“I won’t mention it if I do sense something,” Arian said. “Not to them, at least. Now: do we tell anyone about our good news or wait?”

Kieri thought about it a long moment. “We must think of your safety and theirs,” he said. “It might be safer to wait—though the way you’re grinning—”

“And you!”

“Both of us, then—we can’t hide that we’re happy, and someone is sure to guess and say something even if we denied it. So I suppose we must tell them. But not everything. Twins! That can be a surprise for later.”

“We must go to the ossuary,” Arian said. “If your sister has more warnings for us, we must hear them.”

“Indeed,” Kieri said.

But the bones had no message other than a vague sense of satisfaction, which Arian took as good news. “So: I will leave as soon as Duke Mahieran is ready, and return as quickly as courtesy allows.” She pulled on her boots, glancing at Kieri.

“And you will be careful,” Kieri said again as he stood and offered her a hand.

“As careful as courtesy allows,” Arian said, laughing.

He held her hand. “As careful as our offspring require,” he said, not smiling.

“Yes,” Arian said, nodding. “That careful.”

By the end of breakfast, news had spread through the palace, and Arian was certain that already someone had slipped out the gate to the city. How long would it be before an elf arrived? And would it be Amrothlin?

The first elf, as it happened, was not Amrothlin but a woman who arrived shortly after breakfast, when they had gone upstairs to change. A Squire brought word that the elf had asked an audience with Arian alone, but Kieri shook his head. “On this day of joy, I cannot be parted from my wife,” he said. “Tell her that, and we will receive her in my office.” When the servant had left, he turned to Arian. “I do not want you meeting any elves without protection, including the women.”

“But Amrothlin—”

“Amrothlin may be true as gold, but he does not control them all. I still think it possible—no, likely—that one of them killed Orlith and may have invited in the iynisin who killed the Lady.”