Page 46 of Stardust Child

Usually, Remin would already be ahorse this time of day, heading home in the hopes of bedding his wife at least once before supper. Miche was not about to let that pass without comment.

“Mind your manners, Sir Tounot, His Grace honors us with his presence,” he said as Remin climbed the creaking ladder from the third floor.

“It is indeed an honor.” Tounot offered his most elegant bow. “To what might we attribute it, do you suppose, Sir Miche?”

“In the ordinary course of things, I would tremble to speculate, Sir Tounot,” Miche said piously. “His Grace’s motives are mysterious, enigmatic, sometimes incomprehensible. And yet, if you would force me to name a cause—”

“I do, I do,” Tounot assured him.

“…then I would say, the cause is a flower.”

“A flower, you say?”

“Indeed, Sir Tounot. A very particular flower has been transplanted to the barracks today, did you not notice?”

“As it happens, I did.” Tounot was deeply thoughtful. “That flower which has held an exceptional charm for His Grace, as of late…”

“…though I would hesitate to name the precise nature of its charm, Sir Tounot…”

“Keep hesitating,” Remin advised, and made them both burst out laughing. Even Juste was smirking at the sunset.

Four pairs of eyes sought out the flower in question, seated at a rough table in the shade of an elm tree as she spoke with the next soldier. Ophele had been put safely aside to avoid distracting his men during their training, and Remin was sure that this was far less disruptive than scholars would be. He had spent many frustrating hours being questioned by Tower historians in Segoile, most of whom had seemed only to want him to confirm their opinions about the warhehad just fought and won. A few had greatly offended him by opining he had been unnecessarily brutal in Valleth, tempting him to demonstrate what real brutality looked like.

Determined to learn from past errors, Remin was letting Ophele pursue this in whatever way she thought best. He had listened to her speak night after night, listened to her solve problems, and greatly appreciated the tidy workings of her mind. His eyes lingered over thegraceful arrangement of her skirts, and the heavy knot of gleaming hair that emphasized her slender neck. Even the quill fluttering between her slim fingers as she wrote was beautiful to him.

“She loves me,” he found himself saying aloud. It had been weeks, and until now he hadn’t spoken of it to anyone. He felt the back of his neck grow hot. “She told me so.”

“This is not exactly shocking news,” Tounot said delicately.

“There have been certain signs,” Miche agreed, but both of them were smiling, and it was time that he told them of the terrible test that Ophele had passed so well. He wasn’t especially proud of himself for doing that to her, but he wanted them to know that she was his lady now in truth. Above suspicion. Deserving of all honor.

“That’swhat you made me witness?” Tounot asked, appalled. He had been one of the signatories to Remin’s will.

“I need to write another one,” Remin said. The corners of his mouth tugged up into a foolish, irrepressible smile. “She threw it in the fire. Said she’d do the same to Edemir’s copy.”

“That’s where it belongs,” Tounot said sharply, but he looked with more respect at the small noblewoman in the courtyard below. “I would never have guessed she could do such a thing.”

“I am glad,” Juste said quietly. “I have been looking, my lord, to see if there were any connections between Her Grace and the Emperor, or with the Duke of Firkane. One of the footmen at Aldeburke said that all correspondence goes directly to Lady Hurrell. To his knowledge, the princess never received any messages from anyone.”

Once, Remin would have found a way to argue even with this. But it was a backward sort of thinking, to demand proof of innocence rather than evidence of guilt.

“You can stop looking,” he said, feeling absolutely buoyant at the idea. He propped his elbows on the hardened clay of the high wall, a brisk breeze whipping through his hair, and felt for a moment that he really was lord of this valley. Along the ripples and folds of the earth were the darker places where the devils lurked, and already the distant cackles of stranglers sounded, a mocking evening chorus.Therewas his enemy. Besieging his people in their faraway villages, imprisoning him behind the walls of Tresingale. Every morning, he asked for a count of the devils, and every morning Jinmin reported no decrease in their numbers.

“I was thinking,” he said into the reflective quiet. “I understand what you said, Juste, about building our base of power in the Empire. But if there were some way to have peace…” Even a few months ago, what he was about to say would have been unthinkable. “…I would be willing to make some concessions to the Emperor.”

“Rem.”Tounot’s jaw dropped, and anger flushed his face. “After everything we’ve been thr—”

“I will be happy to stay here the rest of my life,” Remin interrupted, without heat. He knew it would be hard for Tounot in particular to accept this. “I will say whatever I have to say, to make this place safe. We have greater concerns than Duke Berebet’s games. And I’m tired of having guards. I’m tired of watching for arrows and having other people taste my food. I don’t want any more of you dying for me. You’ve risked yourselves enough.”

“What are you proposing, my lord?” Juste asked, quiet and reasonable as ever.

“Find out what he wants. I want terms. A percentage of the river income, even the port.” It was galling to think of paying a ransom so the Emperor would stop trying to have him killed, but Remin was willing to consider it. “I would give a lot, if he would just leave us alone.”

“You really think he’d keep his word?” Miche asked cynically. “He’d just use your ransom to buy better assassins.”

“I must agree,” Juste said reluctantly. “It’s never been about anything you did, my lord. You challenge his power just by being alive when he wanted you dead. Duke Ereguil forced him to spare you, and Emperor Bastin Agnephus hates to be forced. He does not forgive defiance.”

This was not what Remin wanted to hear.

---