Realm of Light - Deborah Chester [100]
Pier’s face darkened. A muscle worked in his jaw for a moment before he finally answered. “The master of this house is dying. In my respect for that man, I do not brawl while his soul departs his body.”
The chastisement stung as though he had actually struck Caelan across the face. Caelan frowned and said nothing. In his anger, he had forgotten the circumstances. He was ashamed of himself, and yet he also knew Pier had goaded him to this point, deliberately pushing him too far. Now he had lost whatever chance he had to win respect from these onlookers. Like an idiot, he had fallen into Pier’s trap.
It had been his goal to win these men, to improve things for Elandra. Instead, he had only made matters worse. If the faces had been hostile and judgmental before, now they were contemptuous.
He could apologize, and make himself look more like a weak fool than ever. He could leave, and have them despise him for running. He could stand here among them and bathe in their scorn. No matter what he did, it wasn’t going to help Elandra.
Granite-faced, he wheeled around and walked down that long, long gallery to the portico beyond. Rain poured down in drenching sheets of water. Sighing, Caelan leaned his shoulder against a pillar.
Footsteps caught his attention, and he straightened up, looking around just as two burly men pounced on him without warning. Caelan’s anger surged hot. He swung at one, but the other came at him from behind and slipped a thin noose around his neck. A deft yank of the man’s wrist, and the cord bit into Caelan’s throat, nearly strangling him.
“Don’t struggle,” the man said.
Caelan froze there, his neck stretched high as he tried to breathe. He might be able to kick the man behind him, but he would be choked to death before he could free himself.
The other one unbuckled his sword belt and relieved him of his weapons. Caelan stood there, helpless and steaming.
“Now,” said the man who held the cord around his neck. “You will go down the steps, quietly. You will cause no more trouble. We will teach you better manners.”
Furious, Caelan hooked his fingers around the cord to pull it, but the man jerked and twisted the noose so hard that blackness swam in front of Caelan’s eyes.
When he came to, a few moments later, he was on his knees. The noose had slackened enough to allow him air. He sucked it in, his lungs burning, his throat on fire.
“You will not try that again,” he was told. “Get on your feet and move.”
There were times to fight, and times simply to stay alive. Caelan did as he was commanded.
Chapter Eighteen
Elandra was given the state apartments, reserved for visits of the very highest rank. The tall windows were hastily thrown open, letting in rain-dampened air that did little to dispel the mustiness of the rooms. As Elandra entered, she could hear the scurrying footsteps and muffled giggles of fleeing maidservants. The room was in order, but barely so. It had that hasty, put-together look of crooked cushions, a coverlet not quite smooth, flowers imperfectly arranged, and the suspicion of dust in the corners.
The lack of a woman in charge of this household was evident. Whatever her faults had been, at least when Hecati lived here there had been no dust, and no staff ever caught by surprise.
Scented bathwater was carried in to fill a tub of marble lined with copper. While Elandra soaked, fighting the urge to cry, the seamstress arrived with three gowns over her arm and a mouthful of pins. Food and drink were brought in on a tray, but Elandra gestured everyone away.
“Leave me,” she said.
The noblewoman herself closed the doors on the bathing room and shooed out all the servants.
It was several minutes before she returned, knocking discreetly on the door before she eased it open. “Majesty?” she called.
Elandra was sitting on a stool at the dressing table adorned with fresh flowers and a row of alabaster jars. Swathed in a robe, she was rubbing scented lotion into her hands. Her wet hair hung down her back, still dripping a little onto the floor. Her reflection in the mirror showed her