The Burning Stone (Crown of Stars 3)

Yet what if he decided that a queen’s bed was more satisfying than the one he shared with her?

The Eika dog whined weakly, then collapsed back to lick a paw with its dry tongue. Sanglant released her, took water from the basin, and knelt so the poor beast could lap from his palms. Someone had put up the shutters, and the comers of the room lay dim with shadows. Light shone in lines through the shutters, striping the floor and the dog and the prince and a strange creature concocted of metal that lay slumped over the back of the only chair. Standing, he wiped his hands on his leggings and said, suddenly:

“What’s this? It’s a coat of mail!” He ran his fingers over coarse iron links. “A quilted coat. A helm. Lord Above! A good stout spear. A sword. A sheath.” And a teardrop shield, without marking or color: suitable for a cavalryman. He hoisted it up and slipped his left arm through the straps, testing weight and balance. He unsheathed the sword.

“Ai, Lady!” she murmured, staring at these riches. It was far more than what she had asked Thiadbold for: she had asked only for a sword and helmet.

“But what is it?” he asked.

She found Master Hosel’s belt among her gear and slid the sheath onto it, then with her own hands fastened the belt about Sanglant’s hips as she swallowed tears brought on by the generosity of the Lions. “It’s your morning gift.” She tied off the belt and stood back, remembering what Lavastine had said. “‘If you walk through fire, the flame shall not consume you.’”

He gave a curt laugh. “Let them declare we are not wed, if they will, but God have witnessed our oath, and God will honor our pledge.” Taking her face between his hands, he kissed her on the forehead.

There were two unlit candles in this chamber; both of them flared abruptly to life, and he laughed, swung her up and around, and they landed on the bed in a breathless heap. It was a measure of his disgrace that, even in the late afternoon with preparations for a feast underway and the palace swarming with servants and nobles and hangers-on, no one disturbed them.

Afterward, he lay beside her with a leg flung over her buttocks, head turned away as he examined the sword, good, strong iron meant for war, not show. “Where did it all come from?”

“The Lions felt they owed me a favor, but they respect you even more than they felt grateful to me. This is a tribute to you—and to your reputation.”

He rolled up to sit, rubbing his forehead with one hand. “If I have not destroyed it entirely now.” He drew his knees up and pounded his head against them, too restless to sit still. “Why didn’t I see it before? There’s no trace of Bloodheart’s scent around you. There never has been. Yet it attacked Lavastine’s hounds. It can’t have been an adder—yet if it were only an adder, if I mistook the scent …” From the floor, the dog whimpered restlessly and tried to stand, but had not the strength. Sanglant tugged at his own hair, twining it into a single thick strand so tightly that it strained at his scalp, and then shaking it out. “No Eagle can do my message justice. No Eagle knows Bloodheart’s scent, or can listen for it in the bushes. I must go after him myself.”

“Hush. Of course you must. But I’ll ride with you.”

“I wouldn’t leave you here alone!” he said indignantly. Then he groaned and shut his eyes in despair. “But I have no horse except on my father’s sufferance. I wish he had invested me as margrave of Eastfall and let Sapientia march to Aosta! Then we could have been left in peace!”

“If there can be peace in the marchlands, with bandits and Quman raiders.”

“If there is peace in my heart, then I will be at peace no matter what troubles come my way.” He buried his face against her neck.

The dog whined. She heard voices. Sanglant grabbed for her tunic, and the door slammed open to admit—

“Conrad!” exclaimed Sanglant. He jumped out of bed and stood there stark naked in the middle of the floor. “Well met, cousin. I could not greet you earlier as you deserved.” She could not help but admire his insouciance—and his backside—even as she scrambled to get her clothes on under the covers.

o;Come,” said Villam, not without sympathy. “It is time for you to go.”

When they returned to the chamber set aside for Sanglant’s use and the door shut behind them, she simply walked into his arms and stood there for a long while, not wanting to move. He was solid and strong, and she felt as if she could pour all her anger and fire and fear into the cool endless depths of him without ever filling him up. He seemed content simply to stand there, rocking slightly side to side: he was never completely at rest. But she was at rest here, with him—even in such disgrace. She had lived on the fringe of society for so long, she and Da, that she could scarcely feel she had lost something precious to her.

Yet what if he decided that a queen’s bed was more satisfying than the one he shared with her?

The Eika dog whined weakly, then collapsed back to lick a paw with its dry tongue. Sanglant released her, took water from the basin, and knelt so the poor beast could lap from his palms. Someone had put up the shutters, and the comers of the room lay dim with shadows. Light shone in lines through the shutters, striping the floor and the dog and the prince and a strange creature concocted of metal that lay slumped over the back of the only chair. Standing, he wiped his hands on his leggings and said, suddenly:

“What’s this? It’s a coat of mail!” He ran his fingers over coarse iron links. “A quilted coat. A helm. Lord Above! A good stout spear. A sword. A sheath.” And a teardrop shield, without marking or color: suitable for a cavalryman. He hoisted it up and slipped his left arm through the straps, testing weight and balance. He unsheathed the sword.

“Ai, Lady!” she murmured, staring at these riches. It was far more than what she had asked Thiadbold for: she had asked only for a sword and helmet.

“But what is it?” he asked.

She found Master Hosel’s belt among her gear and slid the sheath onto it, then with her own hands fastened the belt about Sanglant’s hips as she swallowed tears brought on by the generosity of the Lions. “It’s your morning gift.” She tied off the belt and stood back, remembering what Lavastine had said. “‘If you walk through fire, the flame shall not consume you.’”

He gave a curt laugh. “Let them declare we are not wed, if they will, but God have witnessed our oath, and God will honor our pledge.” Taking her face between his hands, he kissed her on the forehead.

There were two unlit candles in this chamber; both of them flared abruptly to life, and he laughed, swung her up and around, and they landed on the bed in a breathless heap. It was a measure of his disgrace that, even in the late afternoon with preparations for a feast underway and the palace swarming with servants and nobles and hangers-on, no one disturbed them.

Afterward, he lay beside her with a leg flung over her buttocks, head turned away as he examined the sword, good, strong iron meant for war, not show. “Where did it all come from?”

“The Lions felt they owed me a favor, but they respect you even more than they felt grateful to me. This is a tribute to you—and to your reputation.”

He rolled up to sit, rubbing his forehead with one hand. “If I have not destroyed it entirely now.” He drew his knees up and pounded his head against them, too restless to sit still. “Why didn’t I see it before? There’s no trace of Bloodheart’s scent around you. There never has been. Yet it attacked Lavastine’s hounds. It can’t have been an adder—yet if it were only an adder, if I mistook the scent …” From the floor, the dog whimpered restlessly and tried to stand, but had not the strength. Sanglant tugged at his own hair, twining it into a single thick strand so tightly that it strained at his scalp, and then shaking it out. “No Eagle can do my message justice. No Eagle knows Bloodheart’s scent, or can listen for it in the bushes. I must go after him myself.”