Kushiel's Avatar - Jacqueline Carey [312]
"Will he have a Cassiline Brother vowed to protect him in your household, one you trust unto the death?" I asked. "He will in mine; and defrocked or no, you once awarded him the laurels of the Queen's Champion. I can swear to the loyalty of every man, woman and child under my roof, my lady. Can you do the same?" I let my gaze linger on Barquiel L'Envers, who saluted me with a wry nod.
"Nonetheless," Ysandre said, deliberately ignoring the implication. "It is a small household, and might be easily overwhelmed."
"Not that easily." I smiled. "What Montrève lacks in holdings, my lady, it makes up for in friends and allies. How many of the Great Houses of Terre d'Ange can claim a childhood bond with the Master of the Straits?"
It was a telling blow, and I did not deal it lightly, not in front of that audience. I stood unmoving before the Queen, holding the Companions' Star on the palm of my outstretched hand, willing it not to tremble.
Ysandre searched my eyes. "Phèdre, why?'
I thought about Imriel in Daršanga, and the night he had wept for the first time. I remembered him floundering on the sandbar, wrestling the immense fish while Joscelin shouted instructions, and how he had beamed when Bizan gave him his fire-striker. I remembered, most of all, how he had flung himself to my defense on the isle of Kapporeth.
"Not all families are born of blood and seed, my lady. You ought to know that much. If Anafiel Delaunay had not loved your father, you would be dead."
Her face stiffened. "You hold that against me at last?"
"No." I shook my head, feeling sad. "I merely claim the price of it."
"And you, Cassiline?" Ysandre turned to address Joscelin, who had come up behind me. "Are you party to this madness?"
He bowed with immaculate Cassiline grace. "Forgive me, majesty, but I am."
"So be it." She took the Companions' Star from my hand, clenching her fist on it as she addressed the dumb-struck watchers. "An offer of two-fold honor has been made," she said grimly, "and a boon requested, which we are sworn to honor by our own word." She turned to Imriel. "Is it your wish to accept this offer?"
"Yes." He quivered with excitement, eyes shining. "Yes, your majesty!"
Ysandre sighed. "Let the registers reflect that this member of our household shall henceforth be known as Imriel no Montrève de la Courcel, and he shall be fostered at House Montrève until such time as all parties conclude otherwise, presuming we do not cast his purported foster-mother, the Comtesse de Montrève, and her esteemed consort Joscelin Verreuil, in chains in the next proceedings. Comtesse, we have a letter in your own hand, in which you freely confess that you and your consort countermanded my wishes in the matter of Prince Imriel's return. Do you deny it?"
"No, your majesty," I said.
"You pledged to return with all possible speed to Comte Raife Laniol, Ambassador de Penfars, in Iskandria, and yet you did not. Why?"
I cleared my throat. "Because it occurred to me instead to return by way of La Serenissima and strike a bargain with Melisande Shahrizai."
Ysandre's expression was cold. "And what is the nature of this bargain?"
It was hard to hold her eyes, but I made myself do it. "That I will raise her son, and not you. And in exchange, her oath that she will not raise her hand, nor any other's, against you or your daughters."
Whatever Ysandre had expected, that was not it. She looked away. "Hence the offer of two-fold honor.”
"No," I said. "I would have made it anyway. What I said before holds true. But this was the only time I could use it as a bargaining chip. I'm sorry, my lady, truly."
"You actually think she will abide by this oath, anguissette?" It was Barquiel L'Envers who asked, leaning idly against Ysandre's empty throne, as dangerous as a basking leopard. "What an amusing notion! You are still a touch besotted, my dear."
I didn't answer him, but only watched Ysandre.