Selenay was sitting a little way away, under a tree; when Alberich came up to her, Talamir was speaking earnestly to her in a low voice. Alberich caught the name “Norris” and the word “script” before they both looked up at him.

She had been crying quietly, and she rubbed the tears from her face with the back of her hand. “So it was an act from beginning to end,” she said bitterly. “Every bit of it.”

“Tailored precisely to you, Majesty,” Alberich agreed, since she seemed to be waiting for a reply. “Sorry, I am.”

“I don’t want your pity!” she snapped, then wilted. “Damn. I apologize. It’s not your fault. And I probably wouldn’t have listened to you before—” The tears started again; she seemed unaware of them. “It’s not fair. I’m glad you killed him.”

“Majesty, I am not,” Alberich replied, and she looked up at him, startled. “In death, he has escaped the consequences of his actions. And left you to deal with them. I am not glad. And what His Majesty of Rethwellan will say and do, I know not.”

“Leave that to me,” Talamir said instantly. “Although, given not only what Karath claimed but what my agents have verified for me, there was definitely no love lost between the King of Rethwellan and his brother.” He brooded a moment. “No. No love lost at all. He seems to have been—more welcome in his absence than his presence, and it was not by his doing that he was not told of his own father’s death until it was long past the moment when he could have been recalled for the funeral.”

Alberich nodded; that wasn’t much of a surprise. “So, King Faramentha, not so displeased to hear of this will be?”

Talamir shrugged. “I believe that if we are discreet, or as discreet as we may be, having roused all of Haven, this will probably be no more than a matter of some delicate maneuvering. In fact, I suspect it will be of more import that it is clear that we do not hold His Majesty responsible for his brother’s actions than that we—were forced to eliminate a Prince of Rethwellan.”

Alberich caught a little movement from the corner of his eye. Selenay was staring at him. “And when I think of what you’ve been doing so quietly all this time, Alberich—and to think that at one point I thought you were just jealous because he was as good a swordsman as you and that was why you weren’t up at the Palace anymore—you’re—”

She was about to say it. He cut her off.