Traitor's Moon

be held here until you hear differently.”
    Silence followed him back into the house. Kheeta had Alec cornered in what had been the mourning chamber.
    â€œKlia has been moved to the women’s bath,” Kheeta told him. “Mydri ordered that a small dhima be set up for her there.”
    â€œSay nothing of what you saw out there for now, all right?”
    Kheeta nodded and slipped out.
    Finally alone, Seregil summoned what little patience he had left and turned his attention to Alec. “I need you to calm down.”
    Alec glared at him, eyes dark with fear and anger. A soul-deep pain radiated from him; Seregil could feel it tightening his own throat. “Maker’s Mercy, Seregil, what if she dies?”
    â€œThat’s out of our hands. Tell me exactly what you saw. Everything.”
    â€œWe stopped at a clearing in the hills at midday. We ate a meal and waited for the heat of the day to pass. Emiel offered to show Klia some pools along a stream.”
    â€œYou heard the invitation?”
    â€œNo, I was—distracted,” Alec admitted, shamefaced. “Some of his friends challenged me to a shooting match. Klia and Emiel were sitting in the shade talking the last I noticed. After the match they were gone. Beka had seen them, knew where they’d gone. She’d offered to go with them, but Klia said no. She must have been hoping to win Emiel over. Anyway, they couldn’t have been alone more than half an hour when I found him wrestling with her on the ground. Her hair and tunic were wet and she was fighting hard. By the time I’d gotten him off her she was having trouble breathing. I got her on a horse and we came here as quickly as we could.”
    Seregil considered all this, then shook his head, the words he was about to speak already bitter ashes in his mouth. “There’s a chance he’s telling the truth.”
    â€œI
saw
him! And you’ve seen the marks on them both.”
    â€œThe marks on her neck aren’t right. There should be bruises, finger marks, but there aren’t.”
    â€œDamn it, Seregil, I know what I saw!”
    Seregil ran a hand back through his hair and sighed. “You know what you think you saw How did Klia’s face look when you first reached her? Was it pale or dark?”
    â€œPale.”
    â€œDamn. There’s no bruising on her neck, and the bones here—” He touched a finger to his larynx. “They’re undamaged. If she was being strangled, her face would have been dark. I’m not saying he’s innocent, just that he didn’t choke her. You’ve got to let go of that, or you’ll be no use to me at all.”
    â€œBut those scratches on her neck?”
    â€œThere’s blood under her nails, but not his. She did that to herself, clawing at her throat in panic. It’s a common reaction to choking. Or poison.”
    â€œPoison? We all ate from the same bowls. I shared a wineskin with her myself. It still comes back to Emiel doing something to her down by the water.”
    â€œSo it would seem. Are you certain no one else was there with them?”
    â€œThe ground was so soft in places mice had left tracks. If there’d been anyone else down there in the past two days, I’d have seen signs of them.”
    â€œThen let’s hope Braknil finds something for us to hang an accusation on, although Emiel doesn’t strike me as the type to leave empty poison flasks in his pockets. In the meantime, we’ve got to be careful what we say.”
    Alec sank his head into his hands. “Beka’s right. We failed. Hell, how could I have been so stupid? An archery contest!”
    Kheeta opened the door and looked in. “Alec, Mydri needs you. You’re to come right away.”
    Four riders of Rhylin’s decuria were on guard at the bath-chamber door. Beka and Rhylin stood just inside. A scene of quiet chaos lay beyond, but at first all Alec could focus on was the sight of Thero and Seregil’s two sisters at work over Klia.
    The princess was wrapped in a clean linen robe and lay on a pallet next to one of the small sunken tubs, which had been converted into a fire pit. An iron tripod had been set over the flames, supporting a large, steaming kettle. Thero knelt motionless beside her, eyes closed, holding one of her hands between his.
    Mydri was supervising half a dozen servants around the room.
    â€œIs the infusion steeped yet?” she called