She walked back to them.

“You killed him!” Kirgan Marrakai said, eyes blazing. “You killed them both! He should have known you lied! You’re just like the rest! Traitor!” He drew his dagger and lunged at her. Dorrin barely evaded the thrust, and backed away.

“Kirgan Marrakai—I did not!”

“I saw—he was beside you, he fell, and you tried to make it look like it was that groom. We know him; we’ve known him for years!”

“It was not that—” Dorrin stepped back again as the young man still advanced, dagger now in his left hand, right hand reaching for his sword.

“I saw it too,” said one of the counts. “Seize her—”

Glancing around, Dorrin saw only hostile faces, weapons drawn. Nobles and palace guards alike, they formed a ring around her, all clearly frightened but determined. Was this the gods’ punishment for killing her parents, even though they were evil? Well, if so, at least she had saved her king. She folded her arms and stood still, waiting for the blow that would kill her.

“Hold!” That shout from the palace stopped Kirgan Marrakai’s arm in midswing. “Stand away—let me see her.”

The Marshal-General of Gird, with Duke Mahieran and the king, came down the palace steps and across the courtyard. Slowly, reluctantly, the nobles sheathed their weapons and bent a knee to the king. Dorrin, arms still folded, made her bow as well.

Into the moment of silence, Aris Marrakai spoke, a boy’s voice shaky with fear and surprise. “He’s—he’s breathing.”

“What?” Kirgan Marrakai turned.

“Wait,” the Marshal-General said. Everyone stared at her as she went to Duke Marrakai, knelt beside him, and looked him over. “How did he fall?” she asked. A dozen voices answered, tumbling over one another.

“She did it—he fell backward—he just fell—I didn’t see but I heard—”

“He’s alive,” the Marshal-General said, “but he hit his head on the paving stones.”

“She made him fall,” Kirgan Marrakai insisted, pointing at Dorrin. “He was beside her and there was a flicker of light and then he fell. She used magery—”

The Marshal-General turned to Dorrin. “Well? What say you?”

“I did use magery, Marshal-General. Duke Marrakai pointed out the man we were sure had poisoned the horses a tenday or so ago … not the real groom, but a Verrakai who had taken over his body during his illness. I thought he would attack me first, but he attacked Duke Marrakai, and my attempt to shield him from that attack was not enough. To my shame.”

“Is this what you were telling me about on the way, Duke Mahieran?”

“Yes, Marshal-General. I went to warn the king before he came out here, and she and Marrakai went to find Pedraig—the groom.”

“You are convinced she was telling the truth?” Before Mahieran could answer, she turned again to Dorrin. “How did you kill him? And do you know which Verrakai he was?”

“I killed him by magery, Marshal-General, because he was too far away to reach with the sword when he attempted another transfer, to another innocent man.”