Tess's shoulders tensed as she kept her back to him. If she could only reach the pitcher. "It was a very good wine. Anyone could see why—" She broke off as Tamar's hands fell on her shoulders and jerked her around to face him.
"What was in it?"
"I don't know what you mean. Please release—"
She gasped as Tamar's hands tightened with agonizing force on her shoulders.
"What? Poison?"
The pressure increased until she had to bite her lower lip to keep from screaming.
"What?"
"Laudanum."
"Much?"
"I don't… know. As much as I could find in the encampment. "
"And you played the stupid highborn bitch to lure me into believing you too witless to sting me." His face was twisted with rage as his hands moved from her shoulders to her throat. "Whore!"
Tamar killed one of the whores in a drunken rage. He strangled her.
For an instant Tess imagined she could hear that poor strumpet's scream echoing from the walls of the room. Was she going to die here as well?
"Do you think I need you?" Tamar asked softly, his hands slowly tightening on her throat. "Your death will serve me as well. Galen cannot ignore the murder of his wife, even if he cares nothing for you. I thought to play a little with you, but you've been too clever."
His grip was cutting off her air. She reached blindly behind her to grasp the silver pitcher, but before she could reach it, he swung her away from the table. Her hands flew frantically to her throat, trying to pry his fingers away.
Pain!
She could feel the blood pounding in her ears, exploding in her temples.
Her knees gave way, sagged. Tamar was holding her upright only by the merciless grip on her throat.
She didn't hear the door open or Galen's shout, but Tamar did.
His grip loosened, but he still grasped her throat as he turned toward the door, dragging her with him.
Galen. Sacha.
"Let her go, Tamar." Galen's eyes glittered as savagely as Tamar's in the light of the candles.
He's my mirror. He's what I could be…
Tamar cursed, released her throat, but struck her a vicious blow on the cheek that sent her reeling. He reached for the dagger at his belt.
"No!" Galen sprang forward across the chamber.
Galen's expression… Something was there that she had waited for. Something was there…
But he was moving too slowly. Tamar already had his dagger in hand and was turning toward her.
Galen was going to be too late!
She was going to die.
No, not now. Not when she knew Galen—
Candlelight gleamed on the lifted blade of the knife.
She felt herself falling into darkness.
Chapter 12
« ^
Galen's strong arms were carrying her. She heard the click of his boot heels on stone.
"Don't"—her throat hurt terribly as she forced the words out—"let me die."
"Hush, Tess." Galen's voice broke on the words. "Don't talk."
She opened her eyes to look up at his pale face. Didn't he understand? She had to tell him how important it was that she live and they be together. "It's important…"
Cool air on her face, the glare of a hundred torches from the El Zalan riders waiting on horseback outside the tower.
Galen said hoarsely, "You're not going to die."
She was shifted to someone else's arms as Galen mounted Selik.
Sacha's arms, she identified, as she gazed up into his familiar blue eyes. "Tell him—"
"Don't be stubborn, imp," Sacha interrupted impatiently. "You've put us through quite enough without wringing our emotions with that wisp of a frog's croak."
Comfort flooded through her. Even Sacha wouldn't call her a frog if she were a dying woman. "Not my fault," she said with as much indignation as her lack of volume permitted. "I… couldn't do everything."
Sacha smiled down at her. "You certainly tried. Drugging Tamar's men, sending the message. You left us deplorably little scope for heroism. I suppose we should thank you for leaving Tamar to us."
"Didn't reach the pitcher in time."
"Give her to me," Galen said.
She was being transferred to Galen's arms again, wrapped in a cloak and held close. "I did do very well."
"Splendidly." Galen pulled the cloak closer and settled her comfortably across the saddle. "Now, go to sleep and let us do the rest."
"Tamar?"
She felt Galen's muscles tense against her. "Dead."
A broken mirror… No, that wasn't right. She had to tell Galen how wrong he had been. "Twisted. Not like you."
"Shh." He pressed her cheek into the hollow of his shoulder as he turned Selik and raised his arm to signal to the men behind him. "You can talk later."
A moment later the rhythm of Selik's gait began to lull her to drowsiness. She breathed in the scent of dew-wet grass, leather, and lemon. "We should—talk. There's much to say."
"Later."
Yes, it could all wait. Now that she had seen his face in that revealing moment, she could wait for the rest.
She nestled closer. "Later."
Sunlight was streaming into her chamber at the palace, and Viane was sitting in a chair next to the divan when Tess woke several hours later.
Viane's features were taut with strain as she leaned over to clasp Tess's hand with her own. "Do not try to talk."
Tess's hand went to her throat, flinching as she touched the bruised flesh. "Hurts."
"There are terrible bruises," Viane whispered. "I am so sorry. It is my fault—"
"Nonsense." Tess sat up and threw off the sheet. Dear heaven, she sounded like a squawking crow. "How could it be your fault? It was Tamar who choked me. Where is Galen?"
"He just left you. He's been sitting here all night."
That seemed an excellent sign to Tess, and added to what she had seen in his expression last night…
"I want to see him." She stood up, swayed, and then steadied on her feet. "Will you help me dress?"
"You should rest." Viane frowned. "Besides, he can't see you. He's just received word that the Tamrovian party has been sighted a mile from the city gates."
Her father! Sweet Mary, she had almost forgotten this new threat on the horizon. Yet she found to her surprise that the news didn't bring the same fear it had when she had first heard he was coming. After facing Tamar, she found the threat posed by her father dwindled. "Is Galen in his chamber?"
Viane nodded. "Why can't you wait? Kalim is still outside in the hall. You can send a message to—"
"I hate to wait. I want to go myself." Tess's brows lifted. "Kalim has been outside all night too?"
Viane flushed and nodded. "He's been very kind, but he will not leave me. He seems to think he's done something unforgivable."
I would die for her, Kalim had said.
"I'm sure Sacha would have been equally—" Tess stopped and shook her head. The words felt wrong, somehow. She must think this through at a later time.
"And Galen will not forgive. He's very angry at Kalim for letting you be put in Tamar's hands."