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Siri paused, then blinked He couldn’t possibly"You don’t kno to have children?"

In the stories, he wrote, a ether Then they have a child We spent ether, and there were no children

"And nobody--none of your priests--explained the process to you?"

No What process do you ht, feeling her blush deepen I a to have that conversation with him "I think we’ll talk about it another tie experiance when you caht, he wrote I must admit, I was very scared of you

Siri smiled as she remembered her own terror It hadn’t even occurred to her that he would be frightened Why would it have? He was the God King

"So," she said, tapping the bedspread with one finger, "you were never taken to other wo to see you naked

She flushed again, though her hair had apparently decided to just stay red "That’s not e’re talking about right now," she said "I want to know about other women No mistresses? No concubines?"

No

"They really are scared of you having a child"

Why say that? he wrote They sent you to me

"Only after fifty years of rule," she said "And only under very controlled circue to produce a child with the right bloodline Bluefingers thinks that child er to us"

I do not understand why, he wrote This is what everyone wants There must be an heir

"Why?" Siri said "You still look like you’re barely two decades old Your aging is slowed by your BioChroer Should I be killed, there will be nobody to rule

"And that wasn’t a danger for the last fifty years?"

He paused, frowning, then slowly erased his board

"They er now," she said slowly "But not from sickness--even I know that Returned don’t suffer froe at all?"

I don’t think so, the God King wrote

"How did the previous God Kings die?"

There have been only four, he wrote I do not kno they died for certain

"Only four kings in several hundred years, all dead of mysterious circumstances"

My father died before I was old enough to reave his life for the kingdom--that he released his BioChromatic Breath, as all Returned can, to cure a terrible disease The other Returned can only cure one person A God King, however, can cure many That is what I was told

"There must be a record of that then," she said "Sohtly"

I am sorry that they would not let you read them, he wrote

She waved an indifferent hand "There wasn’t et at those histories" Having a child is the danger, she thought That’s what Bluefingers said So whatever threat there is to erstoo That aler comes from the priests theod?

She glanced at Susebron, as flipping intently through his book of stories She smiled at the look of concentration on his face as he deciphered the text

Well, she thought, considering what he knows of sex, I’d say that we don’t have to worrya child in the near future

Of course, she was also worried that the lack of a child would prove just as dangerous as the presence of one

25

Vivenna went a that every one of the down It was actually a miracle that Thame--who came from her own home city--had been able to pick her out The people around her would have no way of connecting Vivenna to the ru her clothing

Immodest reds and yellows layered one atop the other on her dress The garment had been the only one that Parlin and Tonk Fah had been able to find that ent requiren cut, from Tedradel, across the Inner Sea It caness earth sleeves

Rebelliously, she did find herself stealing glances at the other women in their loose, short skirts and sleeveless tops Thatsun and the cursed coastal humidity, she could see why they did it

After aofwith the flow of traffic She still wasn’t sure she wanted to be out, but Denth had been persuasive

You know the worst thing that can happen to a bodyguard? he had asked Letting your charge get killed when you aren’t even there We have a small team, Princess We can either divide and leave you behind with one guard or you can co where I can keep an eye on you

And so she’d coowns, her hair turned an unco behind her She walked around the garden square, as if out on a stroll,so that she wouldn’t look nervous The people of T’Telir liked gardens--they had all kinds all over the city In fact, froarden Palrew on every street, and exotic flowers bloomed everywhere year-round