gloria, we lied, we can't go on
Half an hour later, after the public revealing of Zalasta's betrayal and descent into insanity, the group is gathered in the royal apartment.
"No, Lady Sephrenia," Ehlana is saying, flatly, "you do not have our permission to withdraw. You're a member of the royal council of Elenia, and we have need of you ( Read more... )
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Martel meets Maryani's gaze steadily, having the slightest suspicion about her intentions.
"You sound like a field-marshal, Ehlana," Sarabian tells her.
"I am," she responds absently. "It's one of my titles. Sparhawk, can Bhelliom counter any magic Zalasta might throw at us?"
"Easily, my Queen. He probably won't try anything, though. You saw what happened to him when Bhelliom blew his cloud apart. It's very painful to have one of your spells broken. Sephrenia knows him better than I do. She can tell you whether or not he's desperate enough to risk that again."
"Well, Sephrenia?" Ehlana asks.
"I don't really know, your Majesty," the small Styric woman replies after a moment of thought. "This is a side of him I've never seen before. I honestly believe he's gone mad. He might do almost anything." Martel's grimace catches her attention, but Ehlana is continuing.
"We'd better be ready for him, then. Mirtai, ask Kalten and Ulath to bring Kolata in here. Let's find out just how far this conspiracy goes."
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Sephrenia and Sparhawk go aside to confer quietly, but it's not long until Kolata is brought in, anyway. He's quite cooperative, after weeks of confinement and Zalasta's obvious willingness to kill him ( ... )
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Martel spares a somewhat quelling look that probably doesn't quell her at all and isn't, right now, really intended to.
"Then you haven't been involved in this affair since you were first appointed to office?" Oscagne prompts Kolata, who eyes Maryani (and Martel, beside her) before answering.
"I don't think 'this affair', as you call it, has been going on for that long. I can't say for certain, but I got the impression that it all started about five or six years ago."
"You've been recruiting people for longer than that."
"That was just ordinary Tamul politics, Oscagne. I knew that the Prime Minister was an idiot as soon as I took office. You were my only significant opponent. I was recruiting people to counter your moves--and your absurd ideas that the subject kingdoms of Daresia are foreign nations rather than integral parts of metropolitan Tamuli ( ... )
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Maryani's Cheshire smile slips only a fraction before she restores it. "My, my," she murmurs, "he does preoccupy himself, dear Krager."
"That is Krager, all right," Kalten notes ( ... )
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