Daughter of Regals by Stephen R. Donaldson Read Free Book Online

then, you must not attempt to Ascend the Seat of the Regals. Rather,
you must give way to those better suited for rule. If you do not—I speak
plainly at your command—if you set even one foot on the steps to that Seat, my
Mage will unleash his Fire.
    “Not
upon the manor,” he said promptly, as if I had questioned him. “Assuredly not.
That would be hazardous, as you have said. No, he will set Fire upon the fields
and crops of Canna. My secret storages will be spared, but Nabal and Lodan will
starve. They will starve, my lady, until they see fit to cede their
crowns to me.”
    Happily,
he concluded, “You will find yourself unwilling to bring that much death upon
the realm by defying me.
    He made
me tremble with shock and anger; but I did not show it. For an instant, I
feared that I would. I had been trained and trained for such contests—but
training was not experience, and I was not yet twenty-one, and until this night
Mage Ryzel had always stood at my side. The peril to the realm, however,
demanded better of me. Here the only question, which signified, was not whether
I would later prove Regal, but rather whether I would be able to serve the
realm now.
    From my
seat, I said softly, “You are bold, my lord. Apparently you care nothing that
by these tactics you will make yourself the most hated man in the history of
the Three Kingdoms. And apparently also,” I continued so that he would not
interrupt, “you have given careful thought to this path. Very good. Perhaps, my
lord”—my courtesy was precise—”yow will tell me how you intend to respond if I
summon the guards of the manor and have you thrown without ceremony into the
dungeon.”
    He
stared through me as though I were trivial; but his mouth betrayed a smirk. “That
would be ill advised,” he replied. “My commands to my Mage have been explicit.
If I do not shortly appear at the ball to restrain him, he will commence the
razing of Canna.”
    “I see.”
I nodded once, stiffly, acknowledging his cleverness. “And if I imprison
Cashon also, what then?”
    “My
lady,” Thone said with elaborate patience, “I have told you that he is a
master. And surely Ryzel has taught you that a Mage need not be free to wield
his power. Neither distance nor dungeon can spare the realm from my will.”
    I
paused for a moment, marshalling my thoughts. Thone’s plotting depended upon
Cashon—a man whose integrity and scruples had never been questioned. Yet the monarch
of Canna was certain that Cashon would commit such massive wrong. The idea was
appalling. Still I preserved my composure. Facing my antagonist squarely I
asked, “Would you truly commit that abomination, my lord of Canna?”
    “My
lady,” he replied in his tone of patience, “do not insult me with doubt.” His
eyes concealed everything. “I mean to rule the Three Kingdoms, and you will not
prevent me.”
    Waving
my hand, I dismissed this assertion as if my ability to prevent him were sure. “And
Cashon?” I inquired almost casually. “He has earned a goodly reputation in
the realm. Will he truly obey your atrocious commands?”
    “You
may rely upon it,” said the king. I had not ruffled him.
    “That
is preposterous!” I snapped at once, probing hard for a point of weakness. “We
speak of Cashon, my lord—not of Thornden’s sycophant or Damia’s ferret. He was
not shaped in the same gutter, which gave birth to your lordship. Why will
he obey you?”
    King
Thone’s response lacked the simple decency of anger. Pleased with himself, he
said, “He will obey me because his wife and his three daughters are in my
power. He knows not where they are—but he knows that I will have them slain if
he fails me. And he fears that I will find other uses for them before they die.
Do not doubt that he will obey me.”
    His
wife and daughters? I wished to cry out. Are you so base? And do you call
yourself fit to rule? The nature of Thone’s machinations horrified me; his
revelation explained