The dank chill of the air lessened along with the fetor. They paused while Haldred opened and then locked doors behind them. Underfoot, bare stone gave way to carpet. At last, Haldred halted.
The next moment, the blindfold fell away. Danilo blinked in the sudden brightness. He had been shut away from the light for so long, he had almost forgotten what it looked like. In the center of the room was a freestanding tub filled with steaming herb-scented water. A pile of towels and a basket containing brushes, a pot of scouring sand, and several chunks of yellow soap sat within easy reach. Danilo almost wept at the sight.
A strange expression flickered over Haldred’s face, a mixture of shame and pity. “I remind you of your promise, Lord Syrtis, and leave you to your ablutions. Ring the bell when you have finished, and I will return with a barber.” Meaning word of honor or not, he would not trust Danilo with anything as lethal as a razor.
The door latch locked behind Haldred with a click. Danilo turned away, closing his eyes to focus his thoughts. His mind still felt half-deadened, as if his skull had been stuffed with banshee feathers, but he had to try while he had a moment’s chance away from that cursed damper.
Regis . . .he called out silently.
For an instant, he caught a response. Then it was gone, and he could not be sure if he had imagined it.
Danilo pulled off his grimy clothes and eased himself into the tub. The water was surprisingly hot. He rested the back of his head against the rounded edge. He had not realized how many sore muscles one body could have. Sighing, he closed his eyes for a moment. Despite the seductive warmth and the soothing herbal aromas arising with the steam, he was not safe. He must assume these temptations were intended to lull him into a false sense of well-being.
Picking up a brush and chunk of soap, he attacked his hair and as much of his skin as he could reach. Cuts and scrapes stung under this treatment, but he welcomed the pain as an aid to alertness.
Once he was as clean as a single scrubbing could make him, Danilo stepped from the bath. He dried himself and wrapped the towel around his waist. Moving carefully, he made a circuit of the room, inspecting windows, searching each piece of furniture and each fold of drapery for anything that might be used as a weapon at such time as he might release himself from his promise.
He found nothing.
Unreasonably irritated, he folded the towel, draped it over the edge where it would cushion his neck, got back into the bath, and reached for the bell. A Comyn lord, even a prisoner, would not dress himself after a bath, and there was no point in providing him a bath without clean clothing.
A moment or two later, Haldred returned, along with two guards and an older man in the robes of a cristoforomonk. The monk carried a handful of garments of somber dark gray and a basket containing shaving and grooming equipment. He kept his eyes carefully averted as Danilo dried himself on a fresh towel. The shirt was fine-woven linexwithout ornamentation but expensive, as were the stylishly cut jacket and trousers. The matching boots were a little too large but manageable. Danilo wondered at the finery; this was not ordinary garb, not even for a Comyn, yet it lacked any Domain insignia or even a personality. The man who wore it might as well be a shadow.
A shave and haircut were soon accomplished, the monk being skillful in his duties. No one spoke except for a few necessary instructions.
Haldred inspected the results. “You’ll do very well.”
“Do for what?”
Haldred’s mouth tightened into a straight line. “It is not my place to answer that. Come with me, and all will be explained. Remember your promise.”
Despite his determination to take nothing at face value, Danilo’s spirits rose as he followed Haldred from the suite of rooms. He recognized where he was. Beneath his feet, Javanne’s leaf-patterned carpet welcomed him like a friend.
Two Castle guards stood watch outside the door leading to Danvan Hastur’s old chambers. No, Danilo corrected himself, they belonged to Regis now.
One of the guards opened the door. With a brief nod, Haldred departed. So, Danilo thought, Haldred had been nothing more than an errand boy. He forced himself to walk calmly between the two guards, through the outer chamber and into the library.
But the man sitting in Danvan Hastur’s enormous carved chair, studying an unfurled scroll held down by paperweights, was not Regis. It was Rinaldo.
For an instant, Danilo stared at his bredhyu’sbrother, not quite understanding but sensing that some fundamental change had taken place. Rinaldo was dressed in Hastur colors and heavy silver jewelry. He seemed at home and not at all as if he were snooping into someone else’s private papers.
More than that and worse, far worse, was the absence of any lingering mental trace of Regis in the room. It was as if he had disappeared from the face of Darkover.
Danilo’s chest tightened, but he forced himself to stand still. The situation would be made clear soon enough.
“Ah, there you are!” Rinaldo’s mouth spread in a smile, but Danilo put no credence in it. Rinaldo did not rise, nor did he motion for Danilo to sit. “You were not too badly treated, I hope? Nothing that will not heal in time?”
“I am well enough,” Danilo replied politely, adding with a trace of reluctance, “ vai dom.But I don’t understand why I was held prisoner or what I am doing here now.”
He was not so disingenuous as to pretend he did not know it was the Ridenow who had seized him, but he truly did not understand their relationship with Rinaldo.
“I have managed to secure your release under terms that I hope you will not be so foolish as to refuse,” Rinaldo said, again with that smile that was not a smile. “My brother has already seen their wisdom.” Rinaldo’s gaze wavered minutely, flickering around the room as if to indicate the significance of his own presence here. “I am Lord Hastur now, as is my right.”
Regis! O sweet Bearer of Burdens, has something happened—
The rush of horror and dismay must have been evident on Danilo’s face, for Rinaldo hastened to say, “No, no, my brother has come to no harm. In fact, he has freely consented to the transfer of power. I suspect he was relieved to lay down a burden he never sought. Now he has retired to a private life and family, occasionally lending me the benefit of his advice. You will see him shortly.”
Regis, free to live his own life?Danilo’s thoughts went spinning. Then Regis must have come to some arrangement with Valdir, resulting in Danilo’s freedom—but no, that was not what Rinaldo had said. Rinaldohad claimed the credit.
“Will you not show a morsel of gratitude to me for having gotten you out of that filthy hole?” Rinaldo said.
“I—I thank you, vai dom.”
Rinaldo’s expression softened, gracious now. “It is no more than I should do for any man who has served my brother so loyally.”
Danilo felt the blood drain from his face. Hasserved?
“ Vai dom,please do not toy with me. I am sworn paxman to Regis Hastur.”
“And now he intends to transfer that service to me.” Rinaldo’s eyes glinted like steel. “I have need of assistance, and it is better for everyone that the two of you are no longer so . . . intimate as you were. As I said, Regis himself agreed to this. I do not require your approval, only your obedience.”
The muscles between Danilo’s shoulder blades tightened, as if holding back from striking an opponent. “I made my oath to Regis. I will do what hecommands.”
“That is sufficient for the moment. I am sorry for your distress, but I did not wish you to go forward unprepared. In time, we will come to understand one another.” Rinaldo looked as if he would say more, but just then one of the Castle Guards, a different man from before, knocked and announced it was time.