Kushiel's Chosen

anywhere but there. If this worked-oh, Elua, if it worked!-I owed a greater debt than words could utter to Nicola L'Envers y Aragon, who had sought in good faith to convince me that her cousin Barquiel and I threatened to tear Ysandre in twain with our mistrust of one another, who gave me the sacred password of her House as proof of her earnestness. It doesn 't matter what you. believe. Just remember it.
    And Delaunay's pupil to the end, I had recorded it in memory, along with her wry smile and farewell kiss. Do me a favor, and don't put it to the test unless you 're truly in need.
    I am in need now, Nicola, I thought, sealing this second letter with a wax taper, I am well and truly in need now, and whatever bargain you ask of me, I will make. Ah, my lord Kushiel, if your blood truly runs in the veins of House L'Envers alongside Naamah's and Elua's, let him heed this plea!
    It was Timanthes who came for the letters. I gave them into his keeping.
    "Demetrios is truly grieved that he could not grant your request in full," he said quietly to me. "I hope that you know this."
    "I do." I met his calm gaze. "He's a good ruler, isn't he?"
    "He ..." Timanthes took a deep breath. "Yes. He is."
    It could have been like this, I thought, with my lord Delaunay and Rolande de la Courcel, who loved him. Delaunay would have been like this man Timanthes, with pride of place at his side, a steadfast beacon no matter whence his lord's whims turned, knowing he would always return in the
    end. It would have been so, if Prince Rolande had wed his first intended, Edmée de Rocaille, who loved them both and smiled upon their friendship. The Lady Althaia understands as much, and asks no more, loving her brother and lord alike. Let Demetrios Asterius wed her, then, and have his Timanthes as well; let no bitter rival come between them as Isabel L'Envers had done, setting in motion an irrevocable chain of betrayal and hatred.
    Those events made Anafiel Delaunay what and who he was when I knew him, brilliant and ruthless and wise, and kind, too; Elua knows, I had reason to know it. And yet, I never knew him happy, save those few precious weeks before the end, when Alcuin won through his stern walls to offer him a measure of love-and even that, I had begrudged, with a child's jealousy.
    "Love him well, then, Timanthes," I said, tears stinging my eyes. "It is a rare enough thing to find, a good ruler and a dear friend. Love him well, and let him do the same in turn, for Blessed Elua asks no more of us."
    "I will," he said gravely, looking only a little startled. "I do. Lady Phaedra, Demetrios bids me ask you, are there some words you would have the courier commit to heart? I do not think the Serenissimans will dare blockade and search a Kritian ship, but if they do, 'twere best your message was engraved in memory, lest it be necessary to destroy your letter."
    It was well-thought of him; I paused a moment to gather myself. "Yes. Bid him memorize this: Benedicte is a traitor, he has taken Melisande to wife. They plan to kill the Queen. Percy de Somerville is in league with them. Tell Barquiel that by the burning river, I adjure him to hold the City against them all."
    He repeated it several times, until I was sure he had it letter-perfect; he was a quick study. When he had done, he took my hands in his own. "The message will be delivered, Lady Phaedra. The Kindred of Minos do not swear lightly, and that ship will sail with the Kore's blessing on it; Mother Dia herself will see it brought safe to harbor. Word has come from the Temenos only this hour past." He Sullied Slightly at my expression. "There are things the Kore knows untold, and of those, we do not ask."
    "Pray you give her my thanks," I whispered.
    Timanthes nodded. "I shall." Still holding my hands, he hesitated, searching for words and gazing past me. "There are ... other rumors, that have come from the Temenos," he said slowly. "Servants will talk, where priests and priestesses hold their tongues, although surely this too is a thing the Kore permits. But.. . this thing they name you, lypiphera; they speak it with awe and hope, they who serve."
    A shiver ran the length of my spine, as though a great wing had brushed me unseen. "It is not always an ill thing, to know pain," I said, meeting his eyes as his gaze returned to my face. "To remember. I have been a slave, Timanthes. It is a pain I remember. And it is poorly done, to treat humans as chattel."
    He looked at me for a long time