CHAPTER FIVE

His situation was becoming increasingly precarious when Egmar staged the naming ceremony for his son and heir.
When it was over, and the celebrations and feasting finished, the guests drifted back to their own estates and provinces. Segga was one of the last to leave, having been invited by the king to remain for a few days as his personal guest in the royal compound itself.
Shansi found his presence disturbing and did her best to avoid him, but the day before he was due to leave, her curiosity got the better of her and she summoned him to her chamber. She referred to the naming ceremony and his remark about Morvina; she asked him what he had meant by it.
He shrugged, and told her that in his opinion Morvina was the single most dangerous person in the kingdom because Egmar, and now Chaldez, stood between the throne of Sair Jisenner and her son, Sigmar.
Shansi was astonished. She objected that Sigmar was not interested in the Sairish throne, being preoccupied by his conquests in Laifya.
It was now Segga's turn to look surprised. "Have you not heard?" he asked her. "Sigmar has met with defeat"
At first Shansi could not bring herself to believe such a thing, but Segga insisted that his information was reliable. She asked if Sigmar would not recover; was it not just a temporary set-back? Segga shook his head; he was certain that the prince was about to be defeated utterly. The rhanese of Laifya, he said, had formed a powerful coalition, and would pursue him until he was crushed. His only hope then would be flight - flight to Felewith, where Morvina would be waiting for him. She would like nothing better, he added, than to be waiting for him with the crown.
Shansi stared at him in horror. She had come to depend upon Sigmar keeping himself occupied, and his mother happy, with conquests far from the borders of her husband's kingdom. Now all her comfortable security was gone, like sand blown off a rock.
She began, hesitantly, to tell Segga of the terror Morvina had inspired in her. She told him about Reela, who had died so mysteriously, and she told him about the conversation she had overheard between Morvina and Ghouzene.
He asked her if she had not spoken to Egmar about her fears, and as she told him about his absolute refusal to take any notice of them, tears welled up in her eyes and coursed down her pale cheeks. Segga made as though to pull her towards him, but she pushed him gently away. It was, however, a half-hearted gesture, and in another moment she was in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. He held her to him, kissing the top of her head. Abruptly she regained control, and shrugged free. Holding the tops of her arms, he peered into her face and implored her to promise him that she would seek his help and protection the moment she considered herself, Chaldez or Egmar to be in danger of their lives. She nodded, and sniffed loudly. He reached for her hand and kissed it swiftly, causing her heart to thump so loudly she thought he must hear it; and that made her blush.
"Forgive me," he said, thinking it was the kiss that had embarrassed her, "but you must know you have bewitched me. My reason is vanquished. I am in your power."
"My dear Segga!" exclaimed Shansi, laughing, the tension gone. "How earnest you look! But I assure you I am innocent. If I had the power to cast spells I would use it on the king and make him send Morvina to trouble people far from here. I have opened my heart to you; it is I who am in your power."
Segga smiled ruefully. "Then we are in each other's!"
They talked for a while. Shansi told him about her childhood in Kroya and her friends Lewvin and Pemmel whom she had succeeded in bringing to the royal compound. Segga was impressed. And in his turn he told her about his province of Istin which, he said, lay beyond the eastern marches of her husband's realm. His overlord was the powerful king of Eujinni, a just man, and much respected by subjects and client-lords alike. Then he looked at her earnestly and implored her to eat and drink nothing that had not previously been tasted in her presence. She agreed. And lastly he advised her to try to keep in touch with events in Laifya.
When the last remaining guests had finally left Felewith, Shansi suggested to Egmar that she and Chaldez should return to Fromond.
"You can go," he said, "but you'll not take Chaldez with you." Then he accused her of continuing to harbour unfounded suspicions concerning Morvina.
Over the next weeks the news coming out of Laifya was of unremitting disaster for Sigmar, and Shansi knew that for her and Egmar and their baby it signalled growing peril.
Egmar, it transpired, had a surprise in store. Summoning her, he announced that she and Chaldez would be able to leave Felewith after all. He had decided, he went on, to take them with him on a tour of the northern province of Sembfrid.
Noting Shansi's astonishment, he patiently explained that during the last years of his father's reign the kingdom had been troubled by the attempted incursions of a certain neighbouring ruler. By coincidence, this man and King Volkis had died in the same year, but there were now reports that his son was up to the same tricks. Sembfrid appeared to be his chief target, and Egmar had been advised that the loyalty of his subjects there would be stiffened if he were to visit them.
It sounded reasonable enough to Shansi, but why was it necessary for her and Chaldez to go with him?
Egmar nodded sympathetically, then pointed out that the impact of the visit would be far greater if he could present to the people his son and heir: his own presence would impress upon them the identity of their sovereign, and the presence of Chaldez would give them a sense of continuity. And the mere fact that the visitation followed so closely upon the naming ceremony would give it added significance, he said.
Shansi was left with nothing to argue about. All she could do was to ask that she should be consulted at every stage in the planning of her own and the prince's travelling arrangements.
Egmar casually informed her that she should speak to Morvina about that.
Shansi looked at him with disbelief. Morvina? What had she got to do with them?
Egmar said that the dowager queen happened to be taking a keen personal interest in the projected tour. She was extremely anxious that it should be a success - and here he gave Shansi a meaningful look - and had asked to be allowed to exploit her considerable influence in the northern provinces on behalf of the royal family by arranging suitable hospitality for it during its progress. It would therefore be a matter of courtesy, he suggested, for Shansi to consult her if she intended making separate arrangements for herself. He, Chaldez and the child's wet nurse, on the other hand, would be taking advantage of Morvina's contacts.
Shansi's apprehension only intensified with this statement. Her mind flew to the question of a military escort, but she said nothing until she might raise it in an off-hand manner.
The opportunity for this arose during a discussion of the tour at a formal meal a few days later. Quite casually she asked who would be in command of their escort.
Egmar seemed to be slightly surprised by her question: he said why, Creal of course.
Well, thought Shansi, they were not to be without protection. That was some relief. But Creal . . .? She was not to know that it was he who had put Gorn in charge of the detachment which was sent to escort her and Chaldez from her estate in Fromond to Felewith for the naming ceremony, but she did know him to be dissolute and unreliable, and she suspected Morvina of having had a hand in introducing him to her husband. The king's reliance upon such a worthless man could only suit her purposes, she reasoned.
Shansi finished her meal in silence. Then, as Egmar rose from the table she announced baldly that she would not leave Felewith unless Pemmel the Kroyan was appointed commander.
There were 20 or so people present; etiquette demanded that they observed silence whenever the king or his queen spoke, so Shansi's demand was made in the full hearing of everyone there, and judging by the audible intakes of breath it caused a sensation.
Egmar was trapped. His wife still occupied a position of unique respect, and would do so for the first year of the prince's life, assuming he survived. He could not be seen to be denying her anything, but this was an outrageous request. Pemmel was a foreigner, and his appointment to the Guard had caused Egmar trouble enough.
He turned, made a shrugging gesture and said he would have to think about it. The next day he informed Shansi that her request was out of the question. She had known as much when she had asked it, and in asking it she had known she was embarrassing him.