Fyne Sisters - The Star Witch Part 14

Isadora did not take offense at the empress's bitter words. Childbirth pains had made even Sophie curse.

"You should not have made your way here on your own," Isadora admonished.

"I did not come alone. Mahri and Ferghus escorted me." The empress flicked her eyes to the trembling maid. "Go fetch Isadora a proper work dress. I don't want childbirth fluids staining one of my favorite frocks." After Mahri had rushed from the room, Liane looked squarely at Isadora. "Ferghus and Tatsl will guard the main door, but there's a secret pa.s.sageway in this room. Sebestyen knows his way in. You must find the entrance and block it somehow." Liane pointed to one corner of the room, not far from the window that looked out on new morning light. "It's over there somewhere."

"Why did you come here if you knew there was a secret pa.s.sageway?"

"It was the only place I could think of. The pa.s.sageways are everywhere, and Sebestyen knows them all. At least here I know the general location of the door."

Many of the hidden doorways were so well concealed, finding them was next to impossible. Isadora searched the grout between stones for s.p.a.ces that should not be there, but she found none.

Her efforts were on Liane's behalf, for Liane's protection, so she did not feel that it was inappropriate to call upon her magic. She held out her right hand and whispered, "Tyrnet."

The ring she wore began to glow, and Isadora was so startled she almost snapped her hand back to her side. But instead of reacting in that way she allowed the glow from the ring to feed her own powers. It did just that, until her hand was drawn sharply downward and the outline of the doorway was revealed in shades of blue.

"No wonder you could not find it," she said. "It's not a proper doorway at all but a very low opening. Anyone who used this would be forced to crawl to make use of it."

"Are you sure?" Liane sounded truly surprised. "Sebestyen never crawls, not for anyone or anything."

She could find something handy to wedge in the narrow crevice the spell revealed, as she did in Lucan's room each night, but as her powers were returning, that was not necessary. With Lucan she was forced to hide her magic, but with Liane that wasn't the case. Kneeling on the floor. Isadora ran her fingers along the revealed crevice and whispered powerful words her mother had taught her. She ended the incantation with the word "Sintar," and the secret entrance to this room was securely sealed.

Isadora returned to Liane, who lay upon the bed, pale and sweating and terrified. The empress was not one to admit to her own terror, but Isadora saw the fear very clearly.

"You look very fetching in my castoff gown, even though you don't have the proper curves to fill it out."

"Thank you, I think."

"I didn't think you cared to wear any of my more seductive gowns. Lucan Hern seems to have brought to life a new aspect of your nature."

"Yes, I suppose he has." She had not come here to talk about Lucan or aspects of her own nature, but it was likely that during the day she and Liane would have more time to talk than usual. Talk of such unimportant matters might make the hours pa.s.s more quickly for the mother-to-be. "I wanted him to think I was pretty." The fact that she cared about such an inconsequential thing was a cause of wonder to her.

Liane smiled weakly. "Captain Hern has always thought you pretty, Isadora, from the first time he laid eyes on you."

"A man who wants a woman in his bed will often see that which he wishes to see. There is no explaining how their minds work."

"I doubt you have ever cared much for Lucan Hern's mind," Liane teased. "And you are very attractive, in an unusual fashion. Have you not seen the way some of the sentinels look at you?"

Surely the empress was suffering from delusions. Talk of her own beauty-or lack of beauty-made Isadora uncomfortable, so she set to straightening the covers over Liane's body. "How long since your last pain?"

"While Mahri was gone to fetch you," Liane said. "It hurt," she added, as if she were surprised. "To the very depths of my bones, it hurt. How long before the babies come?"

"A few hours," Isadora replied. Since there had not been another pain since she'd arrived, delivery was certainly not as near as the empress believed it to be.

"A few hours?" Liane shouted, sitting up awkwardly. "This can't possibly go on for hours. You can make it better; you can make them come faster."

"It is best that the babies come in their own time."

Liane accepted this statement, somewhat, and leaned back. "How can we expect to keep Sebestyen out of the room for that length of time? I will probably have to see him at least once, but he cannot be in this room when the babies are born."

There had been a time when Isadora would not have believed that any man might be a danger to his own child, but that had been before she'd met Emperor Sebestyen.

Minutes later, Liane suffered a long and painful contraction. She grasped the sheet and tensed, and made a long, moaning sound. When Isadora took the empress's hand, Liane squeezed so hard bones crackled, and the moan turned into a litany of curses befitting the most battle-hardened sentinel.

When the contraction was over, Liane closed her eyes and relaxed. "Hours," she said weakly.

"The time will pa.s.s quickly," Isadora said optimistically.

Liane gave her a glare which revealed very clearly what she thought about that weak promise.

Isadora continued to hold the empress's hand. "You know, it was in this very bed that I saw w.i.l.l.ym for the last time."

"If you weep, I will kill you. I cannot bear to listen to you whine about your dead husband while I am in pain."

Isadora smiled. If she did not know Liane, she would take offense. The empress could be harsh at times, and she did not play games of decorum. Perhaps she should be allowed her social failings, given the course of her life. Captured as a girl, made a s.e.xual slave to the emperor and his men, called upon to kill. In spite of all that, Liane had not only survived, she'd flourished. She'd found love with the most unlikely of men, and she cared deeply for those few she deemed worthy: her husband, Mahri, Ferghus, Isadora. And most of all, the children she carried inside her.

"Thoughts of Will no longer make me weep," Isadora said. "I loved him, and he loved me, but our time together is past."

"You love Captain Hern now, is that it?"

"No, I don't love him." She couldn't, no matter how tempted she might be. "But he has made me see that life goes on for the living. A woman should only mourn for so long."

"I told you that a thousand times."

"Yes, I know." Isadora smiled. "But Lucan communicates in a different and much more persuasive way."

"I imagine he does." Liane relaxed against her pillows. "Be careful, or you'll find yourself in my position, pregnant and cursing the man for touching you, ruining a perfectly good body, and bringing you incredible pain."

"I don't have to worry about that for a while," Isadora said lightly. "According to the Circle wizards, Lucan's first son will be born in two years. There hasn't been a boy child born in the Fyne family for so long no one remembers when it might've happened."

Again she thought, But what of his first daughter? Perhaps the son the wizards saw were the result of his politically planned marriage. Maybe she would give him daughters... and then again, maybe she could not. Or simply would not.

"Wizards are sometimes wrong, you know. Emperor Nechtyn's wizard, Thayne, prophesied that the touch of the sun on Sebestyen's face would be the sign that his life and his rule were over. It's been months since Sophie brought sunshine into the palace, and things are still going well. Well enough. Sebestyen has me, now, and the rebels are no closer to taking the palace, and with Captain Hern and the Circle on his side, the rebels don't have a chance. Wizards can be wrong."

Isadora knew that to a wizard, who was likely to live an extraordinarily long life, months were no more than the blink of an eye. And she also knew Sebestyen would not have the Circle warriors fighting with his army. She did not think it would be wise to tell Liane either of these things.

The idea of running to Tryfyn with Lucan was a nice one. Isadora could see it in her mind, the two of them-with Franco and Esmun and Elya, of course-making their escape. They would ride fast and hard, and she would finally be free from this terrible place.

But she did not fool herself into thinking she could stay with Lucan forever. Eventually he would learn that she was a witch, and he would hate her. It would be best if she did the leaving herself, before that happened.

She and Lucan could have some time together, if all went well. Isadora wanted that time with him; she even felt that she deserved to have it. Lucan would be the man to get her out of the palace. In spite of his promises, she didn't believe for one minute that Emperor Sebestyen intended to let her go.

WHEN HE FIRST woke and found his wife gone, Sebestyen was not overly concerned. Even though Liane had been confined to bed for weeks, she did visit the lavatory often, and she was allowed short walks to stretch her legs.

He rose, bathed, and dressed, and when that was done and his wife had not returned, he became concerned. Since Isadora and Gadhra had ordered her to bed rest, Liane had not been out of this room for more than a few minutes at a time.

Beorn and Serian were stationed in the hallway, guarding the entrance to his bedchamber as they did every morning after dawn and shift change. "Where is the empress?"

They both bowed to him in respect, and then Serian said, "We were informed that Empress Liane and her maid left some time ago, before our shift began. Mahri said the empress was restless and did not wish to disturb you, and that they were going to Level Five."

"Restless," Sebestyen repeated.

Serian nodded, and dipped his head so he would not have to look his emperor in the eye.

Sebestyen loved his wife, oddly enough, and he knew her well. If she were restless, she would not care about disturbing his sleep. She would likely elbow him in the side to make sure that he did not sleep well while she could not.

He headed for the lift, and the two sentinels fell into step behind him. There was little potential for danger to the emperor here in the upper levels of the palace, but at least two sentinels were with him at all times. Only in his personal chambers did he know complete privacy. The three of them made their way to Level Five by way of the lift, and no one said a word. It wasn't as if he carried on idle conversation with his guards. Liane had a habit of getting much too friendly with her servants, but then she had once been a servant herself. She would learn, in time, that those who served were not worthy of the time and effort it took to converse.

Soon, when the baby was sent to the priests for safekeeping and training, Liane would have no one but her husband to lean on. That was as it should be.

Ferghus and Tatsl were stationed outside the empress's quarters, and they snapped to attention when they saw who approached. Even Mahri waited in the hallway, pacing nervously. She, too, a.s.sumed a posture of deference.

Ferghus, who stood directly in front of the door, did not move. Sebestyen gestured with his hand, indicating that the sentinel should step aside. He did not.

"My Lady Liane has commanded that she and her midwife not be disturbed until we are informed otherwise," the man said in a lowered but disturbingly strong voice.

"I'm sure she did not include her husband in that order."

At least the man had the grace to pale as he answered, "She did, my lord. Most specifically."

Sebestyen leaned toward the loyal sentinel and lowered his voice. "If you don't move aside, I will have you killed here and now, is that understood?"

"Yes, my lord. Understood. Would it be permissible to send the maid in to see that the women are prepared for your presence?"

Prepared. Good lord, the baby was coming. Sebestyen's heart thumped too hard. He should've realized as soon as he woke and discovered Liane missing from their bed. He nodded curtly in a.s.sent.

They both stepped aside to allow Mahri to enter the room. Sebestyen strained to listen, but all was silent in the brief moments the door was opened. Very shortly, Mahri returned. She opened the door, stepped back, and silently invited Sebestyen to enter.

He had never entered the empress's chambers through this main entrance. In fact, he had never visited any of his wives previous to Liane here, and when he had come to her he'd used the secret pa.s.sageways. Those winding stairways and narrow halls were the only way he could move about the palace alone, without his constant guard.

Beorn and Serian entered the chamber with him, but at his signal they a.s.sumed their post in the entryway.

The empress's chambers were laid out very differently from his own. The entrance to his bedroom opened onto one huge s.p.a.ce. There were smaller chambers beyond that large bedroom for dressing and bathing, and other rooms on Level One were available for meetings and entertainment and dining.

These rooms were smaller, each chamber with a purpose, each connected to another by a narrow pa.s.sageway. They were very nicely decorated, but he would suffocate if he were forced to live here. No wonder his four former wives had all come to hate him.

Not that he hadn't given them other reasons to hate him, before he'd dispatched them all to Level Thirteen.

The narrow pa.s.sageway opened into the bedchamber. He saw Liane before she saw him, and so he was still for a moment in order to watch his wife un.o.bserved. She rested on a soft mound of pillows, and she seemed fine. Maybe he had been wrong, and the baby was not coming just yet. That was a relief. It was too soon, but then Isadora and Gadhra had both said the baby would come early and would be fine.

How sad that he was forced to take the word of witches in such important matters. He caught a glimpse of Isadora out of the corner of his eye. Today she was dressed in a serviceable blue dress unlike those she had been wearing in her charade as Liane's cousin. Another hint that perhaps this was the day they had been waiting for.

He entered the bedroom properly and scowled down at his wife. "What on earth are you doing here?"

Liane looked squarely and bravely at him, in a way no one else dared, and answered, "I'm having a baby."

"Excellent." Sebestyen fetched a chair and pulled it to Liane's bedside, where he sat.

"What do you think you're doing?" Liane snapped.

"You do wish me present for the birth, don't you?"

"No!"

He should not feel hurt that Liane did not want him here, but the pang at his center was a sign of sharp disappointment. "It is my place."

Liane shook her head. "I don't want anyone here but Isadora."

She would choose the witch over her own husband? True, a woman's presence was necessary. Sebestyen certainly didn't wish to deliver the child himself. But Liane wanted Isadora to be with her. She did not want him. In what should be a time of joy, he found himself annoyed.

"That's impossible. There must be witnesses to the birth. Father Merryl, with another priest or two in attendance, myself-"

"No!" Liane rose up, slowly but perhaps as quickly as was possible, given her condition. "Look at me, Sebestyen. I am sweating, distended, and laid out upon this bed like a sacrificial cow, where I will shortly and painfully expel your very large son from my body. It is not an event I wish to be witnessed by anyone. If I could manage this alone, I wouldn't even allow Isadora in the room!"

"Don't be ridiculous," he said calmly.

Liane's face paled, and her expression changed. She gripped the sheets beneath her hands and closed her eyes. The pain she experienced was so clear on her face, he felt it himself. Her breathing changed, she moaned in agony, and she muttered a few foul words that should never pa.s.s an empress's lips.

If he could take the pain from her and bear it himself, he would. Watching her suffer was excruciating in a way he had not expected it to be.

The pain pa.s.sed like a wave. Starting gently, growing stronger, then fading gradually. When it was done, Liane opened her eyes and looked at him again. "If I were not very sure that neither of us could have a child again, you would not touch me from this day forward. I don't know how it is possible that any woman ever willingly has more than one child." Tears sprang to her eyes. "This is terrible, and I don't want you to see me this way. I should be beautiful for you, always."

He reached out and touched a sweaty, pale cheek. "You are beautiful to me, Liane. Now more than ever."

She actually laughed, though not with exuberance. "You are such a liar."

"No," he said sincerely. "Not about this." He leaned forward and kissed her gently.

When he drew away, she seemed to relax. "Don't tell the priests that I'm in labor," she said. "We can

summon them after the child is born and tell them I had an unusually quick delivery."

"They will not be happy."

"The happiness of the priests has never been my concern."

Sebestyen turned his attention to Isadora. "How long?"

"It is too soon to tell. Hours. Perhaps all day."

Liane responded with a succinct curse word.

For a moment, Sebestyen sat in the chair without responding. Even though he wished to be present for

the birth of his son, he did not want to sit here and watch Liane suffer for hours on end. Perhaps that made him a coward. But as she did not want him here, it made perfect sense for him to leave the women to their work. He stood slowly. "When the time is near, send for me. I want to be with you when the baby is born."