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"Jekri Kaleh," the Empress said at last, her voice heavy. Surprised, Jekri looked up. There was what appeared to be genuine regret on the Empress's beautiful face. "Little Dagger. I have known you all my life, and trusted you most of it. You cannot know how deeply it pains me to see you here like this."

Hope fluttered in Jekri's heart. If the Empress's

words were true, perhaps there was indeed a chance of reaching her, even though Lhiau hovered over like a predator waiting to strike.

"It pains me to be here," Jekri ventured, "as I have committed no treason, Your Excellency."

It was the wrong thing to say. The Empress's slender brows furrowed and she lifted a hand. Jekri reeled from the unexpected blow of a sword pommel slammed into her temple. For a moment, all went black, then the world swirled back to gray again. She felt a trickle of warm blood down her face, but did not dare lift her bound hands to wipe it away.

This was bad, very bad. She had been through this scene a thousand times, and never had she seen the Empress resort to ordering violence. The prisoner was safely in hand. There was no need to cause pain unless it brought forth information.

"You have committed numerous acts of treason, Little Dagger," spat the Empress. "How dare you lie to me like this?"

Jekri's throat closed up, and she realized with horror that she was close to tears. She could not speak, did not dare speak, until the time had come when by all rights she would be permitted to speak freely without interruption. She held her tongue and listened.

Listened to trumped-up charges of treason read aloud in the Praetor's squeaky voice. He listed contacts with Federation spies and the information she had apparently given them. He spoke of conversations that had never taken place but which, he assured the Senate and Proconsul, had been recorded and would be played at the appropriate time. Jekri

wondered if the engineers who had falsified the evidence were still alive, or if they had been dispatched once their usefulness had ended.

There was no arguing against this, and Jekri almost smiled at the irony. Time was when she had someone in her grasp whom she knew to be a traitor, but could not prove it. Once, she had been where the Praetor was, speaking charges she knew were false to ensure an ultimate justice.

Except this time, it was all lies. The only treason she had committed was a mistrust of an imperial ally, one who had pierced her thoughts and-

She blinked, and her silver eyes flickered back to Lhiau. He was frowning now, staring right at her. A tiny flame of triumph sprang to life inside Jekri. He could not read her thoughts! Surely at this moment, his moment of victory, he would be inside her head gloating. But she could feel nothing, hear nothing. The Vulcan disciplines had worked. She returned his gaze, and smiled slowly. This, at least, she had achieved.

Lhiau broke eye contact and gazed at someone who was coming up behind Jekri. Now, he relaxed and smiled, quirking an eyebrow as he regarded Jekri. She did not have to read his mind to know that whoever was approaching the imperial dais would seal Jekri's fate.

Jekri tried to crane her neck; the movement hurt, but not as much as seeing who her final betrayer was.

Verrak.

He bowed before his Empress and Praetor, and stood stiffly at attention. He did not look at Jekri at all.

"I, Verrak Kamaral, Sub commander of the Imperial vessel the Tektral, come before my Empress, my Praetor, my Proconsul and the Imperial Senate with more evidence to be used against Jekri Kaleh." They had stopped even pretending that her title was of any value. "I know that she is a murderer, a liar, and a traitor, and I will testify to anything the court demands. I have kept extensive notes regarding her activities and when possible have recorded them."

The blow to her temple was a love pat compared to the pain that surged through Jekri at these