“He wouldn’t say why? Did you ask him?”
“He died before he could tell us,” Coryn said. “I feel certain he was assassinated to keep him from telling any more.”
“I–I don’t care,” Selinda said bravely. “I am going to bring this child into the world and see that he-or she-is raised to know righteousness.”
“What about Jaymes?” asked Coryn. “Do you intend to keep all this a secret from him?”
Selinda lifted her head. She felt her strength flowing back, though whether it was just from the tea or from something else, she didn’t know. Pushing herself to her feet, she found she could stand on her own. It gave her great pleasure to walk to her windows, to throw them open, and to admit the pleasant summer air. Finally, she turned around.
“I will tell him everything… when this crisis is over. I will not burden him with my problems while he wages war to save the nation that we all want to survive.” Her expression hardened. “I know now that he must have deceived me to make me his wife.”
Coryn looked away, almost as if she were ashamed, a reaction that surprised Selinda. But the princess continued to explain.
“And he used me to legitimize his ascension to emperor. I was the Princess of Palanthas after all, and the gods only knew how many prophecies there were proclaiming that the man who married the princess would be the one to unite the cities of Solamnia into a nation again. He used that-and me-to elevate himself, to make himself the leader of a new empire.
“At first, it was a dizzy game to me, and by the time I started to wonder how or why it was happening, it was too late. And even now, I can see that Jaymes has been good for Solamnia, even if he was not good for me.”
Selinda turned and regarded both of her friends, gratitude shining in the emotion of her eyes. “I thank you both sincerely for saving my life. I was a fool-an utter fool-driven by despair. But no longer.”
Coryn was still looking away, so it was Melissa who spoke.
“No longer a fool, or no longer in despair?” asked the priestess pointedly.
“No longer either, I trust,” the emperor’s wife said. “I thought I was reclaiming my life when I broke free from my prison, but just being free isn’t enough.”
Her hand moved to her belly, which she stroked gently. “Jaymes has another campaign to wage-and he is the best hope we have of holding this country together and moving into the future. I don’t love him-you both know that-but I have a duty to this realm. Whether it is because of who I am by birth or who I married, I do have a role to play. I am more than a woman, a daughter, a wife. I am a symbol of Solamnia. However, I will not be his wife anymore-not even in the privacy of our lives. He must know this truth.”
She drew a breath.
“But neither will I betray him,” she said.
Jaymes made his way to the main gate of the city, where the Dark Knights had tried to force their way in. He found the place garrisoned by a mixed force of city guards and Solamnic Knights. They were commanded by an impressive-looking Knight of the Rose named Sir Ballard.
“They attacked here, from the mountain road?” Jaymes asked.
“Yes, my lord. A brigade came down, reportedly from the High Clerist’s Tower. It is said to be in rebel hands, sir.”
“Yes, I’ve heard that too. I’ll be checking on it very shortly. What happened to the brigade?”
“Their leader was killed on this very platform. The rest of the Dark Knights retreated back up the road when they couldn’t gain entrance to the city,” Ballard reported, eyeing the emperor warily. “They almost forced the gate here. One man stopped them-the same man who killed their captain.”
“Who’s that?” asked Jaymes.
“It was me, Excellency,” said Blayne Kerrigan, coming forward into the light. Jaymes immediately recognized the young lord. “I closed the portcullis when I realized the men were Dark Knights. But not before a number of good men, loyal knights, were killed by black magic and treachery.”
“You saved the city of Palanthas from the Dark Knights?” The emperor surprised everyone by throwing back his head and laughing heartily. “But you’re an outlaw!” he declared. “There’s a price on your head!”
“So I have heard. If that be the case, then I submit myself to your justice,” Blayne said stiffly. “To do with as you see fit.”
“As well you may! But I see fit to pardon you, young outlaw. As a matter of fact, I myself have spent more than a few years with a price on my head. It’s good to have it lifted, is it not?”
Blayne allowed himself to smile for the first time, it seemed, in many weeks. “Yes, Excellency,” he agreed. “Yes it is.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Jaymes went to see Selinda in her rooms. There were several large trunks standing open, partially filled with clothes, while a pair of maids were busy gathering dresses from the wardrobes and carefully packing them away. When the emperor entered, the maids scurried out, leaving him alone with his wife.
“I’m leaving for the High Clerist’s Tower,” he said. “Coryn just returned with confirmation: not only did the Nightmaster and your father go there, but so did Ankhar-and a large number of his ogres. I’m going to end this once and for all.”
“They can’t be allowed to stay there, I know,” Selinda replied. “I only pray this battle brings the war-all the wars-to an end.”
He nodded with real sincerity. “I do too. It’s been too long, too much fighting. I want to rule an empire at peace.” Jaymes cleared his throat, looking at his wife awkwardly. “I will try to protect your father, if I can.”
“Do what you must,” she said curtly. “I now understand what I was to him, and that knowledge has hardened my heart.” She looked more puzzled than angry. “He served the Prince of Lies! All of it, his whole life, was a lie! I’m glad to be free of him.”
The emperor looked around, as if noticing the trunks, the empty wardrobes, for the first time. “I’ll be back when this is over. It may take some time, a month or two, but I will come home before winter to this place… I hope I can come home to you, as well.”
Selinda sighed, going over to the window and looking out over the city’s central plaza. People were walking back and forth on the great square. A pair of musicians played a lute and pipe, trying to collect tips. The temples were busy, worshipers coming and going. The little stalls of the farmers’ market were doing brisk business. It was a hot summer day, and children splashed in several of the great fountains around the square, while a few men-at-arms of the city guard ambled around, amiably watching the activities of the citizenry. She took it all in for a moment then turned back to her husband.
“This city is a good place to live in again. And so much of that is due to you. You have made mistakes-some of which are hard to forgive-but you have learned from those mistakes and grown stronger, greater.”
“Won’t you let me come back to you? Let me prove to you how I have changed?”
She shook her head. “No. I cannot.”
He gestured to the trunks. “But where will you go?” he asked.
“I’m going to the Temple of Kiri-Jolith. There is plenty of room for me there, and I will be with Melissa. I have to do a lot of thinking, and talking to her helps me clear my mind.”
The emperor winced almost as though he were in pain. When he spoke, his tone, his words, were uncharacteristically hesitant. “If… after that… after I come back… perhaps we could try again. I would like to have you at my side.”
Selinda raised her head. The sunlight coming through the windows outlined her golden hair, rendering a shimmering corona around her scalp. “I will have our baby,” she said, touching the subtle mound of her belly. “And you will have this child, as well.”