“Ariel!”
She stood. She was wearing a dark green velvet gown and matching slippers, her long blonde hair twisted into a single, thick braid. An image came suddenly to him from eight years earlier, when she had come to him while he was working in the stables to tell him she had spoken with his father to tell him that she had knocked him senseless, so it was all her fault that Michael had been injured during play. She had worn green velvet on that day, as well. In other ways, however, Ariel had changed.
The awkward, coltish girl that she had been back then was gone, replaced by a grown woman, slender and curvaceous, no longer the tomboy, but feminine and every inch the lady. She had not grown into a beauty, but her rather plain face was set with green eyes, her most striking and appealing feature. There was an earnest directness in their gaze, an inviting innocence and total lack of guile. He had not seen her much in the intervening years, what with his duties and all that time spent with the troops out on the march, but her father, Lord Devan, was minister of the exchequer, so she lived with her family in the palace and spent most of her time with Michael’s younger unmarried sisters.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
She took a deep breath, gathering herself, and gazed at him directly. “Do you love her?”
“What? Who?”
“You know very well who,” she replied. “The elf. Sylvanna. Do you love her?”
He tensed and hesitated. Too long. “What are you talking about?”
“You know perfectly well. She may not have told you, but it was I who asked her to go after you when you went into the city the night you returned from the campaign. I was concerned about you. I had never seen you so dispirited before. I stayed awake all night, waiting for you to return, so I know when you came home. I saw you. With her.”
“Well, just because we stayed out all night, two comrades in arms, drinking—”
“Don’t,” she said. “Don’t treat me like a fool, Aedan. Just answer my question.”
“Your question is presumptuous, my lady,” he said, retreating into formality. “As is your presence here at this late hour. It is most unseemly. You must consider your reputation—”
“My reputation be damned,” she said, shocking him into astonished silence. “Answer my question. Do you love her?”
He exhaled heavily and looked down at the floor.
“Yes.”
She seemed to collapse inwardly. She stared at him with a stricken expression, then sat back down on the bench and closed her eyes. Laera’s mocking voice came back to him, echoing in his mind. “She loves you … loves you … loves you…”
“Ariel…”
“Be quiet,” she said, not looking at him. “Just be quiet and listen. Laera knows. I don’t know how she knows, but she knows. You realize what that means, of course.”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean?” He knew exactly what she meant, but he could not accept it. How could she know? How could Laera possibly know?
“I know what happened between the two of you at Seaharrow, all those years ago,” said Ariel. “You and Laera.”
“But… how?”
She looked at him with exasperation. “Do you think I’m blind? You think I didn’t see the looks that passed between you? It was as plain as day that you were lovers. I was so frightened for you, it nearly drove me mad. I was afraid Arwyn would kill you if he found out. I do not know what passed between you when it ended, but I can guess, for she has nursed a hatred for you ever since. That, too, is clear to anyone who cares to notice. She looks at you with venom in her eyes. And now you have given her a weapon with which she can destroy you.”
“But how could she know?”
“Are you that naive? Besides, what difference does it make? She knows. She probably has half the servants in the palace reporting to her. And she has begun to pass the word. She has not done it herself, of course, for she is far too clever for that, but rest assured it came from her. Already, tongues are wagging, and you know how quickly gossip travels in the court.”
“What do I care about idle gossip? I have nothing of which to be ashamed.”
“I did not say you did,” she replied. “But instead of professing so much concern over how my coming to your rooms at night affects my reputation, you should give some thought to your own. Having elves among our troops was cause enough for controversy in itself, at least in the beginning. Since then, they have proven themselves our allies and been accepted as such, but this is something else entirely. If she were an ordinary, unblooded commoner, it would be bad enough, considering your position, but Sylvanna is not even human.”
“Why should that make any difference?”
Ariel rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Don’t be an idiot. I hold no prejudice toward her because she is an elf, but you know perfectly well that many people look upon race mixing as perversion. Even if she were human and a commoner, it would still be cause for scandal. Oh, I know that many of the noblemen have such liaisons, but you are not just any nobleman. You are the lord high chamberlain, second only to the emperor. Your honor and reputation must be beyond reproach. If nothing else, it calls your judgment into question, and as the emperor’s first minister and advisor, your judgment must always be considered sound. It is not only yourself that you are undermining, but the emperor, as well.”
Aedan could think of no reply to that, for she was absolutely right. He stared down at the floor, morosely. “I suppose I could resign my post….”
“And leave the emperor to choose a new high chamberlain in time of war? He depends upon your friendship and your counsel. You have been trained for this from birth, Aedan. Who would replace you? In time, perhaps, an adequate successor could be found from among the nobles of the court, but if you resigned while Anuire is threatened, you would not only be utterly disgraced, but you would also weaken and demoralize the emperor at a time when he needs most to be strong and confident. You cannot afford to make the noble sacrifice, Aedan. You don’t have that luxury. You don’t have the right.”
Ironically, he thought, she had used the same words he had spoken to the emperor earlier that day. And they were no less true applied to him than they had been when applied to Michael. He sighed and sat down heavily on his bed. “You’re right, of course,” he said. “But what am I to do? I suppose I could deny it, but the damage will have already been done. I knew Laera was spiteful, but I never suspected she would go so far.”
“There is one thing that can be done, before the story spreads farther than it has. I am loath to suggest it, but I can think of nothing else that would serve to quell the gossip before it can erupt into a scandal. You must take a wife.”
“A wife!” He thought quickly. Yes, that could work. And it would add further plausibility to the story that he and Sylvanna had merely stayed out drinking all night, comrades in arms unwinding after a long and difficult campaign. It would be a lie, of course, but a lie that people would find easier to accept with his being betrothed. His father had died before he could arrange a marriage for him, and what with the war, there had been no time for him to give any thought to marriage, even if he’d had the inclination. And even if people still suspected the liaison with Sylvanna, they would be unlikely to bring it up if he were married. Not without proof. Ariel was right. If he married, it would deflect Laera’s plan for revenge, but that still left him with a difficult situation. Quite aside from the problem of finding a wife, he would have to marry someone he did not love. The marriage would be a lie. And how could he bring himself to do that to some innocent girl?
As if she could read his mind, Ariel said, “I will marry you.”
He glanced up at her sharply. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “Ariel, I could not possibly ask you to sacrifice—”