She thrust out her hands.
“No one will persuade you, not even Isoult of the Rose, nor will she stoop to’t. Therefore, Merlin will grow savage, and Fulk of the Forest will lose his head.”
He smiled at her with a grim and challenging approval.
“You reason well.”
“I may reason better. The hands that helped to spread the net may unfasten it again. Look not like that. I make no bargain; my pride is as good as yours.”
He spoke in a hard whisper.
“And I ask nothing—nothing of you, Isoult. But if you play this game on Merlin, you’ll suffer—where I——”
She moved closer to him, her eyes shining.
“What a stiffnecked boy it is, with a wit as stiff as a sword-blade. Why, the woman in me is three times as wise as the man in you. Merlin—ssst!—I can fool any Merlin!”
His grey face threatened her in the dusk.