Kihrin pointed toward the rings in Janel’s hair. “Are those—?”

She shook her head quickly. “No. And my loyalty to Duke Kaen—well, it was always under false pretenses, wasn’t it?” Janel stared into her coffee cup. “False pretenses on both sides. Azhen Kaen knew I was a candidate to fit the prophecies for the Hellwarrior, so he wanted to keep me under his eye. Make sure I never usurped the role he wanted for himself. And if he turned my loyalty to him in the meantime, I was much more likely to go along with his plans concerning General Milligreest. Can you imagine the look on the high general’s face if Kaen were to show up for a meeting with me at his side?”

“I don’t think I like this Duke Kaen fellow,” Dorna said.

Janel sighed. “He had his moments. Unfortunately, he then had all those other moments.”

Kihrin fought back a yawn and grabbed for his coffee cup. If they kept this up, they would end up staying up straight through the night. On the other hand, he’d rather be awake but tired than sleeping when Relos Var arrived. “Yeah, but Xivan’s the more dangerous one.”

Ninavis chuckled. “You have good instincts about people.”

“You’d think so,” Kihrin said.

Janel shrugged. “Yes, I admit I have a problem with Xivan.”

“Which is?” Kihrin asked.

Janel sighed. “I really like her.”

Janel’s Turn. The Ice Demesne, Yor, Quur.

I was numb when I returned to the wives’ quarters.

No one noticed, but only because everyone else was equally dazed. Xivan stayed with Kaen. Qown and I were separated. I don’t know what had happened to Talea. Guards escorted all the other women, myself included, back to our rooms. No one spoke.

I hadn’t realized … I hadn’t been prepared.

That scene in the great hall had cost me in ways I’d never expected. I had known it would come to this. I had known this was the price I’d have to pay. And yet when the bill came due, I was shocked to find the coin so dear.

How much of my self-worth, my self-image, was predicated on this idea of being a proper noble, an honorable person? Good for my word. Loyal to the empire and my gods. And now that couldn’t be true, could it? Either I was a liar or a traitor.

It didn’t matter that this was the whole reason I’d wanted to go to Yor. I had wanted to infiltrate Duke Kaen’s house, wanted to lie to him and gain his trust in order to steal the magic spear Khoreval. If I needed that spear to slay Aeyan’arric and stop her rampage through Jorat, then it followed I would do whatever it took to claim the weapon as my own.

The whole point had been to betray Kaen. Right?