‘Osten?’ She laughed. ‘That dried-up old stick? Who in her right mind would marry a man like that? I like my men younger, more ardent.’

‘You deny the rumour, then?’

‘Of course I deny it. I’m like the Church, Dolmant. I offer my bounty to all men – as everyone in Cimmura knows.’

‘Would you sign a document declaring the rumour to be false?’

‘I’ll think about it.’ She looked at Sparhawk. ‘What are you doing back in Elenia, Sir Knight? I thought my brother exiled you.’

‘I was summoned back, Arissa.’

‘How very interesting.’

Sparhawk thought of something. ‘Did you receive a dispensation to attend your brother’s funeral, Princess?’ he asked her.

‘Why, yes, Sparhawk. The Church generously granted me three whole days of mourning. My poor, stupid brother looked very regal as he lay on his bier in his state robes.’ She critically examined her long, pointed fingernails. ‘Death improves some people,’ she added.

‘You hated him, didn’t you?’

‘I held him in contempt, Sparhawk. There’s a difference. I always used to bathe whenever I left him.’

Sparhawk held out his hand, showing her the blood-red ring on his finger ‘Did you happen to notice if he had the mate to this on his finger?’ he asked her

She frowned slightly ‘No,’ she said. ‘As a matter of fact he didn’t. Perhaps the brat stole it after he died.’

Sparhawk clenched his teeth.

‘Poor, poor Sparhawk,’ she said mockingly ‘You cannot bear to hear the truth about your precious Ehlana, can you? We used to laugh about your attachment to her when she was a child. Did you have hopes, great Champion? I saw her at my brother’s funeral. She’s not a child any more, Sparhawk. She has the hips and breasts of a woman now But she’s sealed up in a diamond, isn’t she, so you can’t even touch her? All that soft, warm skin, and you can’t even put so much as a finger on it.’

‘I don’t think we need to pursue this, Arissa.’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘Who is your son’s father?’ he asked her suddenly, hoping to startle the truth out of her.

She laughed. ‘How could I possibly know that?’ she asked. ‘After my brother’s wedding, I amused myself in a certain establishment in Cimmura.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘It was both enjoyable and profitable. I made a very great deal of money Most of the girls there overpriced themselves, but I learned as a child that the secret of great wealth is to sell cheaply to many’ She looked maliciously at Dolmant. ‘Besides,’ she added, ‘it’s a renewable resource.’

Dolmant’s face grew stiff, and Arissa laughed coarsely.

‘That’s enough, Princess,’ Sparhawk told her. ‘You would not care then to hazard a guess as to the identity of your bastard’s father?’ He said it quite deliberately, hoping to sting her into some inadvertent revelation.