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'So I see. You certainly had me fooled.'
'Ma'am, I apologise if you think our charity has been misdirected. It was done
with the best of intentions.'
'Yes, I'm sure.' She walked on again, pulling her cloak and hood tight against
a sudden chill breeze.
'Enough, my lord, your secret is safe with me. You're telling me, then, that I
have no grounds to evict them?'
'And indeed, ma'am, what harm are they doing?'
When she arrived back at the Citadel, Mawrdreth was not in their private
chambers to meet her for supper as they'd arranged. Instead she found him in
her office, sitting at her desk with a small, crinkled piece of paper held
flat on the desk between his hands. Lamplight glistened on his hair, the amber
walls, the gilded edges of the furniture. When he looked up, his face was
grave, his thick brown eyebrows taut with shock. 'Love, what's happened?' she
said. 'One of the blue-doves came back from
Than-mandrathor,' he answered. 'The messenger brought the cylinder to me, so I
opened it. I hope you don't mind.'
'Of course not.' She went to his side and slipped her arm round his shoulders.
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Her heart felt cold.
'Well?'
'My father's dead,' he said matter-of-factly. 'My sister has become Duchess.
He was poisoned, it seems, by a ... Bhahdradomen.'
'Oh, gods,' Helan whispered. 'Let me see.' She read the message; two sides of
tiny, rushed handwriting that she recognised as Dawn's. A serving boy in the
household who no one suspected... the
Duke expiring of heart failure as the exposed shape-changer was killed in
front of him. Strange storms emanating from Q'enartre's Throne. But the
information was basic and every line Dawn had written -
although she'd obviously done her best - only raised a dozen questions in
Helananthe's mind. 'I'm so sorry. she said. Tasq was a good friend of my
grandfather's ... some years ago, of course.'
'I knew that boy, Noli,' said Mawrdreth, pressing long fingers to his temples.
'He was just an ordinary boy like any other. A bit quiet.'
That's what they said about Laphaeome,' Helan breathed. 'Love, I wanted
you to help me on some points of law tonight. But I think it's better you just
rest instead.'
'No!' He looked fiercely at her. 'I shall never be able to sleep. I'm going to
help you. How much more evidence do we need that the Bhahdradomen are active?'
That was her first lesson that Mawrdreth must never be mollycoddled. He said
no more about his loss, only worked intensely and calmly. Deep into the night
they pored over huge tomes of law until the candles burned low and sheer
tiredness forced them to stop. They were sitting on the floor on velvety rugs,
surrounded by piles of books, the air filled with the musty odour of old paper
and cracked bindings.
Helan groaned. 'I can't find anything, not one tiny bylaw, that will enable me
to turn those
Bhahdradomen out of that house. There are no laws preventing them from owning
or renting property.
Why should there be? Our ancestors were concerned with them destroying and
enslaving us, not buying houses! However, there are clauses allowing them to
stay on the mainland.'
'But haven't they broken the conditions?' Mawrdreth asked sharply.
'They weren't allowed to cross the boundaries of their areas without just
cause or permission of the monarch. But they claim just cause, and I gave them
permission. We haven't a legal leg to stand on.'
'Pass a new law. he said.
'That's a bit arbitrary, isn't it? I can't do that. The monarch can't just
make up new laws to suit herself.
Well, no, we could draft something and I'm sure the Sun Chamber would support
me, but still, it would take months to pass it. And if they still refuse to
leave, and I have to use force against them? They've put me in the most
impossible situation. Half of me feels sorry for them, like Poel, and wishes
them no harm.
If they'd just vanish, I'd be so happy. But the other half of me, the
responsible monarch - well, she has to think of her citizens. I have to put
the good of Aventuria before any other consideration.' 'Even if it means being
harsh with the refugees?' There was a hardness in his eyes, willing her to be
resolute. His attitude to the Bhahdradomen had hardened.
'Yes. You have no idea how unpopular I am at the moment. "Even old Garnelys
never let the Eaters live on our doorstep," they're saying. People are angry
and restless. If I lose their trust, I'll never get it back.' She exhaled
pensively. 'Should I have sent an army to Vexor, instead of a tiny deputation?
Gods, if only I'd had some tuition from Garnelys or Galemanth on how to do the
right thing. I had no idea this job would be so hard.
She slumped over her crossed legs, rubbing her eyes. She felt Mawrdreth's hand
on her shoulder.
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'Your instincts and your judgement are sound. he said. 'Sounder than theirs,
I have no doubt. That can't be taught.'
'It's all very well learning by my mistakes, but in my position I can't afford
to make any. Did you know, the Bhahdradomen never came as far as Parione
before? Even the dreaded Ghaurthror of the
Flies never conquered the Amber Citadel. The city was inviolate. Yet now, here
they are, by stealth.
They may well be harmless and innocent -but somehow, the Bhahdradomen are
here. For the first time!
How triumphant must they feel?'
'Helan, we've got to be tough. Maybe they are harmless, but they seem to be
walking all over us.'
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