C. Dale Brittain by Voima Page B

become murderous as it apparently had against Roric.
    Queen Arane was silent for a moment, looking out the window at the twilight, a small smile on her lips.   “What does young Valmar think of this?”
    “He has had no idea, I think, that we might marry.   As I said, we are to each other brother and sister.”
    “So Hadros is your principal opponent here.   He will take it as an insult to his honor, I judge, if you flatly refuse to take his son, especially in these circumstances.”   She turned a jeweled ring thoughtfully on her finger.   “Before you reject this marriage utterly, be certain there are not reasons why it would be beneficial.   A young and malleable husband offers certain advantages, even if the advantages do not compare with those of being single.”   The queen reached out to turn Karin’s face toward her.   “For example—are you quite sure that you are not with child?”
    Karin kept her eyes cast down.   “Quite sure.   There was a time, a few days ago, when I wondered—   But no.”   She did not look up, regretting bitterly now that she had asked the queen to come.
    “You could try to win Hadros around with clever words,” said Arane.   “I must believe that in the years you have lived in his court, a woman of your wit has found ways to do that.   Tell him, for example, that you are already pledged to someone else, someone far away—perhaps even this rival you mentioned—and that you need the king’s help to cover your shame.”
    “I think I already tried that,” said Karin gloomily.   “It was of no use.”   She did not dare add what she now thought fiercely, that with Roric she had hoped to be an equal, part of a couple who trusted each other and spoke openly to each other, and that even without Roric she did not want to be a woman who directed the men around her with wiles and manipulation and never affection.
    “You are making it very difficult, Karin, for me to help you!” said Arane with an exasperated laugh.   “You are sure you could not make the best of the situation at this point by marrying young Valmar?”
    “I am sure.”
    “How did you come to do something so heedless as spend the night with him?”
    Karin wished again that she had not asked the queen for counsel.   She had no more good ideas than she had had before, and another of the Fifty Kings now knew she had not spent last night peacefully sleeping in Hadros’s tent.   “We had not so intended,” she said quietly, thinking now only how she could ease Arane away.   “But dark overcame us before we could get down.”   That, she commented to herself, was an understatement.
    “You perhaps could tell King Hadros that you and Valmar spent the night with me,” suggested the queen, as though having been asked for advice she could not leave without finding some way to save the situation.
    “No, although I thank you,” said Karin, shaking her head and keeping her eyes down.   As she had asked herself all last night while pacing the rocky hilltop, and as she awoke today, she wondered where Roric could be if not with the Wanderers—and what they could now possibly want with her.   “I think the only way this could easily be resolved would be if Hadros were to die.”
    Queen Arane started back.   “Karin, my dear!   I know I counseled you not to be squeamish, and that you are feeling somewhat desperate, but—   Do you not think this might be somewhat too drastic a step?”
    Karin stared at the queen in horror.   “I did not mean I planned to kill him!   I was merely saying that while he is alive—   I was just explaining that …   He is almost my second father!”
    “Then your first father had best beware,” said Arane briskly.   She rose and gave Karin her hand.   “I doubt we shall meet again before the end of the Gemot.”
    A page appeared as she started across the hall to escort her out to where her bodyguard was waiting.   Karin, looking after her, felt a laugh rising