‘My lord?’ Dev looked at Kheda, his Aldabreshin accent note perfect.
‘Wait outside.’ Kheda nodded. ‘You’re looking well,’ he continued neutrally as Dev obediently closed the outer door behind him. ‘And wholly first lady of Daish by virtue of being the warlord’s mother rather than his wife. You look ten years older than you did as my consort.’
‘It’s such a relief, for me and Birut.’ Janne smiled, untroubled. ‘You never did appreciate how much work it took to make you the envy of every other warlord, and me the despair of their wives.’ The grey in Janne Daish’s hair was no longer concealed by the crimson and indigo dyes she had been wont to use. Her long tresses were coiled into a crystal-studded net of plaited white silk held back behind her ears by a silver crescent headdress. The effect was subtly unflattering, revealing the years bluning her jawline and the wrinkled skin of her neck. No effort had been made to hide her years with cosmetics; she wore the minimum of frosted silver around her eyes, lips merely glossed with a purple the same shade as her gown. The high-necked dress of red-shot silk was cut to conceal, not to enhance, the charms of her voluptuous bosom. The wide white sash embroidered with red and purple flowers emphasised that her waist was thickened with child-bearing, while the full skirts hid her elegant legs. All the same, I would still embrace you, draw your head upon my shoulder. You were all the wife I ever wanted. And you know it.
‘I see you’re weary.’ Kheda regarded her with a hint of pity. ‘The voyage must have been tiring for a woman of your years.’
If you want to play the matriarch, let’s see how you like being treated as if you were twenty years my senior instead of merely nine.
‘I’m curious about your new body slave.’ Janne looked after Dev. ‘A barbarian, isn’t he? Were none of our neighbours willing to trade you a better trained slave after all you’d done for Chazen?’
What are you expecting me to tell you? That I dared not approach Redigal or Ritsem, Aedis or Sarem, for fear of them refusing to send a slave to a domain stained with magic? If only it were that simple.
‘He’s of barbarian stock.’ Kheda shrugged at the irrelevance. ‘I found him when I was searching for lore in the north.’
‘Is he zamorin or beardless by choice?’ Janne’s long sleeve fell back as she adjusted her headdress with fingers heavy with silver rings set with amethyst. ‘A lover of men?’ she elaborated unnecessarily. More violet stones circled her wrist.
‘That’s a remarkably impertinent question, even for one who was once my wife.’ There was no warmth in Kheda’s voice. ‘And I owe you no answers, since you decided I was no longer wanted as your husband. I’ve questions of my own, mind you. What brings you here fnstead of Rekha? What are you looking for, besides pearls to conceal how scant the Daish harvest has been?’
You wear amethysts to calm anger and promote humility, so you’re serious about whatever negotiations brought you here. The heavenly Amethyst rides in the arc of honour and status, along with the Hoe that is the symbol of a man’s hard work in service of the domain, whatever his rank. Do you expect me to keep calm, to put my duty as Chazen warlord above my own feelings?
Now it was Janne who shrugged. ‘You can’t blame me for being curious about that voyage, not when it brought such changes to all of our lives.’
Kheda ignored the barb. ‘He belonged to a trader in the central domains. I needed someone to help me sail a boat south. Dev was willing to trade his service for a place in my household.’
‘When he didn’t even know you had a household to return to, much less a domain,’ Janne observed, sceptical. ‘What did this trader want in return?’
‘That’s between me and him.’ Kheda realised that Janne’s own faithful shadow was nowhere to be seen. ‘Where’s Birut?’
You don’t want him privy to this conversation. Why might that be?
‘He’s spending some time with Itrac’s Jevin,’ Janne replied easily. ‘I don’t want to see her embarrassed when more demanding guests visit—the Aedis wives, for instance. The boy’s willing but Rekha said he lacks the experience to be serving a first wife. Birut will show him a few things.’
‘You chose Jevin for Itrac,’ Kheda recalled, ‘when we already knew she was the only Chazen wife still living.’
‘We suspected,’ Janne corrected him. ‘We didn’t know for certain that Sekni was dead.’ She held his gaze, eyes dark and impenetrable, her face expressionless even without the concealment of cosmetics. ‘One acts differently when one only suspects, rather than knowing something beyond all doubt. The most important thing was having her guarded, so that no one like Ulla Safar could force her into marriage and claim this domain along with her body’ She paused. ‘So much has happened since then, and so much that was unforeseen.’
‘Foretelling is a warlord’s prerogative,’ said Kheda sharply. ‘You’d better not be interfering with Sirket’s interpretations of the omens.’
‘I do not interfere,’ retorted Janne, piqued. ‘I offer support. I strive for the domain’s good above all else, in the light of whatever Sirket reacts in the earthly or heavenly compasses.’
‘As I strive to see the best path for Chazen, since Daish is closed to me now.’ Kheda pictured the charts of the shifting constellations and heavenly jewels that he’d been drawing all afternoon.
The Spear’s in the arc of marriage now, token of male potency and call to arms, along with the Ruby, talisman for courage. Is that a warning for me, when the heavenly Pearl that is a symbol of Daish rides with the Winged Snake that is symbol of male and female intertwined? They are in the arc where the Emerald talisman of peace and growth presides over omens of good health and a peaceful future. What am Ito make of that?
‘I had so hoped to see Chazen prosper.’ Janne sounded deeply regretful, tracing the silver-edged flowers embroidered on her sleeve with one long-nailed finger. But ill luck seems to stalk this domain.’
‘I take it you’re referring to this dragon?’ challenged Kheda.
Janne took a sudden pace closer, lifting her face towards him, eyes hard, her voice low. ‘Such a portent of evil and coming less than a year after those wild men wrought havoc with their savage sorcery. See what you started, when you brought whatever magic it was you found in the north to defeat the invaders. Did your father teach you nothing? Did you think your actions, alone of all men, wouldn’t have consequences to echo through the days and years to come? You were never so foolish as ruler of Daish, not until you were touched by the corruption of magic. I wish you’d never sailed to Chazen’s aid when the beacons first told of his misfortunes. I hate to think what calamity will befall you next, or these hapless people, all on your account.’
‘At least you made sure none of this misfortune can fall on Daish,’ interrupted Kheda sarcastically, ‘refusing to let Sirket relinquish rule to me, driving me out as you did. You were never a fool, Janne, so why are you talking like one now? What would have become of Daish if I hadn’t found such lore and sailed south with it? Do you think Chazen Saril would have halted the wild men? Don’t you see they’d have swept north to plunder Daish as well?’ He shook his head vehemently. No, Janne, I don’t regret anything I have done. Can you say the same? You saw that Chazen Saril was destroyed by grief and fear but you didn’t help him. You decided to put his life to trial instead. Do you wonder if it was his death in Daish waters that’s blighted your pearl harvest?’
‘I have no doubts that I was right to put Chazen Saril to the ultimate trial,’ Janne said resolutely, folding her arms. ‘I wagered my own life as well as his and yours.’
‘And we’re still standing, so you must have been right?’ Kheda waved an airy hand. ‘I wouldn’t be so confident in your interpretations, Janne. This dragon is an evil, granted, but for the present it’s eating as many of those savages still hiding out in the western isles as it can find. That’s doing Chazen no harm. Would you like to see the dispatches from our triremes confirming that? As for Chazen’s better fortunes,