Passion Play (River of Souls 1)

THE BELLS WERE striking twelve before Raul came into the bedroom. He carried a shaded lamp, which cast only a dim light at his feet, none on his face. When he saw Ilse, he stopped and drew back a step, as though surprised. “You were waiting for me?”

She nodded.

Raul tilted his head. “It was not what you thought.”

“How do you know what I thought?”

“From the way you are sitting here in the dark.”

He set the lamp on a table and began to unbutton his shirt. He seemed preoccupied—not guilty or irritated or any of the emotions she would have guessed after such a meeting. Now that Raul was here, with her, she could see that Nadine was right. Whatever they discussed had to be business. Still Ilse could not rid herself of the memory of Dedrick’s tone when he first addressed his former lover. She wished she had listened longer, if only to dispel those doubts.

So ask.

I can’t.

Why not? Don’t you trust him to answer?

I do, but—

Ilse took a deep breath. “Raul. Why did— Why did Dedrick come here tonight?”

Raul glanced around. “To apologize. To say good-bye. Dedrick is going to Duenne next week.”

She tried to pretend surprise. “That was a very long good-bye.”

“He had a proposal to make. So I listened.”

Raul continued to undress, his expression distracted, as though he was still turning over whatever he and Dedrick had discussed. Ilse watched him, taking pleasure in how he moved, in spite of the doubt nipping at her.

“He loves you still, doesn’t he?” she asked quietly.

Raul sighed. “I believe so. However, he brought me news I cannot ignore.”

“News about Markus Khandarr?”

“Among other things. Lady Alia had leave from the queen for a visit this spring. She mentioned to Dedrick in private that Armand and Khandarr both spend more time in the old wing of the palace. I know which section she means. Baerne had the court mages set layers of spells on those rooms so that no one could spy on them. It’s all very vague, of course, which makes me believe the news more than not.”

Ilse shifted uneasily. “I … I heard something of what he said.”

She felt, rather than saw, Raul’s glance. “I thought you might,” he said in a neutral tone. “But not everything?”

“No. Not everything. I’m sorry.”

He waved a hand. “No matter.”

Ilse clasped her hands together, relaxed them. “What did Dedrick offer then?”

Raul still had not approached her. Though he had professed not to care, she could see that he did care, deeply, that she had spied on him. Then he shrugged. Some of the stiffness left him, and he sat beside her on the bed. “To use his words, he offered to be my eyes and ears, where others had turned blind and deaf, out of concern for their own affairs. It’s risky,” he said, half to himself. “Khandarr knows about the connection between us. But he must also know that we are no longer together, which offers Dedrick some protection.”

“Is that enough?”

“I don’t know. I do know that Dedrick insisted. Said he would spy for me whether I agreed or not. So I agreed, if only to enforce some cau

tion. We had to work out a method and some channels for sending messages between here and there. That’s what took so long.”

Ilse said nothing. She could only think that Dedrick had made this offer because he loved Raul, and he still had hope. And she hated herself for those thoughts.

“You believe me?” Raul said, after a moment.