“I intend to have both children legitimized, as is the custom,” Regis protested.

“The matter of yourmarriage is too important to leave to a woman’s uncertain favor.” Rinaldo looked down, his brow furrowed in thought. Clearly, he was weighing whether to demand that Regis find another bride or whether to concede. Did Rinaldo believe a man’s affections could be easily shifted to another? He had already expressed his belief that marriage need not include love.

Regis thought spitefully that his brother would be satisfied with a wife who was no more to him than a dutiful bed partner.

At last, Rinaldo made up his mind. “You have one month to either persuade this lady or find another. You may suit yourself. If it is not to be DomnaLinnea, then I will make other arrangements for her.”

“But—”

“I promise you, my brother. On the day you wed, I will secure the release of Danilo Syrtis. You may depend upon it.”

I will depend on it when I see it done,Regis thought. Yet what choice did he have?

Rinaldo was not finished. “Once he is no longer under guard, will you give me your sworn oath you will make no attempt at private communication with him? No secret assignations? No stipulations in the transfer of his services to me?”

Levelly Regis met his brother’s gaze. He saw no deception there, only a frank and ardent desire to do what he saw as good. “Will you in your turn treat Danilo with honor? Will you defend him as your sworn man, as I do?”

“I will deal fairly with him, acting in accord with his highest welfare.”

Regis felt his mouth go dry. From this point, there would be no turning back. Gods, what would Danilo think? That he had been bartered like goods in the market? Like a horse or a fine sword, without feelings or honor?

And Linnea? How could he possibly propose to her again in any way that would not be an even graver insult than before?

“If these are truly your terms,” Regis said at last, “then I must accept them. But I swear by all that is sacred that if you play me false, Rinaldo, you will die by my own hand.”

“Never fear, little brother,” Rinaldo said, giving him a brilliant smile. “I too am a Hastur, and my honor is as precious to me as yours is to you.”

“It is done, then,” Regis said, wanting it finished before he lost his nerve.

“It is done.”

Solemnly, Regis took his leave, knowing that he had bartered away the best part of his soul for the two people he loved most in the world.

20

Regis paced the length of his townhouse parlor before a hearth as cold and desolate as his heart. One of the servants would have rushed to light the fire, but he had stormed in and locked the door behind him. What was a little cold, a little dark, compared to the monstrous action he had just taken?

He was equally furious at Valdir Ridenow and Rinaldo but most of all at himself. He had saved Danilo’s life but sold him into servitude. He had kept Linnea as safe as he could at the likely cost of a final refusal and then no option but to chain himself to another. That he had not been given a choice was of no importance. He should have found another way to save them. Now he had made his bargain and must live with it.

It was impossible to think clearly when all he wanted to do was hit something. Sick and trembling, he lowered himself to one of the chairs. Not the one he usually sat in, just the nearest. Its unfamiliarity felt right. He did not belong here, in such comfort, in his own home.

Stop it! Self-p ity helps no one!he railed silently. He must bide his time, wait for a chance . . . outlast Valdir’s ambition— as if that were possible!— reason with Rinaldo when they were both calmer . . . get Linnea safely out of the city— No, don’t even think about her or Stelli!. . . and find a wife.

He slumped against the rigid chair back. A wife.Wouldn’t the gossips of all seven Domains be thrilled with thatnews?

A month. A thrice-damned month. Where was he going to come up with a marriageable woman by then? Javanne would be happy to suggest someone. How she would relish it!

Regis ground his teeth so hard that pain shot through his jaw. Javanne wasn’t his enemy. It would not be fair to ask her advice and then take out his frustrations on her.

He had not slept with any woman besides Linnea since that terrible time of the World Wreckers. The sight of his children, murdered in their cradles, had haunted him. He could not take the chance again. But there might be one or two women from before then . . . Crystal Di Asturien, perhaps. She was a pleasant young woman, although now he remembered how she had made her disapproval of Danilo all too evident.

Crystal, assuming she was still unwed, would be thrilled to become his wife. Even though he was no longer Lord Hastur, she would flaunt her status as if she were a queen. She would never allow him a moment with Danilo, even if Rinaldo relaxed his watch.

And Linnea—

Gods, what was he thinking? Linnea!

He buried his face in his hands. The knowledge that he had chosen another would wound her deeply. It would be a repudiation not only of herself but of Kierestelli and their unborn son.

What was he to do?

The following days brought Regis no closer to resolution. The longer he delayed, the more insulting his proposal would be, giving the bride little time to do anything but catch her breath and don her slippers before the wedding. He forced himself back into society, accepting invitations to one social event after another, but never anything small or intimate. The Ridenow guards accompanied him. Danilo’s absence left an emptiness, an ache like a missing limb. Valdir sometimes attended these events, as well as Rinaldo. Once Regis glimpsed Linnea across the room, but she shook her head, warning him off.

The judge, Estill MacNarron, arrived as agreed, entering through the servants’ gate. They sat together in the room Regis used for business. MacNarron was a heavyset man of middle years and grave countenance with a habit of pausing, one finger pressed to the side of his prominent nose, before speaking.

As Regis presented his case against Valdir, MacNarron’s expression shifted, no longer unreadable but visibly concerned. “I see why you hesitated to put any of this in writing. These are very serious charges but without substantive evidentiary proof. I have only your own testimony, and you were neither victim nor direct witness to the kidnap-pings. You assert you are the victim of extortion but can produce no corroboration. The Word of a Hastur may be proverbial, but I must adhere to a more practical standard. We cannot value the sworn word of any one man above another. In justice, all must be equal. You understand my point, Lord Regis?”

Regis nodded. The situation was very much as he’d feared. Without physical evidence or other witnesses, his case was weak at best. Valdir and Haldred would hardly testify against themselves, Rinaldo saw nothing amiss with the transfer of power, and if Regis brought Mikhail back from Ardais, he would place the boy once more at risk. If he moved forward without proof, he would alert Valdir.

“I’m afraid I’ve brought you here needlessly,” Regis admitted. “I have only my own knowledge of these actions, and anything I say will be denied. The case will be reduced to one man’s word against another, suit and countersuit.”

“We understand each other,” the judge nodded. “Yet I do not consider this conversation needlessor in vain. It is always of benefit to discuss perplexing matters, to reason things out with someone you can trust. No harm has been done this day, and nothing that was said here shall pass the confines of these walls.”