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Constance Pe fog She was glad to be away from the city, away from dead Markwart and his all-too-coe of hysteria and desperation, and,of the woman made her wince Jilseponie The heroic Pony, the savior of the north, who defeated the demon dactyl in Aida and in the corporeal vessel of Markwart Jilseponie, who could become abbess of St Precious with but a word and could cultivate that into soreater, perhaps even become mother abbess of the entire Abellican Church Jilseponie, the wo Danube had offered the city of Palht she choose? What other titleDanube bestow upon her? Jilseponie hadn&039;t been at the dock when the River Palace, the royal barge, and its fifteen escort warships had left the city She hadn&039;t shown herself to the royal entourage at all since the final lad of that

In truth, Constance admired the woman-her fire, her efforts-and she could not deny the value of Jilseponie&039;s actions in the war and in the even nized that, had the situation been different, she and Jilseponie ht have become the best of friends But that was a private truth Constance would not admit to anyone but herself

For the situation was different; Constance had notDanube had bestowed on Jilseponie

Beautiful and heroic Jilseponie A wodom, raised herself above her commoner birth to a position of nobility Nobility of deed and not blood

And how King Danube had stared at her, fawned over her with a sparkle in his tired eyes that Constance had not seen in years He would make no move toward Jilseponie yet-not with her husband, Elbryan, barely cold in the ground But Constance didn&039;t doubt the length of Danube&039;s netism of his charms Not at all

When she looked atJilseponie, then, was she seeing the next Vivian? The next queen of Honce-the-Bear?

The thought made her clench her jaw and chew her lower lip Yes, she admired the woman, even liked the woman, and, yes, Constance had understood for soht share Danube&039;s bed, he would not take her as his wife But, still, to have the door-through which she understood she could never walk-so obviously closed before her, offended her She was in her mid-thirties now, a decade older than Jilseponie, and she was starting to show her age, rinkles about her eyeseyes losing the luster of youth-and a body that was just beginning to lose the war against gravity Measured against Jilseponie&039;s sin her youthful stride, Constance understood that she would lose

Thus she had taken Danube the previous night, and the night before that, seducing hi hinore her obvious advances Thus she would take hiht all the way to Ursal, and every night after that

Until she becareat with his child

Constance hated her actions, her deception, for Danube believed that she was taking the herbs-as per the arrangenancy She hatedQueen Jilseponie Howhi as his best adviser? How ainst all his enemies, and quiedy reinforced his better qualities to his allies? To Constance&039;s thinking, she had been serving as queen ever since Vivian had died, in every capacity except that of the King&039;s constant bed partner and the mother of his children

Now she meant to remedy that situation He wouldn&039;t marry her, likely, but he would sire her children; and in the absence of another wife, he rant one of theet that concession from him His other bastard children-and there were two at least-were gro and had never been trained for the crown, had never been as sons to Danube; and he held little love for his lone sibling, his brother, Midalis, a man he had not seen in years Constance believed with aH her heart that he would coirl, as he had not trained the others and could not train Midalis, to serve as heir to the throne of Honce-the-Bear

Constance recognized the unlikelihood that she would ever be queen, but she realized that she would be more than pleased with the title of queen mother

Still, she wished it could be different, wished that she could inspire an honest love in Danube She had hoped that the situation in Paln, would provide opportunity for her to raise her station through deed; and indeed, by Danube&039;s own accounting, she had performed adainst those ofJilseponie! As her fading beauty paled beside that woman&039;s luster!

"It is, perhaps, time to relax," ca her When she glanced at hiaze to the taffrail, she understood the source of his co so tighdy that all blood had gone froreed, letting go of the rail and self-consciously hiding her hands within the folds of her thick woolen cloak

"Most, perhaps," said old Je&039;howith, his expression pensive "For the Crown and court, at least, though I fear that I&039;ve many trials ahead ofthe rail and staring out, as she had been, at the receding shapes of Palmaris&039; dock

Constance eyed hiood terh neither had they been openly hostile toward each other, as was the case between the elderly abbot and Duke Kalas

"They are so young and idealistic," the abbot continued, and he glanced over at Constance "The young Abellican brothers, I nal that it is their time to step to the forefront of the Abellican Church They believe they have seen the truth; though the truth, you and I both understand in our wisdom of experience, is never as simple as that They will overreach, and pity the Church if we older abbots and masters cannot tame the fire of youth"

Constance&039;s expression turned even more curious and skeptical; she wondered why old Je&039;hoas confiding in her, and she trusted hiet his see Danube? Was he seeking an unspoken alliance with the King by using the h, of course, Constance Pe St Precious are nearly e," she reminded Je&039;howith; and it was true that Braumin, Marlboro Viscenti, and Francis were all near their thirtieth birthdays

"But how many of their years have been spent within the sheltered confines of an outland abbey?" Je&039;howith asked "The other houses of the Abellican Church are not as St Honce, you see Even great St-MereAbelle, with its seven hundred brothers, is a secluded place, a place of fepoints and little understanding of anything that is not Abellican We of St Honce have the advantage of the city of Ursal about us, and of the wisdo and his noble court"

Constance&039;s expression betrayed her skepticisiven the recent battles between Church and Crown If Je&039;howith h, he did not do so immediately and lost the opportunity as another voice piped in

"Farewell, Palood luck to you, my friend Duke Kalas! For your task, I know, is the most wretched by far!" He walked up to Constance and Je&039;howith, his s the for ho a bow

"Ah, so you remember? " Danube replied slyly Behind the old abbot, Constance set," the abbot insisted seriously

Danube looked at him doubtfully

"Can you doubt the influence of the Father Abbot? " Je&039;howith asked, and Constance did not miss the fact that a bit of the cocksureness see Danube&039;s serene face

"Will the new father abbot prove so influential, I wonder?" Danube retorted, his voice thick with implication He narrowed his eyes as he spoke, and Constance understood hi the influential abbot of St Honce in no uncertain terms that he had tolerated about all that he would froender ht prove to be," Abbot Je&039;howith replied cal The Duke of Wester-Honce, the Baron of Pal"

"Somehow I doubt that," said Danube

"At the least, they will come to understand that they are not enemies but allies in the war to reclaim the souls of Palmaris," Je&039;hoent on

"For Church or for Crown? " Constance asked

Je&039;howith glanced back at her, and, surprisingly, he appeared wounded by her attitude What was he about? she wondered Did he seek alliance with her, and, if so, to what advantage for her?

"I ," Je&039;howith quickly said "I e of Abbots" He bowed again and, with no objections forthco his head " Never am I quite certain where that one stands," he re close beside her It the taffrail, "for Church or for Crown"

&039; "For Je&039;howith, more likely," said Constance "And with his mentor, - Markwart, dead, and the Church turned hostile to his old ways, that path, it : would see, ads so ; dearly," he complimented, and he draped his arm about her shoulder "Ah, &039; my Constance, whatever would I do without you? " The wo man She knew the rules, knew that by those rules she was not fit to be queen She trusted that Danube cared for her deeply, though, and while it was friendship more than love, she could be satisfied with that

Almost satisfied, she re to his stateroouerre co the sweat from his broith a dirty kerchief The ht his right hand up before his face, then swept it down to the left and back up, then down to the right and out, the sign of the evergreen, an old, though now seldoe on the field, the Prince understood Many goblins were down,And many men had fallen as well, the Prince&039;s brave soldiers, ht, and some of the Alpinadoran barbarians, over on the field to the left Those ht al to tend their own countryuerre surveyed the situation briefly, then looked at Midalis, who caught his attention with a quick wave of his hand The abbot nodded and rushed over

"We have allies," Prince Midalis reravely, "wounded allies"

"And will they accept our soul stones?" the abbot asked in all seriousness "Or will they see our ic as some demonic power to be avoided?"

"Do you believe-" the Prince started incredulously

Agronguerre stopped hi "I do not know," he ader brothers, which is why they instinctively went to the aid of the Vanguards some, and quickly," the Prince instructed, then he turned his mount and started at a swift trot to the left toward the barbarian line The bulk of the Alpinadorans were on the edge of the field now, and hs in pursuit of the fleeing goblins Several others had been left behind on the open field, wounded

"Where is Andacanavar? " the Prince called out, then, trying to rea, he translated "Tiuk nee Andacanavar?"

A couple of whistles were relayed along the line, and the giant ranger appeared frohty Bruinhelde at his side The pair spotted Midalis at once and strode over quickly

"Our debt to you this day is great," Midalis said, sliding down froht into a respectful bow "We would have been lost"

"Such debts do not exist between friends," Andacanavar replied, and Midalis did not lanced to the side, and somewhat unsurely, at Bruinhelde as he spoke "We did not know if you would come," Midalis admitted "Did we not share drink in the mead hall? " Bruinhelde asked, as if that alone should explain everything and should have given Midalis confidence that the barbarians would indeed appear

The Prince, taking the cue, nodded and bowed again "I feared that perhaps you were delayed by yet another goblin force," he answered, "or that our agree&039;s tactics had not been clear" Bruinhelde laughed "No agreement," he started to say, soh coherent plans," Andacanavar cut in; and Midalis understood and appreciated the fact that the ranger was trying to keep things cal tactics, as you know little of ours Better that atch you take the field, then find where we best fit in"

Midalis looked around the field, taking note of the scores of goblin dead, and he suerre and several brothers were fast approaching, the abbot looking somewhat tentative

"You have wounded," the Prince said to Bruinhelde "My friends are skilled in the healing arts"

Bruinhelde, his expression unyielding, glanced over at Andacanavar; and the rangerthe Prince and Bruinhelde into his wake, heading quickly for the nearest fallen Alpinadorans

"Bandages alone," the worldly ranger said quietly to Abbot Agronguerre The twouerre turned andeach a fallen Alpinadoran, and then rievously woundedhard to stem the flow of his lifeblood

Andacanavar, Midalis, and Bruinheldelow beside the abbot

"They are leery of ic," he whispered to his s"

"So said the large one," Abbot Agronguerre replied, indicating Andacanavar He ended his sentence with a grunt as he pulled tight the bandage crossing thehard to stop the crimson flow "For the others, perhaps, but this one will not live the hour without the use of the soul stone, and uards down at the somewhat unsure but Bruins; hddewith a detere will not steuerre remarked | calray soul s Stone, the hematite, and held it up for the two Alpinadorans to see "But I | have ic that-" " No!" Bruinhelde interrupted firmly

"He will die without-"