AS SHE SAT IN KELLIN’S bedchamber, Ailsbet was conscious of the fact that it was her own taweyr that had hurt Kellin. She had not meant to do it. She had only meant to help Edik, and then she had lost control. Afterward, the taweyr had fallen away from her in a rush, and she was left panting and exhausted. No wonder her father had become more irritable and irrational in his later years, living with this pressure of the taweyr day after day. How did any man stand it?
Stupid, stupid Edik, showing off for Issa. Even now, Ailsbet could not understand why Kellin had done so little in his own defense. She could hardly wait for Kellin to wake up so she could scold him on this point.
Near dawn, Kellin had still not opened his eyes, nor spoken. He had fallen hard, and there was a terrible bruise on the left side of his head. The physician also suspected that one of his ribs had been broken, because of the hot swelling on his left side there, though Ailsbet did not have the chance to view that damage under his shirt.
The physician insisted that the window in Kellin’s chamber be curtained, and Ailsbet felt oppressed by the emptiness of the room. There was nothing here to tell her about Kellin. Even in his own room, he was hidden under a cloak of mystery.
Some time later, the physician began to pack up his things.
“You cannot give up,” said Ailsbet. “You must do something for him. I shall offer you anything you want. Just help him.”
The physician raised his bushy eyebrows. “I am leaving because he is better, not worse. If he has made it this far, he may be too stubborn to kill. Summon me if he wakes so I can ask him what his secret is,” he added drily.
“You are not lying to me to make me feel better?” Ailsbet asked.
“Princess,” said the physician impatiently. “I know that your tender feelings for him mean that you can hardly think. But I swear to you that he is doing well. He will wake soon enough and tell you himself how he does.” He nodded and then left.
When the physician was gone, Ailsbet allowed herself to move closer to Kellin. She held his hand to assure herself he was still alive.
Some hours later, she felt Kellin stir and saw that his eyes were open. She started and pulled away her hand.
Kellin groaned, “Head hurts.”
“You are a fool,” she said. It was only the beginning of the lecture she had stored up.
“Doubly a fool,” said Kellin. “The prince?”
“He is not hurt.”
“The princess?” said Kellin.
“Princess Marlissa is also uninjured,” said Ailsbet. Issa had never been in any danger.
“I meant, did she show what she felt for me?” said Kellin. It was the first time that he had admitted that he knew what Issa felt, and that he knew Ailsbet also knew.
Ailsbet shook her head. “Nothing that my brother or father saw. Or anyone else, I think. You and Edik fighting with taweyr was as entertaining as anything my father has ever paid for.”
“Edik and I?” said Kellin.
Ailsbet tensed, ready to deal with an accusation that she was ekhono, but Kellin asked, “She has not come here?”
“I think she must have decided that she does not love you so very much, after all,” Ailsbet said. “A man who gives up his life so easily cannot be worth the trouble.”
“It would be better for her,” said Kellin.
Ailsbet did not argue with him on that point. She stood and stretched. She could feel the taweyr inside herself once more, not uncontrollable, but there, like a banked fire.
“I should call the physician,” she said. “To tell him you are awake.”
“No,” said Kellin. “Not yet. First, tell me what you remember from last night.”
Ailsbet looked at him suspiciously. “You engineered that. As a test for me,” she accused.
“You think I control your brother? If I had meant for you to show your taweyr to me, it would have been privately, not in front of your father and the whole court.”
So he had known about her taweyr before then? It seemed that every time she thought she had the better of him, he found out something just as dangerous to hold over her.
“Do you think Edik has no taweyr, then?” asked Ailsbet.
Kellin sighed. “He is too young to be sure. It may yet come to him in full force.”
“And do you think my father suspects anything with regard to me?” asked Ailsbet. It was surprisingly easy to talk about her taweyr with him.
Kellin shook his head. “Certainly not. His reactions last night were all of a father enjoying his son’s display of power. But we must make sure it does not happen again. You must deal with your taweyr properly and mask it when necessary.”
“And how do I do that?” asked Ailsbet.
He shook his head. “It is not something I can tell you about. We will have to be in a place where you can use it. I have some experience with the ekhono. But you need training, to learn control.”
“And how will we do that without my father knowing?” asked Ailsbet.
“We will have to be away from the palace on some excuse.”
Ailsbet reddened. She had immediately thought of an excuse. If they married, then her father would send them to tour the kingdom. It would be the perfect time to practice whatever Kellin had to teach her. But she did not want to say it out loud. Neither, it seemed, did Kellin.
“For now, tell me when you feel desperate,” said Kellin. “I can take some from you. That is easy enough.”
Like her father taxing taweyr from his nobles. It did not look pleasant, but it would do what she needed, she supposed.
But Ailsbet was not desperate with anything now, except frustration with Kellin. She shook her head, and he let it go.
Kellin fell asleep soon after, and Ailsbet was about to steal out of the room when he started awake suddenly and called after her, “Don’t let her come! It is too dangerous.”
Ailsbet turned back. “She will know the danger already,” she said. “She is not a fool.”
“Women like a doomed love,” said Kellin with a hint of a smile.
“Well, she cannot be in love with you anymore. You are too much trouble,” Ailsbet said.
“What a song you could make of this,” said Kellin.
“Are you giving me advice about my music?” asked Ailsbet, smiling. “I don’t write music with words. It is—cheap.”
Ailsbet brought the physician to him again, and when he was gone, Princess Marlissa came into the room without a knock.
“Issa, what are you doing here?” said Ailsbet.
At the sound of her voice, Kellin stirred awake. “Issa?” he said, and smiled. “You should not have come.”
Issa held her head high, but her eyes were shadowed. “I have come on behalf of Prince Edik. He wishes to know if the duke yet lives.”
“He will live long enough to annoy us all many times again, according to the physician,” said Ailsbet. She opened the bed hangings, and Issa ran to him immediately. She touched his hand, but Kellin pulled away.
Ailsbet turned and stared out the window, thinking of an intricate song that required almost all of her attention.
“You must go,” said Kellin after a long while.
“In one moment.” Princess Marlissa said. “Prince Edik asked me to come. He was worried that he might have killed you. He is very proud of himself.”
“Good. Tell him how weak I still am. He will like that.”
“I shall tell him I slapped your face for your arrogance.”
“Oh, yes, he will like that, too. But now you will have to do it,” said Kellin. He pointed to his cheek. “Someone is sure to come in and see me, and if there is no mark, then the truth will come out.”
“No.” Princess Marlissa sounded stricken. “Don’t ask me to do that.”
Ailsbet thought it was time for her to intervene. She tugged on Marlissa’s arm. “Come back tomorrow,” she said. “I shall slap him for you today, and gladly.”
“No, do not come back,” said Kellin. “Not ever. Wait until I return to court.”
“Tomorrow,” said Ailsbet. “You can castigate him again and make the walls ring with the sound.”
When Princess Marlissa had closed the door to the outer chambers, Ailsbet returned to Kellin.
“You are going to make sure you leave a mark, aren’t you?” he asked, his dark eyes wide.
“With pleasure,” said Ailsbet. This was one use of her taweyr that she did not need to conceal.