Traitor's Moon

the ground had given way under him?
    â€œHave you sent word to Klia?” he asked at last.
    Phoria shook her head. “Not just yet. I’m expecting fresh dispatches by tomorrow. We’ll wait to see which way the wind’s blowing down there. Strength, Kor. We must preserve a position of strength at all costs.”
    â€œAny news you get by dispatch, even if it comes tomorrow, will be at least a week old. Besides, Klia is sure to put the best light on things, especially once word reaches her that you’ve taken the throne.”
    Phoria gave him a strange, tight smile that narrowed her pale eyes like a cat’s. Going to a table at the side of the tent, she unlocked an iron box and took out a sheaf of small parchments. “Klia and Torsin are not my only sources of information at Sarikali.”
    â€œAh, yes, your spies in the ranks. What do they say? Will the Iia’sidra give us what we ask?”
    Phoria’s mouth set in a harsh, unyielding line. “One way or another, we shall have what we need. I want you in Rhíminee, my brother.”
    Going to him, she took one of his large hands in hers and tugged a ring from his finger, the one set with a large black stone carved with a dragon swallowing its own tail. Smiling, she slipped it on the forefinger of her left hand. “Be ready, Kor. When this dragon comes back to you, it’s time to go after another.”

21
R HUI’AUROS
    I t won’t take much acting to play the recovering invalid, will it?” Alec said as he helped Seregil dress the third morning after the beating. His friend’s body showed a shocking array of purple and green bruises where it wasn’t bandaged, and he still wasn’t eating much except broth and Nyal’s infusions.
    â€œThe act will be to convince them that I
am
recovered.” Seregil let out a strangled groan as he eased his arms into the sleeves of his coat. “Or to convince myself.”
    Seregil still refused to divulge what had really happened to him that night. The fact that he seemed in better spirits since the attack bothered Alec almost as much as his friend’s stubborn silence on the matter.
    No sooner do I rake a few old secrets out of him than he goes and takes on a load of new ones
.
    â€œI’ll come with you today,” he said. “It’s almost gotten interesting. The khirnari of Silmai has been taking Klia’s part openly, and she’s convinced the Ra’basi are about to tumble our way. You missed the banquet with them last night; most cordial, and the Virésse noticeably absent. Do you think Nyal had a hand in that?”
    â€œHe claims not to have been asked hisopinion. It could be that Ra’basi is getting tired of being under Virésse’s sway.” Seregil limped to the small mirror over the washstand. Evidently satisfied with what he saw there, he stretched his arms tentatively and let out another pained gasp. “Oh, yes, I’m
much
better!” he muttered, grimacing at his white-faced reflection. “Help me downstairs, will you? I think I can manage after that.”
    The others were at breakfast in the hall. Klia sat poring over a stack of new dispatches.
    â€œFeeling better?” she asked, glancing up.
    â€œMuch,” Seregil lied. He eased into a chair next to Thero and accepted a cup of tea he had no intention of drinking. The wizard was frowning over a letter.
    â€œFrom Magyana?” he asked.
    â€œYes.” Thero passed it to him and Seregil skimmed the contents, holding it so Alec could see, too.
    â€œÂ â€˜The third of Klia’s dispatches reached us here yesterday. Phoria said little, but her impatience is clear,’ ” Alec read aloud. “ ‘Surely some small concession can be coaxed from the Iia’sidra? otherwise, I fear she will recall you—’ ”
    â€œYes, we’ve already seen that,” Torsin told him. “A small concession, she asks for. What else have we been laboring for all these weeks?”
    Seregil saw the quick glance Alec shot the envoy and knew he was recalling the man’s night visit to Khatme tupa.
    â€œI get hints of the same threat from my honored sister,” Klia growled, tossing aside the letter she’d been reading. “Let her come down and see what I’m up against. It’s like trying to argue with trees!” She turned to Seregil with a grimace of frustration. “Tell me, my