"Kevlin, I need to talk with you."

He was surprised to find Ceren close beside him. He hadn't noticed her approaching. Her auburn hair hung in waves down her back, and she smelled like springtime. She still looked down at her feet.

"Sure, Ceren. What is it?"

"We need to speak in private. It's confidential."

"Can't it wait? This is kind of important."

"So is this."

Ceren turned and started toward a side exit without waiting for a reply and without looking back. Kevlin glanced around. The emperor and other members of the ruling council were talking amongst themselves while they waited for Leander to return.

At the moment they were arguing over the make-up of a delegation they wanted to send to the far western border fortifications to report on the current state of defenses. Given that open warfare was expected as soon as the passes cleared next spring, they argued about whether or not the delegation could complete an inspection prior to snowfall this year.

Kevlin's swordbrothers had moved over to talk with Sentinel Felix. He didn't see Indira anywhere. It looked like no one would miss him for a few minutes. He should easily beat Leander back. So he followed Ceren out into the hall.

She led him down several long corridors filled with workers wearing the green and gold of the emperor's colors. Many people looked nervous, more looked tired. Almost everyone had spent the night awake, scurrying to fill the emperor's commands and support the massive hunt in the city.

Given the press of people in the halls, Ceren must have felt uncomfortable speaking with him because she continued walking. Eventually she led him into a sunken garden and passed through a long row of arced trellises covered with vines. The constant roar of the waterfall soon drowned out the sounds of the palace and surrounded them in a bubble of peace.

When Ceren reached the stair that surrounded the central pit of the garden, she led the way down.

#

Indira paused in the entrance to the sunken garden. The hall behind her teemed with busy workers, but the garden stood empty. This one was filled with flowers and arched trellises covered with vines. The vines looked brown and dying now, but in the spring they would be filled with pretty white flowers. By high summer the flowers gave way to sweet dewberries. This garden produced bushels of the little black berries.

Indira headed through the arches toward the stairs leading to the lowest level where Kevlin and Ceren had just descended. She picked at her green robe and told herself to calm down.

She wasn't calm. She was terribly nervous. Ceren had warned her to stay away from Kevlin. She had agreed, but she couldn't do it anymore. The sight of him in the council chamber had warmed her heart. She only allowed herself to meet his gaze for a second, but that moment of eye contact had been enough.

Maybe it was dangerous to be near Kevlin. Maybe it was selfish to take the risk. For the first time in her life she felt compelled to take a step into the shadows outside of her regular, safe life. This would be the perfect chance to set everything straight with Ceren and Kevlin both.

As she approached the stairs, she slowed. The waterfall in the center of the garden roared and filled the air with glistening droplets of water. Late morning light shone into the garden from the open roof above, triggering dozens of tiny rainbows. The beautiful sight helped ease her tension, but she paused for a long moment at the top step.

Could she really take this risk? She hadn't been able to protect Adalia in the city, and that failure still haunted her. Even if she felt sure her gift would function perfectly, she couldn't protect Kevlin from the terrible dangers he faced.

She could support him, though. She could show him she cared, that she trusted him more than she feared him.

With that thought firmly fixed in her mind, she started down.

#

In the lowest level of the garden, Ceren crossed the close-cropped grass that carpeted the ground. Along the edges of the garden in this level stood dozens of Antalya fruit trees, heavy with their strange fruit. Kevlin hadn't seen Antalya trees since his youth. They were normally only found in wetlands of Meinarr. It looked ripe. He might just pick one after Ceren finished with this mysterious conversation.

Ceren finally stopped at a stone bench seat near the fruit trees. She had led him a quarter of the way around the garden from the stairs.

"Well, that was quite a trip." Kevlin dropped beside her on the narrow bench. "I have to admit, I'm curious."

Ceren, who sat looking down at her hands said, "Kevlin, have you ever wondered why people like us have so much wealth and so many privileges while most of our countrymen can barely scratch out a living?"

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That was a strange way to start a conversation. He'd never known Ceren to flaunt her position, and she'd sacrificed much for the empire, sacrifices the rest of the world would never know about.

"What are you getting at?"

"It's a simple question. The empire is so unequal. Some like us are granted position and power through no other gift than birth."

"Did you lose to Indira at Oaths and Dares?" Kevlin asked.

He couldn't imagine Ceren would be dumb enough to play that game against Indira. The loser either had to swear an oath to serve the winner for a period of time or perform a difficult task. Or they were forced to accept a dare, which was usually embarrassing or even scandalous. He was surprised Indira would put her up to something like this.

"No, I'm serious." She sounded irritated, unlike the normal controlled persona she usually presented. Something was going on here, but he decided to play along until he learned the truth.

"Ask your questions then, but don't pretend I fall into that category."

"But you're a noble, the King's Avenger, and a hero."

He barked a laugh. "Just because Crown Prince Lievin proclaims me a lord doesn't change my life. You know my history. I grew up sailing the Six Kingdoms on a merchant ship my father could barely keep afloat. I spent years as a mercenary, eating mud more than cake. If anyone hasn't tasted wealth and privilege, it's me."

"But don't you see, that proves the system is broken."

"What system?"

"Everything." She spoke with rising passion. "The way the empire is set up with the privileged few ruling over the ignorant masses."

Kevlin chuckled, "Have you known many of the ignorant masses? I wouldn't want most of them ruling anything."

She punched his shoulder, but still didn't look up. He had been hoping to get her angry look. Her emerald eyes sparkled when she got angry, and he was surprised she didn't unleash her wiles on him like she usually tried to do.

"Kevlin, you have to admit changes are needed."

He shrugged. "Sure. Changes are always needed. That's why we do what we do."

"But we need to do more."

"All right. What do you suggest?"

She shuffled closer, her face flushed with excitement. "To effect real change, we need a powerful leverage."

"That makes sense. You have the keisara's ear. Get her to help."

"We need more than that."

"More than the keisara? What are you thinking?"

"We need Tia Khoa."

"Oh, no," Kevlin said. "Don't go messing around with that."

"We need to," she insisted. "Kevlin, I need to know who Harafin chose as Tia Khoa's new bearer."

This conversation had left weird behind and jumped right into 'time to leave'. "Ceren, you know I can't answer that. Harafin said . . ."

Ceren placed a finger to his lips, although she still didn't look up. "I know. That's not really what I wanted to talk about."

"Then why . . .?" She was making less sense than normal. That was saying something.

"Kevlin, do you remember that time we kissed in the forest?"

How could she jump so fast between topics without hurting herself? As if he'd forget his first kiss with a noblewoman.

Ceren was a complicated, driven young woman, but she was very pretty. Kevlin had worked to develop a strong friendship with her and tried to bury that memory. Talking about it made that impossible.

That night in the forest, huddled together after discovering the enemy's secret stronghold, their situation had felt desperate. Soaked from constant rain and miles from help, Ceren had kissed him before leaving to search for help. Neither of them had known if they would survive the night, and through that kiss they'd shared their yearning for life.

It was a good memory. As he considered it, Kevlin became acutely aware that here in the lowest level of this sunken garden they were very alone.

She'd kissed him again in Diodor just days ago. She'd claimed the kiss came from Indira, but that story had seemed a bit weak even then. Indira's reaction had implied she'd sent a message, but hadn't intended Ceren to take it so literally.

Had Ceren been lying to him all along? Had she been lying to Indira?

"Ceren, why did you bring me down here really?"

She shrugged out of her cloak with a single, sinuous twist of her shoulders.

Oh. That.

This woman was as complicated as she was stunning in that outfit.

Ceren wore only a thin, silky red shift that revealed far more than it concealed of her lovely figure. Kevlin tried not to stare, but wasn't very successful. She'd obviously taken great effort in choosing her outfit for the evening, and even he knew it was unwise to insult a woman's choice of clothing. Her coppery skin seemed to glow in the soft light and, as she turned toward him, it pulled the shift in all kinds of ways he shouldn't be seeing.

"Ah, I think you're going to get cold."

Eyes still downcast, she took his hands in hers. He tried to pull away, but she clung to him.

"Ceren, have you been drinking the keisara's wine?"

"Kevlin, I never told you why I kissed you."

"I don't think now's a good time."

He tried to extricate himself and stand, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung tighter. Her skin was soft and he didn't want to hurt her.

"I have to tell you," she whispered into his ear.

"So tell me." Maybe then she'd let him go.

"Because I love you."

"Are you insane?"

She grabbed his face and kissed him hard on the lips.

#

Indira clutched the inner rail of the garden stairs and gasped. Her cry was drowned by the roar of the waterfall. She stood in the shadows almost at the base of the stairs.

Ceren, dressed in a scandalously small outfit, was kissing Kevlin. The sight seared Indira's mind and left her weak. She felt sick by the betrayal.

Ceren had lied. All this time she'd pretended to be a friend, pretended to help, but all the while, she'd only been manipulating Indira. Of course she wanted Indira to stay away from Kevlin. It had nothing to do with protecting him. With Indira out of the way, Ceren could take Kevlin for herself.

That's why Ceren had kissed him in the palace of Diodor. She'd asked Ceren to give Kevlin the message that she cared for him, wanted to be with him. Instead, Ceren had kissed him and claimed it was on her behalf.

She'd been so naïve! How could she fall for such a blatant ploy?

Indira glanced back across the garden again. The two kissed like secret lovers.

Kevlin loved Ceren.

Indira turned and fled blindly up the stairs as tears burned in her eyes, not trying to swallow her sobs. Her hands shook, and her steps faltered, but she pressed forward.

She'd often drained pain out of her patients and often shared some of that pain. Always she felt confident in her strength. Pain never terrified her. She knew how to destroy it.

Now agony burned through her, so severe she could barely breathe. She'd never felt anything like it. Indira staggered out of the stairs at the uppermost level and collapsed there, weeping.