Page 44 of The Priory of the Orange Tree

“I want to know what you and Sulyard were planning. You reference a task in your letters.”

“It is none of your concern.”

“Permit me, then, to present a theory. I have seen enough to know that you take an unusual interest in the East. I think you and Sulyard meant to cross the Abyss together for some mischievous purpose, but he went ahead without you. Am I wrong?”

“You are. If you must continue to meddle, then you may hear the truth.” Truyde sounded almost bored. “Triam is gone to the Milk Lagoon. We mean to live together as companions, where neither Queen Sabran nor my father can take issue with our marriage.”

“Do not lie to me, my lady. You show an innocent face to the court, but I think you have another.”

The postern opened. They pressed themselves deeper into the alcove as a guard came through with a torch, whistling. She marched up the Privy Stair without seeing them.

“I must go back to the Coffer Chamber,” Truyde said under her breath. “I had to findsixteencomfits for that loathsome bird. It will raise a stink if I am gone for long.”

“Tell me what you were plotting with Sulyard, then.”

“And if I do not tell you?” Truyde let out a huff of laughter. “What will you do, Mistress Duryan?”

“Perhaps I will tell the Principal Secretary that I suspect you of conspiring against Her Majesty. Remember, child, that I have your letters. Or perhaps,” Ead said, “I must use other means to make you talk.”

Truyde narrowed her eyes.

“This is not courteous speech,” she said softly. “Who are you? Why do you take such an interest in the secrets of the Inysh court?” Caution flashed across her face. “Are you one of Combe’s intelligencers, is that it? I hear he makes spies of the basest sorts.”

“All you need know is that I make it my business to protect Her Majesty.”

“You are a chamberer, not a Knight of the Body. Haven’t you some sheets to strip?”

Ead stepped closer. She was half a head taller than Truyde, whose hand now strayed to the knife on her girdle.

“I may not be a knight,” Ead said, “but when I came to this court, I swore that I would protect Queen Sabran from her enemies.”

“And I took the same oath,” said Truyde hotly. “I am not her enemy—and neither are the people of the East. They despise the Nameless One, as we do. The noble creatures they worship arenothinglike wyrms.” She drew herself up. “Draconic things are waking, Ead. Soon they will rise—the Nameless One and his servants—and their wrath will be terrible. And when they rally against us, we will need help to fight them.”

A chill went through Ead.

“You want to broker a military alliance with the East,” she murmured. “You want to calltheirwyrms . . . to help us deal with the awakenings.” Truyde stared her out, her eyes bright. “Fool. Headstrong fool. When the queen discovers you wish to deal withwyrms—”

“They are not wyrms! They aredragons, and they are gentle creatures. I have seen pictures of them, read books about them.”

“Eastern books.”

“Yes. Their dragons are one with air and water, not with fire. The East has been estranged from us for so long that we have forgotten the difference.” When Ead only looked at her in disbelief, Truyde tried a different tack: “As a fellow outsider in this country, hear me. What if the Inysh are wrong, and the continuation of the House of Berethnet is not what keeps the Nameless One at bay?”

“What are you prattling about, child?”

“You know something has changed. The Draconic creatures awakening, the breaking-away of Yscalin from Virtudom—these events are only the beginning.” Her voice dropped low. “The Nameless One is coming back. And I believe he is comingsoon.”

For a moment, Ead was speechless.

What if the continuation of the House of Berethnet is not what keeps the Nameless One at bay?

How had a young woman of Virtudom come to this heretical conclusion?

Of course, she might well be right. The Prioress had said as much to Ead before she came to Inys, explaining why a sister must be sent to guard Queen Sabran.

The House of Berethnet may protect us from the Nameless One, or it may not. There is no proof either way. Just as there is no proof to say whether the Berethnet queens are indeed descendants of the Mother. If they are, their blood is sacred, and it must be protected.She could see the Prioress now, clear as spring water. That is the problem with stories, child. The truth in them cannot be weighed.

That was why Ead had been sent to Inys. To protect Sabran, in case the myth was true and her blood would prevent the enemy rising.

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