“Treason! I committed no treason!” Jeruvin stamped her foot.

“The court will determine that,” Dorrin said. “You will be escorted by the Royal Guard—” Her aunt’s expression shifted, showing exactly what she had in mind when alone with Girdsmen who had no magery. “—and,” Dorrin added, “I will bind your magery, for their protection. I doubt you can break my bindings, but should you do so, I will kill you myself.”

Jeruvin glared but said nothing more. Haron’s brother’s wife said, “When must we go? It is starting to thaw, and the roads are vile—”

“You will start tomorrow, at first light,” Dorrin said. The sooner she got the elder women out of the place, the better. Without taking her eyes off them, she said, “Kefer—assign someone the care of my mount.”

“At once, Capt—my lord Duke—” He said something she did not attend, being concentrated all on her relatives; she knew, and they knew, that a moment’s inattention would give the women a chance to attack, and she had no doubt they would. One of the soldiers ran forward to hold her mount.

Dorrin threw a leg over its neck and vaulted down without looking away; that impressed them, she could tell. The younger children were round-eyed, all but one boy who blurted, “I can do that, on my pony. It’s not hard.”

“Mostly you fall down when you try it, Bori,” said a girl, shoving him.

“I do it sometimes!” he said, shoving back.

One of the adults thumped both heads, and they fell silent, glaring at each other. Dorrin had to struggle not to laugh.

“Sir Valthan, attend me please,” she said, and headed for the steps. She felt a slight pressure as she reached the bottom step, and threw her power against it; it popped like a soap bubble. Was that really their strongest defense? Still looking Haron’s widow in the eye, Dorrin said, “Don’t do that again, Aunt, or I will drop you where you stand.”

“It wasn’t Jeruvin, it was I,” her mother said. “Would you dare flaunt your power against your own mother?”

“You said I was not your child,” Dorrin said. “Stand there, then, if you doubt me.” She was within arm’s length now; she touched her mother with her heart-hand forefinger and let her power out. Her mother stood silent, held motionless with one hand half raised.

Jeruvin, hatred blazing from her dark eyes, made some signal behind her back, and two of the younger women rushed forward, hands raised.

They slammed into the invisible barrier Dorrin raised, yelping with pain. “You only make it harder on yourselves,” Dorrin said. A wicked glee flickered in the back of her mind; she stamped it down. They already knew arrogance and bullying; they needed to see another kind of power, another kind of leadership. “Aunt, you have caused another injury to these young ladies. You must be still.” The magery for holding someone motionless took almost no energy at all; she extended it to all the adults in view, and then, without hurry, one by one, bound their magery. None had magery as strong as hers. Despite the Knight-Commander’s prediction, she was surprised. Was her power really that strong, or had theirs weakened over the years?