Callador raised his eyebrows. “Indeed. And needless to say, you would take steps to ensure that your brother did not live long. But you forget, if your son were next in line and yet too young to rule, it is your husband, the duke, who would become the regent and …” His voice trailed off. “Ah, but of course. You have doubtless already made plans to become a widow at the proper time. I see that I have greatly underestimated you. Your plan is as sound and logical as it is diabolical. My compliments.”
“Only now you’ve ruined everything,” said Laera furiously. “If I do what Raesene wants and follow the plan you designed, I shall be left with nothing except whatever he chooses to bestow on me. And whatever that may be, it will be a poor substitute for what I would have had otherwise. I could have appointed you the royal wizard when I assumed the regency. If that was what you wanted, why in the names of all the gods couldn’t you tell me?”
“Well, there was the question of trust,” said Callador. “It is something I do not bestow very easily. Force of habit, I suppose. And I had not imagined you would plan something so bold and ambitious. I must admit, now that I have heard it, your plan has much to recommend it over mine. I wish I had thought of it myself. Unfortunately, it is too late now.”
“Perhaps not,” said Laera as Callador made a pass with his fingers and the arched door to his sanctum opened with a loud creak of its ancient iron hinges. “Perhaps there is still a way….”
“How?” said Callador. “We cannot betray Raesene. As I hold power over you, he holds power over me. I had to give Raesene a token to seal my oath to him, just as I took one of you. There is now a bond between me and the Gorgon. If I fail him, there will be nowhere I can hide.”
“Then you must get that token back somehow,” said Laera.
Callador chuckled. “Easier said than done, my dear. You don’t think he would miss it?”
“What form does it take?” she asked.
“A lock of my hair, the same as yours, which he keeps in an amulet around his neck.”
“And if that amulet were empty? Would he be likely to open it and check?”
Callador raised his eyebrows. “I should think not,” he replied, “but how exactly do you propose I reclaim my lock of hair? Sneak into his bedchamber while he sleeps? I think not. Discovery would mean my life, and with the bond between us, he would feel my presence if I drew so near.”
“But he has no such bond with me,” said Laera.
“You would risk such a thing?” asked Callador with astonishment. “If he awoke while you tried to sneak into his bedchamber, he would tear you apart.”
“Not if I were welcome in his bedchamber,” she replied.
Callador’s eyes grew very wide. “You don’t mean … ?”
“How long since he has had a woman? Does he still have the desire?”
Callador stared at her, mouth agape, absolutely speechless. For several moments, he was too shocked to reply. Finally, he said, “I… I don’t know. But… you can’t seriously mean you would … give yourself to him?”
Laera’s mouth twisted into a grimace. “When you first brought me to him, I feared that was precisely what he wanted, and I thought that I would rather die. But with all my plans at stake, if there is no other way, I suppose I could overcome my revulsion for a short while.”
Callador sat down unsteadily. He gripped the arms of his chair, shaking his head. “Even if you could, you would be taking a great risk. There is no telling what Raesene might do. I have never known him to be with a woman. I … I cannot guess his appetites. Nor can I imagine …” He glanced up at her. “He could hurt you. He might even kill you.”
“I know,” said Laera.
The thought of going to Raesene’s bed filled her with dread. And yet, at the same time, there was that strange, inexplicable, perverse thrill engendered by the risk of it, by the thought that she would be the first woman he had known that way in centuries. And despite his horrible appearance, he was still, at heart, a man … or he had been once. And men could be controlled. She was a past master at the art. She would be the only woman who had lain with an awnshegh, the most dreaded and powerful awnshegh of them all. And to control someone like that, to conquer him …
“By all the gods,” said Callador slowly, staring at her with disbelief. “The thought of it excites you!”
She had revealed too much with her expression, Laera realized. Callador must not know. “Excites me? Are you mad?”
“The look on your face just now—”
“If terror that chills to the bone can be called excitement, I suppose that is what I feel,” she said, shivering to underscore her words. “What would you know about excitement? You who thrill to nothing save your potions and incantations? You are the one who got us into this! Because of you, I must do something … unthinkable! And if I should not survive or if I should lose my sanity as a result, it will be on your head! By Haelyn, if I were a man, I would strangle you with my bare hands! You have sold yourself to a monster, and in doing so have sold me as well! And now it is my lot to save us both! Damn you, Callador! Damn you for a fool!”
The wizard hung his head in shame. “You are right, Laera. I’ve been a fool, blinded by my own ambition. Would there were some way I could make it up to you. I truly regret I ever brought you into this. I am so very sorry.”
“Words,” she said contemptuously. “Words come easy when it is I who must made this awful sacrifice!”
“It is true,” said Callador miserably. He brought his hands up to his neck and slipped off the golden amulet that held her lock of hair. “Here, take this. I release you from your bond. It is the very least I can do.”
Laera smiled inwardly. Perfect, she thought, as she took the amulet. Right on cue. “Well, perhaps you really did mean it,” she said, her voice softening. “You have been both a friend and teacher to me, Callador. You thought you were helping us both—you to find a better place in life and me to get revenge on an old enemy and on my brother for bartering me to cement a political alliance. I forgive you.”
“I shall send you back,” said Callador. “I cannot allow you to go through with this. I will take the brunt of Raesene’s vengeance.”
“No,” said Laera. “There may still be a way for us to turn things to our favor. We may yet win our goal. But first you must be free of Raesene’s power.”
“You would still do this … for me?” the old wizard said with amazement.
“No, for us,” said Laera. “Wait here for me. I shall either return with your token or die trying.”
* * * * *
The corridors of Battlewaite were empty as she made her way back to the great hall. The braziers flickered dimly, their flames dying out. As Laera crossed the hall, heading toward the archway in the back, her heart pounded so hard she thought the sound of it would fill the hall, echoing off the gleaming black walls.
She had never been so afraid in her entire life. And yet, the fear excited her. She had to go through with this somehow. Not only because she still needed Callador, but because without him, her plans would go awry. The wizard knew too much, and so long as the Gorgon controlled him, Callador remained a threat to her. There was only one way to neutralize that threat.
She went through the archway and down a darkened corridor that led to a flight of stone steps. As she climbed them slowly, her terror mounted, and her excitement as well. This was the greatest risk she had ever taken. If she were caught, she would surely die. But if she succeeded, she would not only have taken the ultimate risk and gotten away with it, she would do what no other woman had ever done. She would have conquered the Gorgon.
No one would ever know of it, of course, but that didn’t matter. She would know, and the sense of power and satisfaction she would derive from that would be intoxicating beyond anything she had ever experienced. The Gorgon, too, would know. Eventually. And there would be nothing he could do about it.