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By Root 1755 0

she went on again. “I first saw the king on the day of his coronation. It was then as if the taig sang through me, but I thought it was the day, not the man, though the man was—” She glanced aside at Kieri. “—the king was magnificent, as my Lady knows.” Another pause. “Then the Master of Horse asked among us for those unafraid of horses of air and water—to show the mounts he had picked for the king’s pleasure. I went in the riding school at his command and there was the king with Lord Halveric and his lady and the Master of Horse. My Lady, my heart leapt in my chest; I saw him close and heard his voice and how he talked with his friends.”

“And marked him as prey,” the Lady said, “as your father did your mother.”

Arian drew breath, but Kieri spoke first. “Grandmother, for more than a half-year Arian has served as King’s Squire without once hinting she had any intentions, until I myself revealed an inclination.”

“A half-year! That is a handful of breaths—”

“To you, who are immortal. To me, to my realm, it is more than long enough. You know they want me to marry and give them an heir. You said you wanted the same, back in the spring.”

“I do, but—”

“Did you not have Orlith tell me I should marry part elven?”

“Yes, but—”

“And Arian is half-elven.”

“Of the wrong heritage,” the Lady said. “She will be faithless, like her father—”

“Why not faithful, like my mother, who never considered marrying anyone after my father left?” Arian asked. Anger edged her voice. “I was reared in her house; do you think I learned nothing there?”

“Not courtesy, that is certain,” the Lady said.

Kieri stepped between them. “It is not your decision,” he said to the Lady. “As for courtesy, I could trust Arian, like all my Squires, to remain courteous with Pargunese; if she is angry now, it is because you insult her.”

“I do not—”

“You call us here, before you and her father, to berate her, accuse her of stalking me like prey, and tell her she is unworthy—and you think she is discourteous?”

“Grandson—!”

“I am ashamed of you,” Kieri said. All his suspicions rose like ghosts around him, all his frustrations with her treatment of him. “I trusted that you would at least give us a fair hearing, and instead—”

The air shimmered; the ground trembled as the taig reacted to the anger of King and Lady. Arian and her father cried “No!” at the same moment; both knelt, hands on the ground.

“The taig cries,” Arian said to Kieri. “I will not—I cannot—” Tears ran down her face. “I will not destroy the kingdom because of you—if it means that, then I will go away—”

Kieri heard her father speaking, but not what he said; he stared at Arian, then looked at his grandmother’s angry face. The taig trembled around him; he reached to soothe it, as he had been taught. It shivered from the touch of his mind, then gradually relaxed; a glamour spread from the Lady, a spell of stillness and calm he could both see and feel.

“You see, grandson,” she said, this time in a quieter voice. “You see what it would mean.”

“Only because you are opposed,” Kieri said, struggling for the same calm. “If you were not—”

“I will go,” Arian said suddenly. “I will go far away and you will find someone else.”

“No!”

“My lord—Sir King—I cannot be the reason this kingdom fails. You are what we need; you must be here, and king, and that means you and the Lady must sustain the taig.”

The Lady nodded. “She is right, grandson. If we quarrel, the taig will fray.”

“I did not start the quarrel,” Kieri said. “You—”

“But I will end it,” Arian said. “I told you truly, Sir King. If our marriage cannot be—if it would harm the kingdom—I will go and make a life for myself somewhere else.”

“No,” Kieri said again. “You must not—”

“We must,” Arian said. “For duty. For the kingdom’s sake.”

“That cannot be right,” Kieri said. He looked at the Lady. “Last night I had a—a vision.”

She frowned a little. “Vision?”

“We had just come back from the north—it was a difficult trip—”

“The king of Pargun was stabbed by a traitor, and my lord king healed him,” Arian said. Her voice too had steadied; Kieri felt