Carroway laughed. "Can you believe someone with her gift was playing in the street? I brought her to the queen as soon as I found her."

"Carroway was my patron. I'll always be grateful for that." Kiara noticed that Carroway looked away at Macaria's words, and a shadow seemed to cross his expression. Something else is going on there. Something keeping them apart. But what?

"You're not eating, my dear." Lady Eadoin looked pointedly at the food Kiara had pushed from one side of her plate to another.

Kiara sighed. "I haven't been feeling well."

"That's to be expected. It will pass." She reached into the small, elaborately beaded bag at her belt and withdrew a velvet pouch. "A gift, if it pleases my queen."

Kiara opened the pouch. A polished agate disk was bound in a shield knot to a thin leather strap.

"An amulet, my lady, for safe childbirth," Eadoin said. "The child you bear will draw notice in this realm and the next. A king's heir—and the heir of power to a Summoner. You must be careful. The agate is a warding against a difficult birth. Knotted so, it's a charm against the attention of dark spirits." Cerise gently took the necklace from her' and tied the charm around her neck.

"Your mother told me that she believed it was the amulet she wore that made it possible for her to deliver you safely," Eadoin said. "I would be a poor friend to her memory not to look after you."

"Thank you. From both of us."

"I've heard it said that a bowl of salted water, laid at the foot and head of the bed, will protect the babe from spirits," Alle said.

"I've already put that in place."

"Poor Carroway!" Alle laughed. "He'll think he's dining with a gaggle of midwives!"

Carroway grinned. "You've no idea how many times I've been called to play for one of the court ladies in labor. But I've always been glad for the curtain between us when I hear their cries!"

Make yawned and glanced at Kiara. "If it please the queen, I'd like to head back to the room and lay out clothing for tomorrow. This late feasting is not for an old lady like me."

Kiara herself was in no hurry to return. Carroway, Macaria, Eadoin and Alle were lively company, and it helped to take her mind off Tris's absence. Her sleep had been fitful the night before, her dreams disquieting. She was content to let the others banter. Although dinner had been one of Bian's specialties, Kiara found that she was nauseous all of the time, despite Cerise's best attempts.

"Carroway's not the only one to get called when a lady's birthing," Alle said. "Had more than a few travelers give birth at the inn while I was working there. The food they'd call for! Tea and cakes, pickles and sausage, candied fruit and rum—all at once. Never could figure out whether they actually ate it or whether calling for me to fetch it gave them something to take their mind off their labor."

Dressed as she was for court, it was difficult to imagine Alle as Soterius first met her, spying for the Margolan rebels as a serving wench in a tavern near the Principality border. Alle was as vivacious as her Aunt Eadoin, with the same blonde hair and infectious laugh. Kiara was not surprised to glimpse a locket on a chain around Alle's neck engraved with the crest from Soterius's shield.

Carroway glimpsed the locket as well and gave Alle a wicked grin. "Perhaps all that experience will come in handy once Ban returns from the war and that locket becomes a ring."

"Perhaps. Or maybe some other tavern wench will put a knife to his throat and steal his heart like I did!"

Kiara laughed. It felt good, a welcome change. The days leading up to the army's departure had felt leaden. Tris had been consumed with the planning for war. The generals considered the pregnancy to be one more item completed from their checklist. Now Tris and the army were gone, and might not return until after the birth. "Many a king's gone to put down a rebellion and returned no worse for the wear," Eadoin said with an encouraging smile. "Don't borrow grief."

"I've heard it said that sweet music is heard even before birth," Carroway said. "So we're sworn, Halik, Macaria, and I, to perform for you every day while Tris is gone." He grinned. "With your permission, I've assigned Macaria as your personal bard. And I took care of the scheduling matter you mentioned earlier."

"Oh?" Cerise asked.

Kiara sighed. "I asked Carroway to see if I could have private time in the salle before dawn. Mikhail is the only one here who knows the Eastmark fighting style. He's offered to train with me—as long as I'm able. In Isencroft, women train in the salle until they go into labor, and they swear their labor is shorter for it. I thought it might take my mind off things."

"Will the good ladies of the Margolan court be scandalized?"

"Not one of them gets up before dawn, I promise you." Alle laughed. "And if it pleases you, I'll also stay at court. I would be happy to make introductions. It would be an honor."

Kiara glanced at Carroway, who was suspiciously interested in the reflection of candlelight on his goblet. "And you didn't have a hand in it at all," she said, raising an eyebrow.

Carroway sighed theatrically. "Guilty as charged, m'lady."

Kiara laughed. "I would be very pleased. Thank you."

Carroway beamed, and Kiara intercepted a triumphant look between Eadoin and the bard. Just then, there was a knock at the door to the small salon where they were dining. A servant went to answer. Kiara and the others turned to see Mikhail framed in the doorway, a grim expression on his face. He bowed to Kiara and gave a nod in recognition to the others.

"What's the matter, Mikhail?" Kiara asked, rising.

Mikhail looked from Kiara to Carroway. "Zachar is dead."

Carroway's eyes grew wide. "But he was well enough just two days ago!" he exclaimed. "I saw him."

"We all did. Yesterday he complained of a headache, and when Crevan went to look in on him tonight, Zachar was dead, still in his nightclothes. It's possible at Zachar's age there could have been bleeding in his head."

"So Crevan becomes the seneschal?"

"And at least for now, I'll take Crevan's place. Between us, we'll keep the palace functioning. Zachar will be missed. He was an important link for the court to Bricen's memory, and he would have been a great help to Kiara."

Mikhail's announcement brought the evening to an end. Kiara bid farewell to Carroway and Eadoin, heading back to her rooms with Cerise, Macaria, and Alle. She was surprised when Mikhail joined them.

"Something more you haven't said?" Kiara asked as Mikhail walked beside her.

"Only that I dislike the timing of Zachar's death. With Tris gone, there's no Summoner to call Zachar's ghost."

"Do you doubt Crevan's account?"

Mikhail didn't answer immediately. "I think Crevan's recount is true to what he found. That doesn't make it the whole truth."

Cerise knocked at the locked door to the Queen's suite, but Malae did not answer. Cerise knocked louder, and put her face near the door. "Malae—wake up. You've got the door locked. Let us in!" On the other side of the door, they could hear the shuffling of Tris's dogs.

When no answer came, Kiara withdrew the key from a pouch on her belt. Mikhail and the others stepped aside to let her through. The door swung open. Cerise gasped and ran ahead. Malae lay slumped in a chair beside the fire. Seanna's ghost was beside Malae, and the faint sound of her sobs broke the silence.

Mikhail gave the guards orders to secure the hallway. Kiara knelt beside Malae. Cerise's face was wet with tears. "She's dead," the healer said. Kiara reached out for Malae, but Cerise grabbed her wrist. "Don't touch her."

"Why?" Kiara asked, feeling her throat tighten. Losing Malae was like losing her mother all over again, and she longed for one last contact.