“Here, in my sanctuary, barely three months ago, I shamed Eiran and challenged him. I thought he would break, but he rose to that challenge. He proved himself a loyal and valuable ally. Had I gotten to know him better, we would have become great friends.”

The courtesan smiled and slipped her hand through his good arm, leading him deeper into the sanctuary. “He stopped Count Turcol from reaching you, Highness.”

Cyron laughed lightly. “It was your foot that stopped Turcol.”

“And his that made certain the man did not rise again.” She gave his arm a slight squeeze. “Eiran was devoted to you. Had he lived, he would have been a strong ally.”

“And it was that possibility that killed him.” Cyron ducked beneath a tree branch laden with green buds. “As he grew stronger, his legitimacy as the Prince of Helosunde likewise increased. This made him a rival for the Council of Ministers. His sister’s marriage to Pyrust means that Eiran’s legitimacy would transfer to her children if he died without heir. It would seem someone killed him to cut her children off and bar Pyrust from any legitimate claim to Helosunde.”

He glanced at her. “My ministers say they hear nothing of Pyrust and his planning, but they’re lying. They dare not say what they’re hearing because they know I’ll have to act. They’re concealing bits of news from me, hoping clarifications will undercut their fears. The problem is that their very worst fear is that I will act.”

The Lady of Jet and Jade looked up at him. “You are certain Pyrust is ready to attack Helosunde again?”

“He already has. I can feel it.” Cyron hesitated, afraid to say anything more. Then the absurdity of it all struck him, and he laughed aloud.

“What amuses my lord?”

Cyron stopped and turned to face her. “Your beauty is ageless, which makes it easy for me to forget you have lived many lifetimes. I know you are jaecailyss. The times we have spent together in communion likely have not extended my lifetime, but have enriched it immeasurably. Your mastery of the art of love is, I am certain, unparalleled.”

“You are quite kind, Highness, but how does this bear on the point you were making?”

“You are also a remarkable judge of human nature. You knew how to read Turcol and acted so you could draw close enough to him to strike. Don’t deny it. I would not presume on your affections enough to assume you would have struck for me, but certainly against him.”

She glanced down. “You underestimate your charms, Highness.”

“And that comment eases some of my pain.” Cyron smiled. “The fact is that Pyrust has always been a wolf. I called him as much when we met here. I offered him grain to hold his forces at bay, but I knew that would be intolerable. He surprised me when he took Jasai to wife. I had expected him to marry a Virine princess, thereby creating a link between nations that would get him whatever he needed-including an ally with little love for Nalenyr.”

“Prince Pyrust is most dangerous, Highness, because he is capable of planning ahead and acting swiftly to seize an opportunity.”

“And I fear moving troops south may have seemed such an opportunity.” Cyron shook his head. “More so if he knows what is happening in Erumvirine.”

She nodded, her voice becoming a soft whisper. “And you have to assume that he does.”

“I have other choices, but each is more stupid than the preceding. If I assume he has remained north of the Black River, I won’t be able to stop him when he moves south. So, I have issued a call to the westron lords for troops, and I’ve gathered all those I can in the east. The latter I have sent south because I can trust them. The westrons, I can’t.”

Cyron sighed and sat on one of the sanctuary’s stone benches. The Lady of Jet and Jade, wearing a white silk gown trimmed in emerald and embroidered with black dragons, looked a vision of loveliness that eased his heart somewhat. She reached up and plucked a blue blossom from a tree branch and tucked it behind an ear. Her silver eyes flashed playfully and his heart leaped.

“Were my brother still alive, he would have a solution to this problem. He’d pull troops back from the passes in the Helos Mountains, luring Pyrust down.”

“What are the chances that Pyrust would accept the challenge and invade Nalenyr?”

“Knowing my brother, none.” Cyron smiled. “My brother would have our troops in the south and would quickly smash the invaders, then move an army north to punish Pyrust. Aralias would have been able to get Count Vroan to lead the army of the south and keep the invaders occupied. That was his strength, inspiring troops. He was a leader.”

“You inspire as well, Highness.”

“Yes, but what I inspire does not seem to bear on this situation.”

“Do you see no solution at all, Highness?”

The Prince leaned forward, wincing as he rested his left forearm on his thigh. “This is the one problem the Empress Cyrsa did not anticipate. She assumed that by splitting the Empire into the principalities she would guarantee no one was powerful enough to reunite it in her absence. Setting aside the effects of the Time of Black Ice, her plan has proven sensible. No one predominates, so no one launches a large-scale war. The masses avoid the hardships and the chances of triggering another Cataclysm are minimized.

“The difficulty right now is this: outsiders who may be strong enough to take principalities have attacked. We’ve no news from Erumvirine, and none from the Five Princes. If the enemy has overwhelmed all of them, taking the northern principalities is not a matter of if but when.”

The courtesan slipped her hands into the opposite sleeves of her robe. “Were the Empire intact, there would have been a solid response that could have crushed the invasion.”

“I think so.”

“Then why don’t you make Prince Pyrust an offer of unity? Certainly Nalenyr, Helosunde, and Deseirion united could oppose the invaders.”

“That would be my hope, but it is not something I can agree to in good conscience. The war against the invaders would likely be fought here, in Nalenyr. It would lay waste to my nation.”

“But that is likely to happen anyway, isn’t it?”

“True, but I have to hope we can hold them in the mountains. Pyrust and his troops would be of great value there, or even pushing into Erumvirine. I do not doubt his skills as a general-I respect them enough to fear them.” He sighed with exhaustion. “To put him on my southern border, however, requires him to pass through Nalenyr. It is inviting the wolf into your house to help rid it of vermin. The wolf may not choose to leave again. If he were to drive into Erumvirine and liberate it, he would not put the Telanyn family back on the throne. Nalenyr and Helosunde would be trapped. Helosunde would fall because of his wife. Nalenyr would be next, and the Five Princes after that.”

She smiled bravely. “Perhaps that is just your take on things. He may see things differently.”

“No, he’s read things the same way. Likely he read them before I did. He’s coming, and I have to act to save my nation or save my people. It’s a difficult choice, because I cannot save both.”

“Is there no other possible solution?”

He smiled indulgently. “The Stormwolf could return from the other side of the world with a fleet bristling with warriors.”

“Is that so impossible?”

“Perhaps not.” He nodded, then levered himself off the bench with his good hand. “It is a dream that is worth having, I suppose.”

“You don’t think it likely?”

He shook his head. “Most likely is that the invaders learned of us because of the expedition. The Stormwolf found the new continent, which Qiro Anturasi named after himself. I’ve seen the map. He even may have tried to warn us. In his own blood he wrote, ‘Here there be monsters.’ ”

The Lady of Jet and Jade came to him and caressed his temple. “Be careful, Highness, that you let no monsters dwell here. What you face are men. If they were utterly wise or invincible, they would have long since reunited the Empire. That they have not, that Nalenyr yet exists, means there is hope for a solution.”