Kushiel's Chosen

Drustan who spoke at last, frowning. "I do not like it either, Phèdre nó Delaunay. But it is in my thoughts that this is the voice of your dreams you feared to heed."
    I nodded.
    Ysandre looked dourly at me. "Last time, you brought me a heap of stinking hides, a Skaldi dagger and a Tsingani fortune-teller. This time, a velvet cloak and a dream. What next? A kerchief and a worrisome feeling?" I bit my tongue and did not answer. "Very well. It is my profound hope that you're wrong this time, but I'm not fool enough to wager on it, nor to try and stop you. What do you want of us?"
    I told them my plan. Drustan looked amused, although Ysandre did not. Nonetheless, she agreed to it.
    When I made my obeisance and would have left, she called me back in a different tone. "Phèdre." I turned and met her violet eyes, dark with concern. "Anaflel Delaunay was my ally when I had no other around me who did not seek to use me. I called upon his oath, and he died of it. We are at peace, now, and I hold the throne unchallenged. The army is in my hand, and no province but that acknowledges my sovereignty. Drustan mab Necthana is my acknowledged husband and brings with him the sovereign might of Alba. Skaldia's reign is as divided as ever it was before the ascendance of Waldemar Selig, Aragonia gives alliance, and no single Caerdicci city-state has the might to challenge us. When I sent you to Alba, I was desperate; now, Terre d'Ange is in a position of great strength. Yes, I would rest easier if Melisande Shahrizai were dealt with, but whatever she is about, it cannot pose a threat so grave it is worth risking your life."
    I paused. "Mayhap. But whoever aided her stands close to the throne."
    "And if they did it for blackmail's sake, like as not they pray every day to Elua that I never find it out," Ysandre said grimly. "I am telling you, it is not worth the risk. There is enough blood spilled at the doorstep of House Courcel. I don't want yours added to it."
    Like as not she was right; but there was the dream, and the bone-deep terror of it. Would that Hyacinthe or his mother had been there, or any Tsingani who could speak the dromonde, because I knew, in my heart of hearts, that I was not wrong. "I will be careful," I promised.
    "Good." Ysandre settled back, and added one last codicil. "If you will not let me give you an honor guard, you will at least take your men-at-arms, and that stubborn Cassiline."
    I opened my mouth, and closed it, swallowing. "I... am not sure if Joscelin will go."
    Drustan started at that, but Ysandre's look turned flinty. "He swore his sword unto my service when he renounced Cassiel's. He will go, or be forsworn. And I do not hold lightly with oath-breakers."
    "I will tell him," I murmured, wondering how he would take it.
    With that, I was dismissed.
    I did not tell Joscelin or my chevaliers immediately, but set about making the arrangements. I paid a visit first of all to my factor, to explain my desire to travel to La Serenissima to oversee firsthand my investments there. After some searching, he found for me an interest in a shipment of Alban lead, bound from Marsilikos to La Serenissima in a fortnight's time, which suited my needs perfectly. One part of my plan I had withheld even from Ysandre.
    Thelesis de Momay, who had known what I was about from the beginning, did what Ysandre had requested, and I met with her to review the list of Cassiline Brothers on active duty at the Palace. "Etienne de Chardin, Brys nó Rinforte, Lisle Arnot, David no Rinforte, Jean de Laurenne ..." Scanning the list, I glanced up at Thelesis. "Why so many adopted into Lord Rinforte's household?"
    "I asked." As the Queen's Poet, Thelesis could ask nearly anything without being questioned; it would be presumed research for some work of poesy. "Orphans taken in by the Cassiline Brotherhood always take on the Prefect's name. Rinforte's been Prefect for a long time." She turned her head away to cough, and looked back apologetically. "He's had a wasting sickness these past months, one of the Brothers told me. That's likely why neither Joscelin nor Micheline de Parnasse received a reply."
    "Ah." I finished reading the list and set it down.
    "Nothing?" Thelesis' dark eyes were sympathetic.
    I shook my head. "No. Or if there is, I don't see it."
    "I'm sorry." She rose to embrace me, and her bones felt light and frail; it unnerved me, on the heels of the news of the Prefect's health. "Kushiel is not gentle with his chosen," Thelesis