It hung there for a very long moment. "Consider yourself under arrest for murder," he said spitingly.

"And as soon as you hold the trial, I'll tell everyone all about your promise to murder my friends to extract information out of me," she replied. "You may be king, but you're still bound by the law. Not even you stand above that."

"I am king! I make the law!" he hissed.

"Make yourself a god, father, and you'll find out how quickly you'll lose your crown," she told him smoothly. "Then you'll be the god of the lost."

"You are very close to not having a trial, daughter," he hissed threateningly.

"And you are very close to being exposed as nothing more than a heartless monster," she replied. "I'm sure your army and the people would love to know just what kind of man they serve."

That hit a nerve. Damon Eram sat back down hard and glared at Keritanima with hot eyes. "You are confined to your room," he growled.

"No."

" What?"

"I said no," she replied. "I will not be bullied by you. If you want me to stay in my room, make me."

"How dare you!" Damon Eram screamed, jumping to his feet and hooking the claws on his hand on the corner of his desk. He heaved it aside, nearly crashing it into his priests, and advanced on Keritanima with murder in his eyes. But he came up short when Keritanima raised her hand and pointed her palm at him. His fear of her was still very tangible, whether or not he was protected from her magic, and that moment of hesitation was enough for her to step back so that Binter was closer to him than she was. He may not be afraid of her physically, but he'd be a maniac to think that he could get to her through the Vendari.

"Your Majesty, I think that-" one of his priests began, but Damon Eram cut him off.

"Silence!" he roared. "Get out of my sight, daughter, before I kill you myself!"

"Try," she said in a deadly voice, her eyes narrowing to slits.

"Your Majesty, your Highness, I think it is best if this audience were to end," one of the priests said in a reasonable voice, stepping between them. Keritanima had to admire the man's guts to so blatantly get in the path of death.

Keritanima glared at Damon Eram around the priest. "Don't push me, father," she warned. "You'll make me cranky. You don't want to see me when I'm cranky."

"Get out! Get out! Get out!!!" Damon Eram shrieked hysterically. He was nearly frothing at the mouth.

Keritanima looked at him calmly, tilting her head to the side, then she gave him the most wicked little smile. "Anything you say, father. You are the King, after all," she said with a malicious little chuckle, turning her back on him without bowing and floating out of the room.

When she was out of sight, she blew out her breath and leaned on Binter's arm heavily. She was tired, and the stress of the confrontation had worn on her. But it was deliciously convenient. Her father looked insane just then, and that image was one that would begin to be buzzed about the gossip circles… as soon as the other men in the room got out of there and started jabbering. Her campaign against her father would begin that very night.

She looked up at Binter in wonder. "I can't believe you did that, Binter," she said in awe.

"What did I do, Highness?"

"You lied for me, Binter! I can't even find the words that would tell you how honored I am that you'd do that for me."

"I did not lie, Highness," Binter said. "His Majesty asked me for my opinion. I gave it to him. He did not ask for the plain truth."

"He didn't say one way or the other."

"And in not saying, he allowed me to decide what it was that he wanted," he explained easily. "I cannot know your mind, Highness. There is no way that I would know if you do not know where the Firestaff is. You just may know where the Firestaff is, even if you do not believe that you do. So to tell him that I did not know one way or the other was the truth. From my point of view."

Keritanima looked at him a long time, then she laughed delightedly. "You're in the wrong profession, Binter. You should have been a lawyer."

"May the Gods permit it never to be so," Binter said fervently as he led her back to the apartment.

The confrontation had worn at her in more than one way.

For one, her father was starting to get inconvenient. He was getting bold, dangerous, and he was starting to get unmanagable. She had put the fear of death in him that time, but it wouldn't last. His pride would make him ignore that, and his lust for the Firestaff would strengthen his resolve. Her other activities were splitting his time, but it was apparent that keeping his throne was now not quite as important as finding out just how much Keritanima knew. Continuing to play that game was getting dangerous, and she decided that perhaps ending it would be the better idea. It may have been better if Binter had simply told her father that she didn't know where it was. It would have made things just a little less dangerous, even if it would have taken a very effective piece off the chessboard.

She thought about it all that day, hand under her muzzle as she rapped her fingers on her desk for hours on end. It was apparent that she had to destabilize her father much faster than she had planned, and just gamble that things would be sane until Sisska could return with the Vendari. Her father did have the power to have them all killed. Only the public relations disaster it could possibly create, and the possibility that he'd be killing the only person who could lead him to the Firestaff were stopping him. She'd already openly defied him, so there wasn't much doubt that she'd committed high treason.

So she had to distract him again. Going ahead with her current plan seemed to be a good way to go about that, because it was more subtle. They'd just have to hold on for a week or so. It was going to be tense. It hinged on just how badly she scared her father, how far he thought she'd go. She hoped that he realized that she'd carry out her threats. It would make things hard for her, because house Eram would lose the crown and that would mess up all her plans, but it was one means to an end.

But there were other ways to get at Damon Eram through more than his fear. She intended to assault his pride next, and undermine the loyalty which his people showed to him.

It would be easy.

Late that night, more than one servant caught sight of King Damon Eram wandering the halls of the Palace. He was mumbling to himself and wearing his crown… and absolutely nothing else. Any servant who crossed his path received a blistering lecture about showing him proper respect and adulation, even that they should fall on their knees and grovel before him. He then went into the Hall of the Sun and sat on his throne, looking out over the dark chamber with feverish eyes, commanding people that weren't there.

Then he calmly walked back to his rooms, leaving behind him a wake of spirited gossip.

The episode repeated itself every night well after midnight for three days, and servants, spies, guards, and even some of the nobility situated themselves in the hallways to see it for themselves. Damon Eram would walk out of his room naked, wearing only his crown, and wander the hallways around his rooms randomly, blistering anyone who met him in the hallways about treating him with the respect he deserved. Nobody bowed deep enough, or looked humble enough, to suit him. He threatened execution for anyone who reached out to touch him. After wandering the hallways a while, he would go to the Hall of the Sun and sit on his throne a while, occasionally calling out to command phantoms, then he would get up and go back to bed.

Court on that fourth day was eventful. Keritanima was there, and she saw all the strange looks people were giving the King as he sat on his throne and held audience. They all knew about his midnight strolls, and the strangeness of them had set them all abuzz. Her father, hearing about their chatter through his spies, seemed genuinely puzzled at why they would think he was doing such strange things.