The Edge of the Blade Read online

  “Splitting a fine difference there.”

  “Yes and no. To a member of the royal family, using this symbol is a demonstration of our faith in the Emperor and belief in his divine status, and in the Konyngrr right to rule. We keep it private outside our home territories, but prominently used within them. Not to do so would be a sign of . . . dangerous disloyalty.”

  “Ah. You think I should have seen Harlan use it.”

  “That he doesn’t use it means he’s entirely turned his back on his family.”

  I shrugged. “Could be he has something of it in private, as you say. I’m not privy to his intimate life. But he also traveled for years with the Vervaldr, as I understand, without handy hidden cabinets to store knickknacks in. Extraneous stuff like that gets heavy pretty quickly when you don’t have a permanent place to keep it.”

  “This should be important to him.” Kral scowled into his mug, swirling the contents as if it might give him an answer.

  “What does it mean?”

  He held up the mug, pointing to the hand. “This is the Konyngrr fist, the might that rules all. From there spin out the threads of our family influence. All are connected to the central hand, which in turn holds all strings. We are tied together by blood, loyalty, and obedience. It’s who we are. You see? Not simply extra weight.”

  “Harlan left Dasnaria a long time ago as I understand it, and more than once I’ve heard him say he never intended to return. People change. What might have been important in our youth can become deadweight over time.” And probably he didn’t care to be obedient to the Konyngrr fist, but I didn’t bait Kral that far.

  “My brother’s allegiance to family should be at the core of his being, not something to be cast away alongside the road.”

  “I feel compelled to point out that all evidence indicates that Harlan’s allegiance to Ursula is the core of his being these days. Isn’t that how it should be? Danu teaches that children grow up, leave their parents and siblings, then put their partners above all else. It’s not natural for a person to put the family they grew up with before the person they choose as a life’s companion.”

  “It’s natural for a Dasnarian man. No woman could ever mean more than a man’s family.”

  “By which you mean his father and brothers.”

  A frown creased his brow. “Usually, yes.”

  “What about sisters—aren’t they family? Assuming you don’t strangle them at birth.”

  He nearly choked on that. “Our sisters and daughters are precious to us. We provide for and protect them. It’s our sacred responsibility. Harlan, more than anyone, knows that.”

  Something there, for sure. My scout’s senses tingled, telling me something unseen lurked, just beyond the perimeter. “Do you and Harlan have sisters? He’s only mentioned brothers.”

  “Two sisters. And you—what of your brothers and sisters?”

  “No, no, no. It’s still my turn. Your mother had nine children?” The poor thing must’ve spent half her life pregnant.

  “Our father had three wives who bore my brothers and sisters between them. Naturally this does not include children via his concubines.”

  “Naturally.” Kind of mind-boggling to contemplate. Not a family situation I’d love to be part of, but hey—the world took all types. “So the concubines’ kids don’t get to be princes and princesses? Kind of sucks for them.”

  “Not at all. Those cousins are valued members of the royal household, holding places as our closest servers and retainers.”

  A royal family that breeds its own servants. That explained why he’d assumed I was a by-blow of Uorsin’s. Thank Danu I had nothing of that man in me. “Oh, joyful life for them.”

  Kral frowned but didn’t correct me immediately. “Perhaps it isn’t for some. Those men who are unhappy go to seek their own fortunes.”

  “But not the women.”

  “Where would they go?”

  “This is exactly what I’m wondering.”

  “My people would never allow a woman of station to wander the world, bereft of family and support, as yours did. It’s unconscionable. I’d sooner put a blade to my sisters’ throats than allow them to be so abused and unprotected.” Kral’s face flushed as he spoke, voice rising until I stabbed a finger at the unseen fish-birds.

  “You are so wrongheaded about this.” I shook my head as I paced. “I can’t decide where to begin on all the stupid in what you just said.”

  “Insulting my intelligence will not bring us closer to seeing eye to eye.”

  “Okay, let’s pretend you’re not a lunkheaded idiot and can take a step back and view this objectively.” I set my empty mug on the floor next to the keg and held out my bandaged hands, ticking off the points on the protruding fingertips. “You specified women of station, which means there are women with no station—like yours truly, here—who don’t count. You assume a woman wandering the world without family—again with yours truly—has no means of support or protection and will be simply tossed about like a leaf on the autumn winds until she’s shredded beyond repair. Finally—and I seriously hope that’s some Dasnarian euphemism that’s milder than it sounds—you would rather see your sister, or any woman at all, dead, her life forever taken away by your righteous beliefs, than for her to be on her own. Stupid.”

  Kral glowered. Swigged from his mug and found it empty. I didn’t much feel like catering to him, so I didn’t make a move. I’d had enough anyway.

  “And you hold yourself up as an example of a woman with a good life?” He swept his hand at me. “Where is your husband, your children, your family? A woman without these things is nothing.”

  “Where is your wife, your children, your family, Kral? Not in this room, either.”

  “None of your damn business!”

  Ooh, sensitive there, were we? A vulnerability in his emotional armor just begged to be exploited, and I possessed exactly enough ruthlessness to do it. “No? But my life is your business apparently. I have no secrets. My mother is dead. I never knew my father and never felt a lack there. I never wanted a husband or children, as both tie you down.”

  “And of course you couldn’t commit to being with one man only.”

  “Back to that? And this coming from the guy whose daddy had three wives and umpteen baby-popping concubines.” I licked my fingertip and held it up to the air, pretending to check the direction of the wind. “That stink of hypocrisy coming downwind must be you.”

  “The Emperor has a responsibility to provide children for the empire. Only the finest women of the highest station become his wives and concubines, producing the best and brightest children to govern the empire. That system works far better than the random selection of mates based on sexual whims. Should your queen produce children with my brother, they won’t be heirs to your High Throne, will they? He’s her concubine, with another title.”

  “It’s different for them.”

  “How? Now you’re the one splitting hairs, because you don’t like my truth.”

  “Because Harlan entered into that relationship of his own free will. In fact, he settled on her and courted her with great patience and fortitude, and—”

  Kral barked out a laugh, interrupting me. “This sounds exactly like my baby brother.”

  “And,” I continued, “he wasn’t chosen and bound to her by someone else. He’s free to go at any time, to wander the world.”

  “No, he’s not.” Kral stabbed a long finger at me, face alight with triumph at drawing blood, all shark. “He pledged the Elskastholrr to her, which means he’s bound to her for the rest of his life, possibly beyond, depending on whose teachings you believe. Thus he is arguably less free than even any of Hestar’s wives and concubines.”

  Caught by a tricky maneuver without the proper weapon to counter. Curse it. But, pretending you knew the answers never got you the real ones. “I don’t know what that is.”

  “Don’t you?” Kral nearly preened at that, stretching and tucking his hands behind h
is neck, showing off his muscled chest nicely. “Pour me some more mjed and perhaps I’ll explain.”

  “No.” I’d had enough of his games. And him, for that matter.

  “No?” He sat up a little, winced, and settled back. “We already went through this.”

  “What we went through was a subterfuge on your part to get me talking, a poorly disguised attempt at interrogation. You agreed to exchange stories for mine and yet you continue to avoid telling me anything real. I’m not catering to your little tournament of wits any longer. I’m bored with this.” I yawned. That’s right—I’d been tired before all this. Sleeping off the restless nights, the battle of the fish-birds, and the mjed buzz might just serve to kill the rest of the day and night.

  “Fine,” Kral finally said, in a grudging tone. “What do you want to know? Ask me straight, I’ll answer, and you’ll give me the mjed.”

  “Pretty cheap you’re selling yourself there, Prince—don’t you have servants to cater to you?”

  “They won’t let me have the mjed. Trond thinks it’s bad for healing. He doesn’t know I have that keg hidden away.” His mouth quirked in a half smile at the admission, blue eyes lighter with mischief, like an ornery young boy’s. Where was that man most of the time?

  “Here’s what I want to know. Explain this Elskastholrr to me, tell me why you don’t have a wife and children, what went wrong between you and Harlan, and exactly what the whole inviting-me-into-your-bed thing means.”

  He winced, and not for his wounds that time. “All that for a flask of mjed? I’m not that desperate.”

  “And for my stories, which you promised you’d pay back in kind.”

  He studied me. “You’re more intelligent than I took you for.”

  “Gee, thanks. You’re a lot stupider than I first imagined.”

  To my surprise, he grinned at that. “I suppose there’s something to be said for letting a woman wander the world on her own, if they turn out as entertaining as you are. Come.” He patted the bed beside him. “Stop pacing around like a cat in a house with no doors, bring the keg of mjed, and sit with me.”

  “What are you up to, Kral?”

  “Maybe I simply want to keep you out of my cabinets.”

  “Does this count as inviting me into your bed?”

  “Why—afraid you won’t be able to control yourself with me?”

  Danu take him, he knew I couldn’t resist that challenge. Also, if he did have seduction on his mind, then praise all the goddesses. I’d even light a rose candle to Glorianna if she’d lead Kral to end this sexual drought.

  “Oh, honey.” I grabbed the keg and my mug and sauntered over, letting my hips sway. “You offered tuna to the right kitty cat.”

  5

  I climbed onto the high bed after kicking off my boots, and settled back against the mounds of burgundy silk pillows. Luxurious, bedding a prince, it turned out. My blood sang with anticipation. Call me impulsive and shortsighted—wouldn’t be the first time—but the prospect of getting laid made it easy to cast aside other concerns. Besides, if Dafne had it right, I’d incurred the damage by accepting the first invitation. I could hardly compound it further. With a lovely mjed and thank-Danu-I-finally-get-to-have-sex buzz going, this all made perfectly rational sense.

  Kral took a long drink, smacking his lips in satisfaction. “Nothing to ease the burn of fish-bird bites like a decent drunk. The Elskastholrr is a vow a particular brand of Dasnarian idiot makes, and I’m fascinated Harlan and your Ursula keep it secret.”

  Hey, I was a scout, not the High Queen’s adviser like Dafne. I would not have been on any need-to-know list concerning Ursula’s sex life. Not that I’d admit as much to Kral. I kept quiet, the best way to keep a man talking.

  “It’s full of religious and philosophical nonsense.” Kral waved that away with a contemptuous sweep. “Subsuming the self to someone else, unconditional love and loyalty, taking the lower path, and so forth. Comes down to that my baby brother pledged himself to this foreign queen and gave up everything for her, for the rest of his life, or else he’s forsworn.”

  All very interesting. I bet Dafne knew about this vow. “Some men would take being forsworn over more dire consequences, should it come to that.”

  “Not Harlan.” Kral shook his head in disgust, sounding a little bitter. “He has an overdeveloped sense of selflessness. Always had to be the hero, saving everybody.”

  “Perhaps the Konyngrr hand is better off without him.” And my High Queen clearly benefited with him, which meant we all did. I had no problem shoring up Kral’s disappointment in his brother.

  “No hand is better for losing one of its fingers. As for a wife.” Kral sobered considerably, staring into his cup. “I do have one, thank you very much. Marrying as the family wishes is another responsibility I shouldered that Harlan evaded.”

  Very interesting. “And does Mrs. Kral know you sample the exotic fare travel brings?”

  “It’s the way of things. We have a marriage in name only.”

  “Really?” And he gave me grief for not wanting a husband. “Why?”

  “It’s complicated.” He turned a little on the pillows and I decided to be helpful and plump a few behind him. He smiled slightly, more an ironic twist of the lips, and stroked my bare arm, as if testing the texture. Mmm. Nice. “She’s nothing like you. Blond hair like sunshine and fresh snow, very tall, pretty blue eyes. Very accomplished, as appropriate for an Imperial Princess of the Royal House of Konyngrr.”

  Was that self-aware irony? More and more interesting all the time. “Accomplished how?”

  “The womanly arts, of course—singing, painting, sewing. She embroidered all of this.”

  Yes, but could she pin a fly to a tree at twenty paces with a thrown blade? “So why haven’t you bedded this paragon of womanhood?”

  He tapped his mug against mine. “I am a second son, which means my lovely wife shall remain forever virgin, unless I’m needed to fill the Emperor’s jeweled shoes.”

  I choked on a mistimed swallow of mjed. “You can’t be serious!”

  “Oh, yes. No legitimate children for Hestar’s lateral heir, lest they get ideas about giving his grandsons competition. It’s the way of things.”

  That particular Dasnarian phrase was going to drive me crazy eventually. “What about your other brothers?”

  “They do not matter, unless I should meet a dire fate; then my third brother’s son would be put to the sword as a precaution, and any more sons he should have.” Kral shook his head, gazing into his cup. “That is the chance he took by having children, but it does serve to keep him invested in my continued well-being.”

  I could see that. “I hate to point this out to you, but just because you aren’t fucking your wife doesn’t mean she’s still a virgin.”

  His face went deadly cold. “Her father sees to it or our contract is void.”

  “Though it doesn’t apply to you.” I sent an apology to Danu for entertaining any uncharitable thoughts about this woman. What a miserable life.

  “Of course not. I am in no danger of conceiving a child.”

  “You could spawn one.”

  “Not a legitimate one, and—as you may recall—I’m exceedingly careful of such things.”

  Ah, yes, the lind he insisted on using. His deal if he wanted to dull sensation. He’d never asked, so I never mentioned my own methods for preventing unwanted babes. Easy enough for a child of the hill people.

  “You’re telling me that Mrs. Kral—”

  “Karyn.”

  “That Karyn married the guy she was told to, never had sex before that, will never get to have sex, and she has to live with her parents for the rest of her life?”

  “I asked her and she accepted. She’s well provided for. She lacks nothing. She’s the fourth-highest-ranked woman in the Dasnarian Empire. It’s a good life.”

  “Would you like a life like that? I notice you haven’t given up sex.”

  He stirred, brows drawing tog
ether. “It’s not the same for women. They don’t have the same urges.”

  “Oh, honey. You’re saying that to me?”

  He transferred the frown to me. “I’ve told you—you are like no other woman I’ve ever known.”

  “Okay.” I tossed back the last of the mjed in my cup. Even getting laid wasn’t worth this. Not that I owed this distant Karyn anything. At least, her existence shouldn’t bother me. Not doing Kral would hardly change her life at this point. Still. “I’ve had enough.”

  He put a hand on my hip. “Don’t go. You asked for honesty and I have two more questions to answer. Will you run because I honored your wishes?”

  He had a point. “Fine. Tell me the rest. Might as well eat the rest of the rotten meat and extract what nutrition I can.”

  “More of your people’s hunting wisdom?” He stroked my hip, as if fascinated by the curve, making me want to purr again, despite everything.

  “We’re full of such things.”

  “So I perceive. As for your third question, the answer is fairly short, as the tale of Harlan and his departure is not all mine to tell, nor is it all his. I’ll tell you what I can. Let’s just say he and I disagreed on a family matter. He acted on his beliefs, which went against both the law and our father’s direct command—and put another member of our family in grave peril. I attempted to intervene and set matters to rights. He caused me to lose the only thing that’s ever mattered to me. He won out by default, succeeding in his misguided notions and ruining more than his own future.”

  “Then why try to bring him back with you if you’re so angry with him?”

  Kral made an impatient sound, working his fingers under my shirt to find the skin at my waist. “Harlan could come back and apologize at any time. Our father has passed into the mjed hall of the gods and His Imperial Majesty would welcome his brother back and forgive his transgressions. I gave that rabbit the perfect opening to be able to return—despite what he did—and yet he continues to refuse it.”

  “There is the Elskastholrr,” I pointed out. “That compels him to stay with Ursula, even if nothing else does.”