Feeling tired and old, I retrieved Aber's Trump from the bed and put it on the desk, next to my sword. I'd take it with me when I went out, in case I needed to find my way back here quickly. Then I began to get dressed.

Rhalla returned just as I finishing pulling on my boots. She looked splendid again, in a pale, shimmering green gown. I smiled and pulled her to me, feeling nothing but regret. Why did the beautiful ones always mean trouble?

“You are angry?” she asked.

“At you? No.” To my surprise, I found I honestly wasn't angry at her. I wished she had told me the truth at once, but she could not help her nature.

“Good.” She buried her head in my shoulder. “I thought I had lost you.”

“No.” I hugged her tight, but I could feel a new tension between us. Our perfect moment had passed.

The door to the hall still stood open. My valet poked his head in, saw us, smirked, and had the good sense to withdraw—closing the door in the process. At least someone here had manners.

As I held Rhalla, I could feel the flutter of her heart. A dangerous game indeed, I knew, leaning forward and breathing her musky scent. She had to think nothing had changed between us, at least for now.

There was an old saying… hold your friends close, and your enemies closer. I thought of that as I cupped her chin in my hand, and kissed her long and passionately. So beautiful… and she had come to betray me. To suck my blood, my strength, my life.

When we came apart for air, she took both my hands and gazed into my eyes.

“I trust you, Oberon,” she said, searching my face. “I do not trust many men. Do not let me down.”

“I won't,” I said.

And yet I felt my love for her slipping away. I had been a fool, a childish, impulsive fool. I never should have trusted anyone in this place. I should have let Aber kill her. I should have done anything other than what I had done… and what I knew I would continue to do.

Women had always been my one great weakness. Years ago, in Ilerium, when I was sixteen and a raw recruit in King Elnar's army, I spent a night whoring with my friends after a particularly bloody campaign against the Nazarians. That night a much-scarred old captain named Mezeer pulled me aside.

“You have real promise,” Captain Mazeer had said to me, and I saw then that he was very, very drunk. “Don't… don't throw it all away.”

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

“I've seen the way you look at women… I've seen the way they look at you… You're too handsome… too trusting.” He hiccupped. “It's a bad combination. So… my young friend… watch your step. A woman… a woman will get you killed if you don't.”

It had been good advice. And I had never taken it.

Instead of running for my life, I kissed Rhalla again. She leaned into my arms, body lightly thrust against mine, lips warm and soft, the smell of her filling my nostrils.

Kissing her this way, my anger disappeared. I had nothing to fear from her, I thought, as I felt her body responding to mine. True, she had been using me. And yet, in my own way, I had been using her as well. She had been an anchor to normality for me, a way to hold onto my old life.

I no longer needed such a support. Instead, I would turn her to my own purposes.

“Tell me why you really came here,” I said.

“Because…” She hesitated, searching my face, and I saw the shame of betrayal in her eyes. I nodded slightly, encouraging her; I could use that emotion—bend it, reshape it to my needs, and make it serve me.

I said, “Because you love me.”

She nodded.

“For us to continue,” I said, “I must know everything. We cannot have secrets. Tell me, who sent you here?”

“Lord, I must not! None of us will be safe!”

“No one will harm you. I promise.”

She bowed her head. “It was Lord Ulyanash,” she whispered.

Ulyanash… the name meant nothing to me. Could he be the serpent I had seen in my visions, torturing my brothers and spying on me?

“Describe him,” I said.

“He is tall and dark, with long black hair, two small white horns, and red eyes, like coals.” She hesitated. “He was born of a minor house, I know, but his ambitions are well known. He has many friends and supporters in King Uthor's court these days…”

“Is that where you met him?”

“Yes. I was in the employ of Lady Elan. He… persuaded her to place me into his service.”

I nodded; the stealing of servants was a much-practiced tradition in Ilerium among the nobility. It seemed little different here.

“What else can you tell me about him?” I asked.

“I think he does not care about you. He did not know who you were before he sent me here—all he had was your name. He could not even tell me what you looked like.”

“That's why you asked who I was in the hallway, the first time we met?”

“Yes. But this plan was not of Lord Ulyanash's design. He does not have the imagination.”

“You were to kill me, weren't you?”

She could not meet my gaze. Head down, she nodded.

“Why didn't you?” I asked.

“I could not! You were so kind to me… you treated me like an equal, not a servant.” She hesitated. “And… I liked you. Even though it will cost me my life when he finds out, I could not obey. I could not kill you.”

“Thank you for that.” I hugged her close. Her heart fluttered in her chest; I could feel it as our skins touched. Then, as I nuzzled her neck, wondering how much more she knew, I felt her shiver.

“Why does he want me dead?” I asked. That was the one thing I did not understand. “Why not my father, or my brother Aber? I have no power here. They are the ones who matter, not me.”

“I do not know, Oberon.” She pulled away and perched on the edge of the bed, sighing deeply. “For some reason, Ulyanash fears you, and that makes him dangerous. You must be careful in all things. Your enemies here are powerful.”

I sat beside her, and a plan began to take form in my imagination. I put my arm around her shoulder, comforting.

“You must go back to Ulyanash,” I said.

“No!”

“You must,” I said firmly. “Tell him you've done your job and I'm dead. Then see what else you can find out. I need to know whose plan this was, and why they want me out of the way. Otherwise their next attempt to kill me may well succeed.” I gave her another quick kiss. “Talk to no one else about me. And… come back as soon as you can?”

She smiled wistfully. “Yes, Oberon. I will come back. But…” She glanced pointedly at the door, and I read her expression.

“Aber won't hurt you. I won't let him—or anyone else here. You are under my protection now, for whatever good that does.”

She brightened noticeably. “Thank you, Oberon.”

“I'll talk to my brother after you're gone. All right?”

She smiled, squeezed my hand, and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

Then, without a backward glance, she let herself out into the hallway.

Somehow, I had a feeling I would never see her again. Too much could go wrong with my plans. If Ulyanash had other spies in our household, or had other ways of spying on us, he would soon discover Rhalla's deception. And if that happened…

Sighing, I headed downstairs to find Aber.