“Zacharias did that?” Hathui gasped through her tears.
Not alone, Liath thought, but she hesitated. Others had done their part. Pale creatures erupting out of paler sands had consumed Brother Severus. An Eika prince had killed the pair of clerics weaving the crown in Alba.
“Zacharias accepted death, to save what he loved most.”
For a long time they remained without moving, Hathui weeping, Liath beside her, wishing she knew what words of comfort would ease Hathui’s grief but keeping silence, because silence was all she had to offer. A gust of wind rocked the tent, and long after it had departed the lantern’s metal handle squeaked softly against the wooden pole as it swung back and forth, back and forth, the light cresting and troughing in the corners until at last the motion stilled.
“Ai, God,” Hathui breathed. “So he is gone. Truly gone. Oh, Zacharias. He was probably afraid.”
“We’re all afraid. What lies within us can be as fearful a thing as all those terrors that lie without. He had courage when he needed it.”
“That is enough,” said Hathui through her tears. She sat back on her heels and placed a hand over Liath’s. “I’ll stand by you, Liath, whatever comes.”
“Will you stand by Sanglant?”
“He has already won my loyalty.”
“Then I accept your offer gladly, Hathui, and I’ll tell you, there is none I value more.”
Hathui’s gaze narrowed as she examined Liath’s face. “Did you know your eyes shine when it’s dark? I never noticed that before. It’s like a touch of blue fire. What lies within you, truly, Liath?”
“Power enough,” said Liath softly, “that I am afraid of what it can do if let go unchecked.”
“No!” said Sanglant from outside, clearly annoyed, “but let word be brought to me at once if there is any news.”
Liath stood. Sanglant entered, and indeed he looked mightily irritated. Then he saw Hathui. He knelt at once to set a hand on her shoulder.
“What is this? Have you come to some hurt?”
“No, Your Majesty. Liath recalled a vision she had. She knows what became of my brother.”
“Brother Zacharias?”
“Yes. He is dead.”
“Ah.” He glanced at Liath. She nodded, and briefly told him the tale. “I am sorry. Brother Zacharias was a troubled man, but a brave one. In his own fashion. This is yet one more crime to add to Hugh of Austra’s list.”
“There is no sign of him, I take it,” said Liath.
“None. I’ve heard more of the tale now. He arrived in Austra out of the east but would not say where he had come from, only that he needed shelter. Gerberga brought him with her when she came west to visit Theophanu in Osterburg. Now Hugh has vanished. He must have plotted it all along. Give you the damning book, and fly away so that the taint could not touch him.”
“Where can he fly?” Liath asked. “His sister’s lands are closed to him. He must guess she has turned against him. Burchard and Liutgard will turn him over to you if they find him in Fesse or Avaria. No one in the North Mark will trust him, if he even wanted to return to such a benighted place. Where can he go? Who will take him in?”
“I’ve sent riders south and west. He might go to Varre, to offer his services to Sabella or Conrad, but Conrad never liked him either and Sabella has nothing to offer him. Where else can he go, then, except back to the poisonous nest where he gained so much power?”
“He’ll elude your searchers,” said Liath, shaking her head.
“So be it. If he flees to Varre, we’ll catch up to him. If he flies to Aosta, then he cannot trouble us here in Wendar, can he?”
“So we can pray,” said Hathui grimly, “for I would like to sleep soundly at night. I have a boon to ask of you, Your Majesty.”
“What is that?”
“If he’s caught, I want recompense for the harm he’s done to me and my kinfolk. A grant of land, perhaps, to add to what they already claim.”
Sanglant smiled. “I so swear, Hathui. You will have satisfaction.”
“Your Majesty,” she said, head bowed, and kissed the royal seal ring on his right hand, the one he had taken off his father’s body.
He stood in unusual stillness for a long time, unwilling to break into her grief, but at last she shook her head and rose.
“There is wine,” he said. “Captain Fulk will see you get anything you wish. We’ll keep a close watch, but I expect Hugh is gone. And that you are safe from him for the time being. Still, we must be cautious.”
