Shadow War Part 14

Finally he stepped back. "Your Majesty is very tense," he said. "You have not been sleeping well, and you are overly fatigued. My advis.e.m.e.nt is rest."

She looked at him directly. "I do not have that luxury. I will be involved in ceremonial activities this afternoon, all evening, and all day tomorrow."

"The coronation, yes." He frowned. "I can remove the headache. I can induce calm, if your Majesty wishes. However, without rest the headache is likely to return in a few hours. I can also mix you a very mild sedative to help you sleep."

She knew nothing of Traulanders, except that they were cold, characterless giants who lived in a country of snow and ice. They were said to be incorruptible and trustworthy, clannish, and hard to like. Suspicious of strangers, old-fashioned, and nonprogressive, they rarely traveled beyond their own province. It was strange to meet this man from a land that sounded like a tale for children. She did not think he would poison her.

"The potion is acceptable," she said at last. "You may also treat me."

Bowing, he said, "If your Majesty would remove your veil and hood."

She could not hesitate, could not betray any nervousness. It was said that healers from Trau possessed extraordinary powers. They could remove all kinds of hurts with a simple touch. She marveled at such abilities, but she was not sure she believed. Kostimon had an old man's desperation to try anything that would ease his aches and pains.

Lowering her veil, she pushed back her hood and faced the healer. Gravely he seemed to gather his concentration; then, with a frown, he pressed his fingertips against her forehead.

"No," he murmured and shifted his touch around to her left temple.

The pain flared harder inside her skull, throbbing wildly for a moment, then it eased. Suddenly it was gone, as though it had never been.

Elandra's eyes widened. She drew in her breath sharply. "It's gone."

The healer stepped back and bowed again. "Yes. But your Majesty must heed my advice to rest. Also, you should avoid salt in your diet for a few days. These simple precautions will insure that the pain does not return."

"Thank you," she said with a smile. Impressed by him, she marveled at his skills. Kostimon was wise to bring this man to court. He should have done so years ago.

Nodding, the healer moved to his cabinet and began taking down bottles. "I will make an infusion which you might drink later with tea, just before you retire. It will help you sleep."

"Yes. That would be helpful," she said, keeping her tone as formal as his.

"Your Majesty should not wait," he said. "It will not take long to make the infusion, but I shall be happy to see it delivered-"

"No," she said sharply, fearing poison and interference. Anyone might meddle with it on the way. "I shall wait."

"My humble study is not comfortable."

"No," she agreed, putting up her hood and veil again for warmth. "But I shall wait."

He did not protest further. Gathering his materials, he walked out into the pa.s.sageway and shut the door quietly, leaving her alone.

Sighing with relief, she sat down and ma.s.saged her temples. Miraculously, the pain was still gone. She felt restored, and some of her edginess was fading. Even this dreadful, icy room was better than her own quarters. At least it was quiet and utterly private. She shut her eyes a moment, sinking into the tranquility.

The window slid open with a sc.r.a.pe, startling her. She looked up at a man's head and shoulders framed within the window's opening. He was climbing inside.

Even as she scrambled to her feet, he pulled himself the rest of the way through and dropped to the floor like a cat.

He was immensely tall, taller even than the healer, with broad, muscular shoulders and a tangled mane of golden hair. Dressed in filthy rags, he was covered in grime from head to foot. His blue eyes glared fiercely, darting here and there in feral distrust.

Elandra regained her startled wits immediately. "A thief," she breathed, and gathered herself to scream.

Faster than thought, he was across the small room and on her. Her cry was cut off by his hand pressing roughly against her mouth. He pushed her back against the wall and pinned her there with his body, holding her fast despite her struggles. He stared at the door, but her guards had not heard her. They did not come to her aid.

"Be quiet, or I will choke the life from you," he whispered harshly.

She heaved against him, but he might as well have been a rock. His hand was crushing her lips. She drew them back from her teeth and bit him.

Sucking in a breath of pain, he shifted himself slightly and gripped her throat with his other hand. The pain was immediate and terrifying. She couldn't breathe at all.

Then his crushing fingers lifted from her throat, and she sagged weakly, struggling to draw in air.

"Now be quiet, and I will not hurt you more," he said.

She started coughing. Her throat burned like fire.

He seemed to take her coughing for a.s.sent, for he released her slowly and cautiously. Lifting his hand from her mouth, he held up his forefinger in warning.

"Remember, not a sound," he whispered. "Who is out there?"

"My guards," she replied, her voice a strangle. She was thinking desperately, trying to devise a plan to escape. All the while a derisive voice in the back of her head jeered at her: Oh, yes, how safe it is inside the palace. You may roam anywhere you please. Why not dismiss your guards entirely? Oh, yes, how safe it is inside the palace. You may roam anywhere you please. Why not dismiss your guards entirely? But telling herself how stupid and naive she'd been did not help. This seemed to be a day of hard lessons. But telling herself how stupid and naive she'd been did not help. This seemed to be a day of hard lessons.

He was eyeing her in a speculative way she did not like, obviously taking in the richness of her velvet gown and fur-lined cloak. Her veil had come loose in the struggle. She tried to pull it back in place, but it would not stay.

"Where is the healer, my lady?" he asked with a little more respect in his voice. "Is this his room?"

She nodded. "He went to make a potion for me."

The thief pushed himself away from her with a scowl. He crossed the room in two long strides and came back again. "Agel, Agel, where are you?" he muttered, shoving back his tangled hair from his face. "How long has he been gone?"

"Only a few minutes," she answered.

The thief, if he was a thief, grimaced impatiently. He seemed very nervous, and he was limping. She noticed his footgear was worn through as though he had walked a long distance. He looked half frozen as well. He had no cloak, and what remained of his tattered tunic was silk. One of his hands looked burned; the flesh across the back was puffed an angry red.

"This was the only window," he said. "Tell me, is there more than one entrance into the infirmary? Or must I reach it by the pa.s.sage outside?"

"I do not know," Elandra replied calmly. She had revised her original estimate of him. By his speech, he was provincial but not lowborn. He looked worried rather than insane. A thief did not refer to his intended victim by name and fret because he had stepped out for a few minutes. She decided he meant her no real harm.

"My guards are outside in the pa.s.sage. You must wait until the healer returns."

He pulled at the back of his neck, tipping back his head in a weary motion. "There is no time," he said.

Without further hesitation he went to the medicine cabinet and started picking through the bottles there, examining one after the other as though he could read the arcane symbols on the labels.

"Ah," he said finally, lifting one to the light. "That will do for a start."

Tucking it in his pocket, he started for the window.

"Wait!" she said. "What is your need, stranger? Why do you come here in this clandestine way, asking for our healer by name? Why do you hurry away, when you need care for your hurts?"

With one hand on the open windowsill, he hesitated. The thin sunlight slanted across his face, picking up the molded angles of cheekbone and jaw. His nostrils were etched fine, and there was a hint of tender fullness about his mouth.

The door opened without warning, and the healer walked in.

Startled, Elandra whirled with a gasp and pulled her veil across her face. The stranger dropped to a quick crouch, looking as though he would attack.

Only Agel kept his composure, although he stared very hard at the stranger for a moment. Then he shut the door as though his were an ordinary visitor. He glanced once at Elandra with a frown, then held back what he had intended to say.

"Well," he said at last. "This is unexpected."

"Agel! At last." The stranger hurried to him and gripped his sleeve. "You must help me at once."

"I am with a patient."

"Gault above, don't be an a.s.s." The stranger didn't even throw Elandra a look, although Agel kept glancing at her. "Put her out, and listen to me. There can be no delay."

"I will not not dismiss her Maj-the lady," Agel said severely. Red crept into his face, and Elandra could have throttled him herself. The idiot would give her away yet. "Her well-being is of the utmost importance." dismiss her Maj-the lady," Agel said severely. Red crept into his face, and Elandra could have throttled him herself. The idiot would give her away yet. "Her well-being is of the utmost importance."

"Nothing is more important than what I need you to do."

But Agel was drawing back with a stern shake of his head. He looked angry, embarra.s.sed, and disappointed. They obviously knew each other. In fact, there was a similarity to the shape of their heads and the cast of their eyes. They might be kinsmen. Watching, Elandra let her curiosity grow.

"Get out," Agel said coldly. "You are clearly up to no good. I will not get involved with-"

"It concerns my master," the strange said impatiently. He cast Elandra a worried look, as though she might know whom he referred to. "There is trouble."

"You are always in trouble," Agel said with asperity. "Have you run away?"

"Only you can help me. I need an audience-"

"If you have run away, or done something even worse, I cannot help you," Agel said. "I have no influence in that quarter."

"You have the ear of the emperor," the stranger said. "I must speak to him."

Agel's gaze shifted nervously to Elandra. "Impossible," he said.

"May Faure burn your ears!" the stranger said. "Don't say 'impossible' in that pompous tone. It must be done. Every moment is vital. Give me your spare set of clothes and some wash water. While you ask for an audience, I will get cleaned up."

The healer looked exasperated, and Elandra had to smile behind her veil. This filthy stranger clearly had no idea of how the emperor was approached.

"Well?" he demanded.

Agel sighed. "You are mad to come here like this. Why didn't you send for me in the normal way?"

Even Elandra lost patience with him. He was stodgy and stupid, for all his professional skill. She could see the stranger was rapidly losing the scant shreds of temper he had left.

"Healer Agel," she said imperiously, stepping forward.

Both men glared at her as though they wanted no interference.

"If this man is known to you, why do you deny him your a.s.sistance?"

Agel's mouth dropped open before he hastily closed it. "But I cannot-"

She gestured to silence him. "The man is hurt, and cold, and has obviously walked many miles to come here. He is in trouble and has need of you. Will you refuse him care?"

"No, of course not, my lady," Agel said, looking confused and frustrated. "But I must attend you First."

"If you will give me the potion I came for, I will consider myself satisfied." She reached out her hand, and he reluctantly gave her the bottle.

"Thank you," she said. "Now care for this man."

"I don't want that," the stranger said, interrupting. "The emperor must be warned."

"Of what?" she asked. "What news do you bring?"

He glared at her.

"Answer her, you fool," Agel said.

The stranger whipped his head around suspiciously. "Why?" he asked the healer. "It's no concern of hers."

Agel's face went red again. "You lout. You have no manners. A savage would be better than-"

"You can correct his manners later," Elandra said, losing patience with both of them. She pinned the stranger's gaze with her own. "What would you tell the emperor?"

His blue eyes were stubborn. He made no answer.

"See?" Agel said to her. "He is hopeless, no one for your Maj-for you to concern yourself about. Just a stupid, troublemaking slave who has run away from his master and wants protection."

"The law forbids harboring a runaway," she said severely. However, when she looked into this man's fierce blue eyes, she had difficulty believing he could belong to anyone. He looked like the hunting eagles of Gialta. Even with tresses on their legs, their talons blunted, and their wings clipped for training, their eyes remained untamed. "Have you run away?" she asked gently.

His eyes did not flinch from hers. "Not yet," he said.

There was darkness in his voice, a tangle of undercurrents and emotions she did not wish to unravel. As interesting as this was, she could not tarry here for long.

"Take care," she said in warning to the healer. "Your oath is to help the sick, the injured, and the helpless, but you may not extend that to sheltering runaways or those who have broken the law."

Agel's eyes narrowed. His face remained red. "I shall not break the law for this man, my lady. I shall not harbor him, and I cannot give him what he asks for." He turned on the stranger with open resentment. "Always you cause trouble. Go! Whatever you have done, I want no part of it."

The stranger looked frustrated. "Yes, you have always been more interested in preserving yourself than in doing what is right. What hope have I of reaching the emperor, if you will not help me? Would you at least carry a message to him?"

"No," Agel said without hesitation.

The stranger turned on Elandra so suddenly she jumped. "And you, lady?" he asked desperately. "Could you do it?"

She found herself unaccountably fl.u.s.tered. "Do what?"

"Carry a message to him."

"I-I-"