“No, it is not the Duke we plan to entertain. It is another member of his household, the Lady Aldis.”

Koris whistled. “Aldis! I would not think—”

“That we have any business with the Duke’s leman? Ah, you make the mistake of your sex there, Koris. There is a reason I wish to know more of Aldis, and an excellent one to urge her to come.”

“Those being?” prompted Simon.

“Her power within the duchy is founded upon Yvian’s favor alone. While she holds him to her bed she has what she wants most, not gauds and robes, but influence. Men who wish to further some scheme must seek out Aldis as a passage to the Duke’s ear, even if they are of the old nobility. As for women of rank — Aldis has repaid heavily many old slights.

“When she first climbed to Yvian’s notice the gauds and glitter sufficed, but through the years her power has come to mean more. Without that she is no better than a wench in a dockside tavern, as well she knows.”

“Does Yvian grow restive now?” Koris wanted to know.

“Yvian has wed.”

Simon watched the hand at the pastry dish. This time it did not complete its mission, but went instead to the goblet before Briant’s plate.

“We heard talk in the mountains of the wedding of Verlaine’s heiress.”

“Ax marriage,” the witch explained. “He has not seen his new bride yet.”

“And the present lady fears a competition. Is the lady of Verlaine then counted so beautiful?” Simon asked idly but he caught a sudden swift glance from Briant.

And it was the boy who answered. “She is not!” There was a note in that hot denial which baffled Simon with its bitter hurt. Who Briant was or where the witch had found him, they had no idea, but perhaps the boy had nursed a liking for the heiress and was disappointed by his loss.

The witch laughed. “That, too, may be a matter of opinion. But, yet, Simon, I think that Aldis does not lie easy of nights since she heard the decree read forth in Kars’ marketplace — wondering how long Yvian will continue to reach for her. In this state of mind she is ripe for our purpose.”

“I can see why the lady might seek aid,” Simon conceded, “but why yours?”

She was reproachful. “Though I do not go under my colors as a Woman of Power out of Estcarp, I have a small reputation in this city. It is not my first visit here. Men and women, especially women, are ever intrigued to hear of their futures. Two of Aldis’ waiting maids have come here in these past three days, armed with false names and falser stories. When I named them for what they are and told them a few facts, they went scuttling back wry-faced to their mistress. She will come soon enough, never fear.”