Veil of Shadows Read Free Page B

flanked the walkway, as if guarding it. Perhaps they were meant to stop them from rushing onto the ship without permission.

    Cedric smiled at that. Only someone like Bauchan would feel the need to make such a display of strength, someone who had so little to begin with.

    “I was expecting Flidais,” Bauchan said finally, with a little shrug, as though he was not as put out as he had expected to be and was a bit relieved at that. “Where has she gone?”

    “Dead.” Cedric answered, and prayed the ferryman would not know enough to correct him.
    “Along with Queene Ayla.”

    “I am sorry to learn of her passing.” Bauchan bent his head in reverence. “She must have been prepared for the consequences, though. Anyone who chose to stay in the Underground must have realized it was suicide.”

    From the corner of his eye, Cedric saw Cerridwen stiffen. He reached for her arm, took her hand at the wrist, hoped it would be enough to signal how crucial calm was at this moment.
    “Queene Ayla understood the danger, but thought it cowardly to abandon her subjects. It was her last wish for your good Queene to take the Royal Heir into her protection.”

    “The Royal Heir?” Bauchan.s eyes, instantly alight with greed, fell on the unlikely shape huddled in the blanket. “We have met before, at your mother.s audience,” he said smoothly, bowing before her. “It is an honor to be in the presence of so great a beauty again.”

    Cedric cleared his throat. “She is wounded, and will need healing. There is only so much that mortal medicine can accomplish, and I fear that limit has been reached. Also, she comes with this small entourage of advisors. I trust that this will not be an imposition, either.”

    “Advisors? What need has the Royal Heir of advisors, if she is entrusted to my kind and attentive care?” Bauchan looked over the guards with a critical eye. He was looking for the trick, for some crack in the lie, but he was not intelligent enough to see it beyond the wealth on the Faeries. backs.

    “She will need help managing the meager fortune she brings to sustain her, of course. And one cannot expect the Royal Heir to personally handle the duties of setting up a new—if somewhat diminished—household in Queene Danae.s Colony.”

    “Yes,” Bauchan agreed, smiling what must have been the single most insincere smile in the history of all the Fae. “I do think it will be quite a change for her, but a positive one, for all involved. Queene Danae will not see this as an imposition, but a blessing for her Court. And you, were you not one of Queene Ayla.s advisors? Do you wish to maintain that position within the Royal Heir.s household?”

    Cedric remained stone-faced in contrast to the Ambassador.s oily graciousness. “Your kindness is appreciated. I travel with the Royal Heir not as an advisor, but as her betrothed. It was decided not long before your arrival at Queene Ayla.s Court that Cerridwen and I should be mates, and the Queene thought it would be in the interest of all involved if such an agreement was not thrown over just because of present dangers.”

    Bauchan.s smile faded a little at that, and it pleased Cedric. No doubt that upon setting eyes on the Royal Heir, Bauchan.s mind had spun with all the possibilities for advancement that such a prize could bring him. He.d likely already imagined the reward he would get from

    Danae for delivering the direct Heir to Mabb.s throne. From there, it was a simple seduction and a carefully constructed revolt to overthrow Danae and make Cerridwen Queene, and him to rule as King beside her. It did not surprise Cedric that Bauchan would be among the many who would seek to gain from the tragedy of Queene Ayla.s death.

    Perhaps that ambition would cool a bit in the face of competition, though Cedric doubted it was so.

    “I congratulate you both on your good fortune. Rarely have I ever seen so splendid a match.”
    Bauchan bowed again, and Cedric was certain that