looking at the other two. They just stared back at her, so she went to the door herself. "Yes?"

"I must see you. Trouble! Zat pest from Arpalona""

Rhis opened the door.

Yuzhyu almost tumbled in, her frizzy blond hair wild. "Ah!" She pointed at Taniva. "I am in stable. I want to ride. Before ze boomer-in-sky. I hear him. He see me once. I zink. He zink I not . . . om! Um! Conceive? Follow?"

"Understand?"

Yuzhyu nodded in relief. "Jarvas zink I not understand so much. But I do. I know he want zat princess. Iss angry wid mya"my cousin . . ." Yuzhyu looked away, and Rhis knew she was referring to Iardith's determined courtship of the false Lios.

Before Rhis could draw another breath, Yuzhyu pulled from her clothing not one but two long, wicked looking knives. For a moment she held them along her forearm, blades out, then with a complicated whirl she flipped the knives up, caught their handles, and held them points out.

Taniva whistled, her approval unmistakable.

"He like trouble," Yuzhyu said. "Make trouble for my cousin." She moved her hands in a quick blur, and the blades vanished in her clothing again. "I zee you come here. I sit and zink. Do I tell my cousin? Or do I follow Jarvas, make him come back wiss princess? No, I first zee why you are here." On the word *cousin' Yuzhyu sent a questioning look Rhis's way.

Rhis shook her head.

Yuzhyu's expressive brows arched in relief.

"I do not want war," Taniva said. "I have said nothing to anyone yet, except here." An emphatic thumb toward the floor of Rhis's room.

All three of the others looked at Rhis.

And Rhis stared back, wondering why they expected her to decide.

Should they all troop off and find Lios? No. Not the pretend Lios.

She slid her hands over her face. Wara"Dandiara"Liosa"

The whirling thoughts, each carrying its own load of emotions, seemed to turn her brain into stone.

Then something Yuzhyu had said recurred, and she said, "We can go after them, and bring Iardith back."

Taniva's dark brows lifted, and she whistled soundlessly. "Yes. Then there is no war."

Yuzhyu nodded slowly. "And no skittle? Scattle?"

"Scandal," Shera said dryly. "Get her back? How? We don't have armies. We don't even have guides!"

"I guide." Taniva smacked herself in the front. "This, I know what to do. How to tell Lios, how to avoid war when I am in another land, that I do not know. I act in my land. Here I listen only."

Yuzhyu concentrated on Taniva, her mouth moving, but at the end she gave an emphatic nod of agreement.

Shera sighed, long and shuddering. "Ita"well, it makes sense. If it wasn't us. I mean, if no one finds out about the abduction, then there can't be any war, right? Only how can we save her?"

"It is for you to talk," Taniva said to Rhis "You talk good. You get her out without war."

Shera sighed again. "I'd offer to come, but I don't know that I could do anything."

Rhis said, "You know all the local politics, and I sure don't. I never needed it before!"

All four looked at one another.

Rhis shook her head. An abduction? War? None of it yet seemed real.

Her inner eye offered her a memory of Dandiar's face, but she thrust it away in anger. His masquerade was real enough, and so was the anger and hurt she felt.

Even so, she did not want there to be a war. And if she could prevent it, why not do so? And, oh, if she could make some kind of . . . grand gesture, show that Dandiara"

Show him what?

"If we ride fast, we catch up," Taniva said. She gave a grim smile. "Jarvas will not find it so fast, traveling with female not want to travel. Maybe this Arpalon pest makes journey heavy for Jarvas. We catch up, Rhis talk Jarvas out of it. If he acts like fool, we steal princess back. I know how to do that." She grinned, a challenging grin, and smacked her hand against the jeweled blade hilt at her waist. "It's a game for us, in High Plains. We ride back with her. Pretend we make long journey together. No war."

"Ride fast?" Shera repeated faintly. "How long a fast ride?"

"Week." Taniva shrugged. "Maybe two."

Rhis and Shera exchanged grimaces. Two weeks? They'd never ridden longer than an afternoon. If that.

"Put must pe now." Yuzhyu pointed up at the sky. "Rain goink." Her expression changed. "I get horses." She whirled around. "You ride?"

"Ponies," Rhis admitted.

"On bridle paths," Shera said slowly.

Yuzhyu grinned. "Is enough. You learn on ride."

Taniva said, "I go with you. Give commands to my people. They say nothing to anyone. No one knows." She turned around. "You two come to stable with things. I will make ready."

And the two princesses whisked out the door.

"Two weeks?" Shera squeaked.

Rhis thought about Dandiara"no. "If they can do it, I can do it," she said firmly. Adding in a lower voice, "Two weeks away sounds fine to me."

"They might be able to disappear without causing comment, but what about us?" Shera said.

"Well, I happen to have declared that I'm leaving today," Rhis said, feeling that horrible heat in her face again.

But Shera was too preoccupied to notice. "I did as well. It's really our maids, then. What do we tell them? I know mine will send messages back to my mother."

"Then don't tell her anything," Rhis said. "She's already packinga"have her unpack, except for a riding journey. She needn't know any more than that."

Shera stood up, then plopped down again. "What do I need?"

Rhis rubbed her thumb against her lip. She remembered a few of her childhood journeys, before Elda had declared that it was time to become a young lady. "Riding clothes. A waterproofed cloak, if you have one. Money, if you have it. We'll probably find cleaning frames, or maybe we'll use streams, but this much I remember: you can't overburden horses with a lot of stuff."

Shera stared down at her hands, then nodded. "Yes. That makes sense. All right, then, two riding outfits, one to wear, and one to keep as a spare . . ."

She went out, muttering.

Rhis opened the door to the little side room that served as her wardrobe. There she found Keris busy. The woman curtseyed, then went back to her work sewing beads back onto Rhis's masquerade gown. When had she torn it? A pang of guilt squeezed her heart. She sighed.

Keris had been selected by Rhis's own mother. Where did trust begin?

It has to begin here, Rhis thought.

"Keris, there's trouble," she said.

Keris looked up, her face kind, but aware. And not surprised.

"How much did you hear?" Rhis asked, pointing back to her room.

"Very little from you and your guests," Keris said. "But I am afraid that Princess Iardith's maids are hysterical. His highness's own people are keeping them sequestereda"and protected."

"Then Lios knows," Rhis murmureda"and Dandiar's image came to mind. Lios's image. Odd, how the right face flickered before her inner eye, but the names were still backward. That handsome fellow has his own name. Andos.

Rhis shook her head. "We're going to bring her back. But I don't want anyone to know. Including Shera's maid, if you can. The idea is to prevent war, not cause it. I do have my sister's ring, in case there's danger, so we ought to be all right."

A crease appeared in Keris's brow, but she merely bowed her head.

Rhis looked away, fighting that detestable blush that always betrayed her. "This morning I, ah, made it clear to, ah, the prince of Vesarja that I was going home. I'm not sure what to say now. I don't really want to say anything, I just want to go, get Iardith, and think."

"I can put it about that you decided to take a little trip instead," Keris offered. "Some time for reflection."