Degyat now wore gilded armor over dyed leather breeches and an elaborate headdress that was both hat and helmet, apparently to remind people that he was a fighting man as well as a courtier. The combination wasn't entirely successful, but in spite of his promotion the young admiral was as plain-spoken and sensible as ever. He was also much more at home in this exalted company than Nemyet. Blue Swallow's captain looked like a young actor playing his first big part before a hostile audience and frightened out of his wits.

Eventually Degyat left, after inviting Blade to come for a cruise with the fleet aboard his galley while he was in Gohar. «From what you've said, it seems the memory of Gohar's rule over Sea and Ocean may have survived. You might like to see more of how it really was.»

«Thank you. I might.»

Nemyet nearly blew out the nearest torches with his sigh of relief after Degyat was out of sight. Blade smiled. «Feeling dizzy from the height?»

Nemyet laughed bitterly. «You should be a poet as well as a Historian. Yes. Until you came to Blue Swallow, I was so far below these people»-he waved a hand at the crowd around them-«that I could hope none of them would ever notice me. Now they know I exist. That can mean rewards. It can also mean other things.»

Blade nodded. «I know. I could say that an honest man has nothing to fear, but I'd be a fool if I did. I haven't found very many courts where somebody isn't setting traps, and this certainly isn't one of them.»

«No. You seem to be a friend of both the Emperor and the prince, so you've won half the battle. If you can win over-«Nemyet's eyes, looking over Blade's shoulder, widened suddenly and his mouth snapped shut like a trap. Blade turned to see exactly what he'd expected-Prime Minister Kloret approaching at the head of a whole platoon of family, friends, courtiers, bodyguards, servants, and heaven only knew what else.

Blade said farewell to Nemyet and the sea captain hurried off, trying to get clear of the area without moving fast enough to attract Kloret's eye. Blade helped him by approaching the Prime Minister, hand outstretched and his best smile firmly pasted in place.

«Greetings, Lord Blade,» said the Prime Minister. «Did I interrupt a private conversation?»

«Hardly,» said Blade. «I was just refusing Nemyet's invitation to join him on Blue Swallow's next voyage. I've seen enough water and pirates for the moment.»

«Where was he going?» said Kloret. «Mythor?»

«No. Just a short voyage on the eastern shore, to load timber and resin.»

«Ah,» said Kloret. Then Blade realized that one of the women in Kloret's party was looking at him even more intently than the Prime Minister. Blade returned her stare, which wasn't hard to do. She was small and slender, with an impish, gray-eyed face under a cloud of shimmering blue-black hair. She wore a dark green robe without any ornament, slit almost to the waist on the left side. As she sensed Blade's eyes on her, she turned slightly, to display the full length of one surprisingly long and shapely leg.

Kloret laughed without looking pleased. «Ah, Blade, you remind me of my duty. Fierssa, this is the Lord Blade, the Man from the Future. Lord Blade, my daughter Fierssa.»

Blade forced himself not to look too intently at the young woman while going through the formalities. She wasn't so self-controlled. Every time Blade looked at her, he found those immense gray eyes devouring him. He recognized curiosity and sexual interest in her expression, but felt there was more behind Fierssa's peculiar intensity. He hoped Kloret wouldn't notice this exchange of looks between Blade and his daughter.

Eventually the Prime Minister finished all his social duties in this part of the garden and marched off, Fierssa with him. Blade noticed that five or six young men brought up the rear of the Prime Minister's party. None of them were armed, but all of them looked tough enough to either handle or cause trouble without weapons.

Blade realized now that he'd been so busy talking that he'd forgotten to either eat or drink. He put Kloret, his daughter, and his goon squad out of his mind and headed for the line of tables beside the pond in the center of the garden.

Blade ate fast, but not fast enough. Before he'd finished his first plate of food, people were gathering around to offer him drinks. Out of politeness, he had to cooperate. After a while even his hard head began to buzz, so he got more food to ballast the wine, then found himself being toasted again, then had to refill his plate….

By the time the food and wine ran out, he'd eaten and drunk a good deal more than he'd planned, and far more than he found comfortable. He was reasonably sure he hadn't done or said anything foolish or dangerous-his brain had a sort of built-in censor, which went into action whenever he'd had one drink too many. He still badly wanted to climb into his litter and head back to the villa and a quiet night's sleep.

He was drifting along the edge of the pond, between the water and a thick stand of flowering trees, when he heard a voice.

«Blade?»

It was a woman's voice, and he stopped. «Yes?»

«A private word with you, please.»

In spite of the «please,» the tone was that of a command. Blade decided to obey. He suspected he was just drunk enough not to be properly cautious, but was sure he wasn't drunk enough not to fight his way out of any trap.

The trees kept jumping out in front of Blade as he made his way toward the voice, but he managed not to make too much noise. Finally he pushed past the last set of branches and came out into a little clearing. It was completely surrounded by trees on all sides, but overhead a full moon shone through. It was easy to recognize the woman who sat cross-legged on the grass, her back against a tree.

«Greetings, Your Highness,» said Blade. He found that both his legs and his voice were steady now.

«Greetings, Blade,» said Elyana. She laughed. «I didn't ask you to come here so you could stand at a distance and be admired.»

«I really didn't think so.» He crossed the clearing in three strides, as Elyana raised both arms. Blade took her hands and pulled her to her feet. For a moment they stood at arm's length. Elyana's perfume, the scent of the flowers and the grass, the warm night air, the secluded place, the wide eyes staring into his, the full lips with a nimble tongue licking in and out across them-all wrote DESIRE in the air between Blade and Elyana.

Then Elyana threw both arms around Blade, and one hand crept in under his tunic. Long, warm fingers played urgently across his bare skin. He bent to kiss her, and at the same time put both hands on her shoulders. The gown was just loose enough to slip down, leaving her shoulders bare. Blade's fingers danced up and down Elyana's cheeks and neck, across her throat and down across the swell of her breasts until they met the tissue of the gown. Meanwhile her own hand was working down his chest onto his stomach.

Elyana moaned, and Blade heard himself doing the same. Her perfume was changing subtly, as the smell of her arousal joined it. She gripped one of his hands and almost jerked it down to cup her breast. Blade heard the tissue rip, didn't care, and began to play with the hardening nipple under his fingers. The moans turned into gasps.

Elyana stumbled and fell against Blade, more tissue ripping and her nails digging into his skin as she held on for balance. This time her laugh was girlish.

Now she tried to pull her gown all the way off without letting go of Blade or moving back from him. In the process she pulled him off balance, and they both went down. Fortunately he didn't fall on top of her. The unexpected fall left him motionless just long enough for Elyana to strip off what was left of her gown, pull Blade's trousers nearly off his legs, and mount him.