Suzenne’s voice was pained. “Your husband is not a maston. If you die, you will not be with him. Does that not make you grieve?”
Maia gave her a sad smile before looking back out the window and nodding. If all had gone according to Collier’s plan, he’d ridden through the night from Muirwood to reach his spy, Simon Fox, this very morning. How surprised Simon would be to learn that Maia was in the city! She had not made it very far from the gates of Claredon Abbey before being abducted by the chancellor’s men. There had been no opportunity to visit Simon as she’d promised Collier she would do.
“I do not know what the Medium has in store for me,” Maia said, shuddering, “but I love him, Suzenne. I am surprised that it hurts so much to say it. Our entire relationship has been fraught with disappointments. We were trothed as infants and then my father reneged on the contract. Collier kidnapped me in Dahomey and forced me to marry him, or he would have killed my companions. Not a wonderful beginning to a marriage.” She gave Suzenne a crooked smile. “But he has changed. Muirwood has transformed him just as it did me. I am the same girl who left these shores on a ship to fulfill my father’s will. And yet I am so much stronger than I was then. I will stand up to the king, no matter what he threatens.” She felt the smile slip from her face. “Even if he kills me.”
Suzenne trembled in sympathy. “Do you think that he will?”
Maia shook her head. “No. He will try to break me first. He will let us linger in this dungeon, tortured by the freedom that is within our sight, but not within our reach, for a while. He thinks to frighten me into surrendering, but he does not know that I have already been through the crucible. I know my own strength, and I do not fear him.” She squeezed Suzenne’s hand again and then rose, stretching her tired limbs. She was sorry she could not save Lady Deorwynn from her fate. Listening to Jolecia’s shrieks and sobs after the execution was painful to endure. All of the lady’s children had been imprisoned. She knew how it smarted to be deprived of the benefits of rank after years of enjoying them. She pitied them.
“I wish they had let Dodd stay with us,” Suzenne said. “I keep thinking about what they did to his father and brothers, and I cannot stop fretting about him.”
Maia continued to walk the room, wishing there were books to read, but of course such a simple pleasure would not have been provided to two girls who were expected to be ignorant of the skill.
The sound of heavy boots marching down the hallway filtered into the room, but this was not uncommon in Pent Tower. She did not give it much thought until the sound grew louder and the steps started up the stairwell leading to their cell. Suzenne’s face pinched with concern, and she rushed across the room to stand by Maia’s side.
Moments later, the lock on the door rattled and the door opened. Two knights dressed in her father’s colors entered the room and stood guard on either side of the door. Between them entered Chancellor Crabwell, followed by the Earl of Forshee and the Earl of Caspur. To a man, their expressions were stern.
“I wondered how long before we would meet again, Chancellor,” Maia said with feigned indifference.
“When we last met, the Medium delivered us into your hands. Now it has delivered you into ours. Or should I say, it was your cunning that entrapped us at Muirwood.” He chuckled to himself and scratched the corner of his mouth. He was dressed in a sable-lined cape, felt hat, and the ceremonious golden stole of his office. His hair was going gray, and despite his bold words, he looked nervous. It did not harm the effect that he was shorter than her and had to look up to meet her eyes.
“Is that how you’ve managed to convince yourself?” Maia asked him pointedly. “You think we tricked you at Muirwood?”
“Of course it was trickery!” Crabwell snapped. “We had the sheriff’s men posted around the grounds all winter. But they were not mastons, and the only place they could not search was the abbey itself. We know about the tunnels beneath the grounds, my dear. The High Seer—your grandmother—is a wise and cunning woman. I must applaud her ability with stagecraft, Maia, truly I must. She won the day, and your father was almost convinced. But Kranmir is a persuasive man. He helped him see the truth.”
“And the light coming from the abbey?” Maia said in a scoffing tone. “The mists that were sent away?”
“Leerings all have peculiar properties, child. They are useful in propagating superstitions from the old days. You cannot imagine what the Naestors believe about us, the simplicity of some men!” Crabwell coughed, then resumed a more formal tone. “Lady Maia, I am here at your father’s behest to give you one last chance to join him. If you refuse, you will be executed for treason. It will not be difficult to persuade the people that you were duped by your clever grandmother if you accede to the king’s demands and—”