In Which Elarys Plays Along

July 27, 1180

Elarys hadn't seen the young man since he'd been scarcely more than a boy. That said, she knew damn well who he was, why he was here. Something had gone wrong.

And Ietrin must have known she'd know it, otherwise he wouldn't have entered her study with that sluggish, fearful tread, metaphorical tail between his legs, all in spite of the weeks-long journey it would have taken him to get here. But while some--her daughter came to mind--might have gotten straight to the point, such bluntness was not Elarys's style. And oh, it had been far too long since she'd had such a chance to toy with a young man. "And here I was, thinking I was far too old to be expecting calls from princes."

He blinked, stunned--caught off guard by the playful opening, as many were. As she preferred it. "I never would have guessed that from looking at you, my lady."

The response was mumbled and hesitant. That didn't matter. "Good to hear it from a handsome young thing like you. But I suppose I can't delude myself into thinking you rode all this way just to flatter me?"

"Perhaps not, though it has been a while since I've had the opportunity to flatter a woman." Or taken the opportunity, more like--but there was little point in pretending to care about that.

Besides, it did give a most convenient opening. "I did hear through the grapevine that things haven't been all wine and roses between you and my daughter as of late. Something about my grandson?"

"Yes, Kaldar." There was a slight note of fondness in his voice, which in itself was unsurprising--the man only had the one son, after all--but that old adolescent tic in her brow would have been having a fit had she spent all those years mastering her composure. Elarys had no use for feelings. They served only to complicate unnecessarily. "Somehow, Ellona's gotten it into her pretty little head that his becoming king after me couldn't possibly be to his benefit, and she hasn't consented to seeing me since. She won't let me see Kaldar and Ella either, unless I pull rank and demand it--and even then, only if Neilor's there to supervise."

"Well, Ellona was always a little... odd." But not that odd, surely? What woman in her right mind would pass up the power that came with having a king for a son? Or a grandson, as was the case with Elarys herself. Frankly, it almost seemed that Ellona had gone out of her way to spite her.

That was fine. If Ellona wanted to make an enemy out of Elarys, then who was she not to play along? "You, good sir, are the Crown Prince of Naroni. Surely you're familiar with Dovian law?"

Ietrin nodded, though not without swallowing first. Of course he was the sort of prince who dozed off during those dull-yet-important lessons. But that would work. He didn't need to know anything. It may have been better if he didn't.

"So am I. My father was a magistrate, did you know?" The prince shook his head. "A clever one, too. He had a particular affinity for those obscure little laws that rarely come into play."

The young man's face lit with understanding. Perhaps she had been wrong in assuming him to be stupid, but it made little difference. He didn't have to be stupid, as long as he was simply stupid enough. "So you're aware of one that might help."

Wrong--one that would help. "You made the right choice, coming to me."

NEXT CHAPTER: