Shalador's Lady
small enough to be comfortable for a Lady to drive. Lord Khardeen raised the horse up from a foal and trained him personally, so the lad is solid and dependable. He’s not kindred—Khardeen figured you had enough adjustments to make without that particular bit of fun—but the horse is used to being around Scelties, so he’ll settle in just fine with Kief and Lloyd to look after him.”
“Rainier, it’s very generous, but we can’t afford this,” Ranon said.
Rainier gave him an odd look, and his smile sharpened. “Ranon, darling, I’ll bet when you took a piss this morning you noticed you have a cock and balls. That means you have no say in this. Cassidy’s friends want her to have the horse and cart. They figured she’ll share it with Shira since Shira is the court’s Healer. If you want to argue about this with the Queen of Scelt and . . . Prince Sadi’s wife, you go right ahead. I’m not about to.” He gathered the reins and clicked to the horse, turning back the way he’d come.
Ranon had heard the hesitation and conscious choice of how to identify Jaenelle—and knew that Rainier might work for Daemon Sadi, but the man still served the Queen of Ebon Askavi.
He watched the pony cart turn a corner.
*What in the name of Hell just happened here?* Ranon asked Rainier on an Opal thread.
Rainier’s laughter came through the thread. *I didn’t tell your friends all of Cassidy’s connections. And whether you tell them why Cassidy knows so many Territory Queens in Kaeleer or why they’re all paying so much attention to what happens in Dena Nehele is up to you.*
*Are they paying attention?* Ranon’s heart started to pound hard.
*Ranon,* Rainier said gently, *the rulers of Scelt, Glacia, Dharo, Nharkhava, Dhemlan, and Ebon Rih all have a connection to your Queen or her court. Not to mention the High Lord of Hell. Of course they’re paying attention. And it doesn’t hurt if the Queens and Warlord Princes in Dena Nehele know a little more about your Lady’s credentials.*
Being so busy day after day, focusing on repairs and crops and the things the people would need to get through the winter, it was easy to forget how much power could arrow down on their land.
But being so busy day after day never quite smothered the knowledge that Theran’s actions might be setting up Dena Nehele for another violent storm.
He turned to the other men. “Shall we continue?”
Rikoma, Elendill, and Hikaeda looked at Ferall.
“Is there any place we could get a drink and sit for a bit?” Ferall asked.
“There is. It’s down this way.”
They’d had enough. Whatever they had come here to see, whatever questions they had wanted answered, they had gotten more than they’d expected.
So he took them to Elders’ Park and got them coffee and food, and gave them silence as they watched the workers return to their assignments. And knew with absolute certainty that something had changed.
They arrived back at the Queen’s Residence earlier than anticipated, so Ranon took the other men around to the back of the house. He didn’t think any of them knew any more about gardens than he did, but they looked around politely as he pointed out the Healing House and the cottage Gray wanted to convert into a loaning library.
“Gray is working with Lord Marcus, Prince Sadi’s man of business, to figure out costs and what will be needed,” Ranon said. “Since many people can’t afford books right now, he wants to have this library and obtain a wide variety of books to educate and entertain. The villagers would pay a couple of coppers to take a book for a month, then return it. We want to keep the fee small enough that people can afford it, but it also has to pay for the books themselves, the librarian’s wages, and the repairs and upkeep of the cottage.”
“Gray thought of this?” Hikaeda asked.
“Gray is a bundle of ideas,” Ranon said dryly.
Powell had given Gray his own little space in the Steward’s office to stash all his notes about possibilities for Eyota in particular and Dena Nehele in general. Only the knowledge that every available person was going to be helping with the harvest this year, and the need to get the shops finished up and stocked with merchandise, kept Gray from trying to add one more thing to the list of projects to be accomplished before winter set in.
They moved away from the wall and ended up standing near the table and chairs under the big tree.
*Ranon!*
The joyful shout
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