"I thought to hear from you, Alys, when we reached Earth — but there was nothing. No word of any kind. I was told you were in seclusion still mourning Gilmer."
Alys bowed her head. "I will never stop mourning him." title looked up, her eyes suddenly bright with unshed tears. "Nor will you. I saw you kneeling inside. I thought then Mat it might be you. No one kneels to Gilmer now but the old comrades." She walked to the balustrade and stood leoking out over the lights of the Imperial City. Kieron watched the play of emotions over her face, caught suddenly by her beauty.
"I tried to reach you, Kieron — tried hard. But my servants have been taken from me since I was caught spying on Ivane. And I'm kept under cover now, permitted out onHy after dark — and then only on the Palace grounds. Ivane has convinced Toran that I'm dangerous. The peopHe like me because I was father's favorite. My poor stupid little brother! How that woman rules him.. I"
Kieron was aghast. "You spied on Ivane? In heaven's name, why?"
"That woman is a born plotter, Kieron. She isn't satisfied with a Consort's coronet. She's brewing something. I Emissaries have come to her from certain of the star-kings and others. ."
"Others?"
Alys' voice was hushed. "A warlock, Kieron! He has been seeing Ivane privately for more than a year. An awful man!"
Superstition stirred like a quickening devil inside the Valkyr. The shuddering horror of the dark and bloody tales he had heard all his life about the warlocks who clung to the knowledge of the Great Destroyer rose like a wave of blackness within him.
Alys felt the same dark tide rising in her. She moved closer to Kieron, her slim body trembling slightly against his. "The people would tear Ivane to pieces if they knew," she whispered.
"You saw this warlock?" asked Kieron sick with dread. Alys nodded soundlessly.