“You don’t owe me gratitude,” she said. “And I fear this won’t put an end to your troubles with Randa.”

“Katsa.” It was Oll. “Are you certain this is what you want?”

“What will Randa do to you?” Giddon asked.

“Whatever he does,” Oll said, “we’ll support you.”

“No,” Katsa said. “You won’t support me. I must be on my own in this. Randa must believe that you and Giddon tried to force me to follow his order, but couldn’t.” She wondered if she should injure them, to make it more convincing.

“But we don’t want to perform this task any more than you do,” Giddon said. “It’s our talk that propelled you to make this choice. We can’t stand by and let you—”

Katsa spoke deliberately. “If he knows you disobeyed him, he’ll imprison you or kill you. He can’t hurt me the way he can hurt you. I don’t think his entire guard could capture me. And if they did, at least I don’t have a holding that depends on me, as you do, Giddon. I don’t have a wife, as you do, Oll.”

Giddon’s face was dark. He opened his mouth to speak, but Katsa cut through his words. “You two are no use if you’re in prison. Raffin needs you. Wherever I may be, I will need you.”

Giddon tried to speak. “I won’t—”

She would make him see this. She would cut through his obtuseness and make him see this. She slammed her hand on the desk so hard that papers cascaded onto the floor. “I’ll kill the king,” she said. “I’ll kill the king, unless you both agree not to support me. This is my rebellion, and mine alone, and if you don’t agree, I swear to you on my Grace I will murder the king.”

She didn’t know if she would do it. But she knew she seemed wild enough for them to believe she would. She turned to Oll. “Say you agree.”

Oll cleared his throat. “It will be as you say, My Lady.”

She faced Giddon. “Giddon?”

“I don’t like it,” he said.

“Giddon—”

“It will be as you say,” he said, his eyes on the floor and his face red and gloomy.

Katsa turned to Ellis. “Lord Ellis, if Randa learns that Captain Oll or Lord Giddon agreed to this willingly, I’ll know that you spoke. I’ll kill you. I’ll kill your daughters. Do you understand?”

“I understand, My Lady,” Ellis said. “And again, I thank you.”

Something caught in her throat at this second thanks, when she’d threatened him so brutally. When you’re a monster, she thought, you are thanked and praised for not behaving like a monster. She would like to restrain from cruelty and receive no admiration for it.

“And now in this room, with only ourselves present,” she said, “we’ll work out the details of what we’ll claim happened here today.”

THEY ATE DINNER in Giddon’s dining room, in Giddon’s castle, just as they had the night before. Giddon had given her permission to cut his neck with her knife, and Oll had allowed her to bruise his cheekbone. She would have done it without their permission, for she knew Randa would expect evidence of a scuffle. But Oll and Giddon had seen the wisdom of it; or perhaps they’d guessed she would do it whether or not they agreed. They’d stood still, and bravely. She hadn’t enjoyed the task, but she’d caused them as little pain as her skill allowed.