Caledan watched Ravendas with a growing feeling of disgust. "How did you know that?" It was one of his most private memories. He and Kera had made love the entire night without ever speaking a word. It had been wonderful.

Ravendas's eyes narrowed, like those of a cat about to Pounce. "It was not Kera in your arms that night, Caledan. It was I. I drugged Kera, donned her clothes, and slipped into your room. Earlier that night I had poured something into your ale to make you a bit more… pliable, shall we say? I left your bed before dawn, and nine moons later Kellen was born. And just like his father, he possesses a talent for music-and the shadow magic."

Caledan gazed at her in horror. He could find no words.

"How like Kera, that she never did tell you," Ravendas crooned.

"She knew?" Caledan said hoarsely. His throat tightened; he felt as if he was going to be sick.

"Of course. Sisters cannot hide such things from each other. But she was the sort of fool who chose to bear the pain alone to protect you. Nobility was always one of Kera's most tiresome traits."

The room seemed to be spinning in a haze of crimson. "Damn you," Caledan cried. "Damn you to the Abyss."

"Spare the dramatics, Caledan," Ravendas snapped. Her voice was like a slap to his face, clearing his head. "You see now that there is nothing you can do to stop me. I do not need your shadow magic. But I would still have you stand beside me. You are strong, brave, and not without some charm. Though you should shave more often." Her eyes glittered hungrily. "Will you kneel before me as your queen?"

Caledan gazed at her in revulsion. "Never."

Scarlet blotches bloomed on Ravendas's cheeks. 'Then you will die," she hissed. She pulled a cord that hung from the ceiling. Moments later the door to the chamber opened, and her guards stepped through.

"Take this lowlife to the dungeon," she commanded. "But take care not to kill him right away. I want that pleasure for myself."

Kellen leaned away from the door in the small anteroom adjacent to his mother's chamber. He had been listening to the loud discussion on the other side of the doorway. He had not understood much, but he had understood enough. Tears streaked his pale cheeks, and the look of calm melancholy in his green eyes was replaced by one of deep sorrow. He pulled something from the pocket of his dark tunic. It was the small wooden soldier.

"It's him," he whispered softly to the doll. "He's come for us. But she won't let him take us away. I know she won't."

He heard the kind man's voice speaking to him again.

She can't break you, not if you're strong.

He brushed away his tears then, his expression growing hard. He put the wooden soldier back in his pocket and left the small anteroom. It was time to practice his music for Lord Snake.

Caledan leaned against the rust-covered iron bars of the cell. The cramped room was damp and cold, the floor covered with sour, decaying straw. Moans of despair and agony drifted down the dim stone corridor. He felt his spirits sinking. He wished Ravendas would have simply killed him and gotten it over with. He didn't relish the idea of rotting to death in this cesspool of a dungeon.

He slumped down in a corner of the cell, resting his face in his hands. His was going to be an utterly meaningless death. He had let his one chance to take vengeance against Ravendas slip away, and what had he gained by it? Nothing. She had not even credited his warning about Snake.

"Are you just going to sit there looking gloomy?" a voice rasped. "Or do you want to get out of this rat's nest?"

Caledan looked up in surprise. A guard dressed in an ill-fitting uniform stood in the shadowy corridor outside of Caledan's cell. The guard lifted his torch higher, and the light flickered across his face. Caledan laughed aloud.

"Ferret!" he cried hoarsely, scrambling to his feet.

The thief used the tip of his stiletto to pry open the cell's lock. Caledan couldn't help but notice that the knife was stained with blood. The cell door opened, and Caledan followed Ferret into the dimly lit corridor. He suddenly noticed there were shadowy figures all around them.

"Friends?" he whispered to Ferret.

"No. Thieves," Ferret replied as they started down the corridor. "You have a problem with that?" Caledan shook his head. "This way," Ferret said, gesturing toward a narrow corridor. "The thieves of the Purple Masks Guild have a private entrance to the dungeons that the guards don't know about. Bock was kind enough to let me use it. For a price, of course. You owe me quite a bit of gold, you know."

Caledan was not about to haggle.

Nineteen

As the lord steward Snake spoke a harsh word of magic, the pale, egg-shaped crystal went dark in his hand. A leering smile touched his lipless mouth. He was most pleased with this surprising turn of events. Neither Ravendas nor the Harpers could dare stand against him now.

Snake wrapped the crystal in a velvet cloth, tucking it into the pocket of his poison green robes. He walked from his room and ascended the tower's spiral staircase until he reached Ravendas's chamber. The guards permitted him to enter, and he found Ravendas sitting by the west window, gazing out over the city with her azure eyes. She was dressed entirely in black velvet-shirt, doublet, and breeches-a man's clothing.

Her chamber was neater than it had been earlier in the morning. After Ravendas had learned of Caldorien's escape from the dungeon, there had not been a breakable object in the room that had escaped her wrath. The servants had cleaned up the shards of crystal and porcelain, however, and now Lord Ravendas's face was as pale and placid as alabaster. But there was death in her cold blue eyes, Snake noted. Hatred and death.

"My lord, may I speak with you?" Snake said in his sibilant voice. Ravendas was silent for a long moment, until finally she nodded, turning her head and her cold gaze upon him.

"Speak."

"My lord, there is a plot of insurrection in your city."

"Is this so, my lord steward? And who might I ask are the perpetrators who dare to attempt such a bold affront against me?" She smiled, red lips pulling back from white teeth. "As if I might not guess."

"It is not only Caldorien, my lord, but also his cohorts."

"Ah yes, Caledan's 'Fellowship.'" Ravendas sneered.

Snake nodded. "The Harper woman plots to free the prisoners in your dungeon. If this were to happen, the entire city would erupt in rebellion."

Ravendas tapped the fine line of her jaw. "This is intriguing news, my lord steward. Do you know where this Harper, Al'maren, can be found?"

"No. She is hiding somewhere within the city, my lord. The traitor was reluctant to reveal any further details."

“Traitor?"

"One who is close to Caldorien," Snake explained. "Any more than this the traitor would not reveal to me."

Ravendas stood and paced before the window with catlike grace. With her shoulder-length golden hair and the black doublet and breeches, she looked almost like a fair young man, a prince from a Cormyrian court perhaps. "What else has this traitor told you?"

"The attempt to free the prisoners will be made tomorrow, on the night of the moon's dark."

Ravendas turned this news over in her head. "Very well, my lord steward," she said crisply. "Let them plan their little insurrection. I shall be ready for them. But do keep in contact with this traitor of yours. I shall be eager for more information."

"As you wish, my lord." Snake bowed his head, starting to walk from the chamber.

"And, Snake," Ravendas called after him, "send Kellen to me. I want to be certain that my son is fully prepared for tomorrow."

Snake hesitated for a moment. "Yes, my lord," he said, then walked from the room, leaving Ravendas smiling with self-satisfaction.