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."That worked well," Alusair said admiringly."Now all we have to do is hold off another few thousand orcs while you go and horse trade with a wounded, furious ghazneth.Blood of Tempus, look at them coming down the hills.How can any orc tribe feed so many mouths?""Horse trade indeed," the king said with a smile."By the looks of him, we've landed the worst of them after Boldovar, too.It'll be Luthax, I've no doubt, once second only to Amedahast among the war wizards of his day."Alusair shook her head ruefully and said, "You never did believe in doing things the easy way, did you?"Azoun's grinning reply was lost in the fresh howls of orcs, charging furiously up the hill on all sides.5The rat bites had withered to little red puckers, leaving Tanalasta's pale breasts and belly strewn with star-shaped scars and oozing abscesses.Though her head throbbed and her joints ached with the remnant of a fever, she felt remarkably alert and rested and-finally-safe.Owden Foley, looking pale and battered but alive, sat at the edge of her bed.His eyes were closed in concentration and a healing hand was pressed over her womb.The corridors outside her chambers were guarded by an entire troop of dragoneers.Two war wizards sat in her anteroom, just a short yell away.Even her windows had been double-secured, being both barred by iron and sealed with mortar and stone.Owden opened his eyes, but left his hand pressed to Tanalasta's naked abdomen.She could feel the goddess's mending heat flowing into her womb, making her loins tingle and ache in way that was not entirely unfamiliar and a little bit embarrassing.Tanalasta let the sensations wash over her and tried to accept what she felt with no shame.Such stirrings were a gift from Chauntea, and private though they were, no worshiper of the Great Mother should deny them.By the time the High Harvestmaster's gaze finally drifted toward Tanalasta's face, she could bear the suspense no longer."What of the child, Owden?" The princess found it difficult to speak.Though a healer had obviously worked his magic on her broken jaw, it was sore, stiff, and bound by a silken scarf."Has it been injured?"Owden's eyes flickered away before answering."You have had no pain or bleeding?"Icy fingers of panic began to work up through Tanalasta's chest."What's wrong?""We don't know that anything is," Owden said.He did not remove his hand from Tanalasta's abdomen."It's only a question.""One you must know I can't answer." Tanalasta had awakened only a short time earlier, and the first thing she had done was send for Owden."How long have I been asleep?""Half a tenday.or so they tell me." Owden raised his free hand and absentmindedly rubbed the cloth over his own wound."I awoke only yesterday myself.""And Alaphondar?""In the palace library.Seaburt and Othram are also here, but I'm afraid the others." He shook his head, then said, "The orcs came in too fast."Tanalasta closed her eyes."May their bodies feed the land and their souls blossom again," she whispered."The goddess will tend them." Owden clasped her arm."They were brave men.""That they were." Tanalasta glanced down between her bare breasts to the harvestmaster's other hand, still pouring its healing warmth into her womb and asked, "Now, what of the child? I trust you are not just enjoying yourself."The joke drew a forced smile from the normally jovial priest."With all those guards out there? I think not." He glanced toward the anteroom door, then shook his head and told her, "The truth is, I have no way of knowing.I could ask the royal healers if there have been any signs, but they'd know at once my reason for asking."Tanalasta considered this, then shook her head."Let's avoid that.We need no rumors sweeping the realm, at least not until the nobles have accepted that I am married.""And to whom," Owden added pointedly.Tanalasta flashed him a frown of irritation, one of those rare glowers she reserved for the few people who would not interpret them as some subtle message by which whole families were made and unmade."Would knowing the signs make any difference to the child?"Owden thought for a moment, then shook his head."Either you are still with child or you aren't," he said simply."If you are, all we can do is keep pouring Chauntea's blessings into your womb and pray they are enough to counter the corrupting influences of your association with the ghazneth.""Would you please call it a fight?" Tanalasta asked dryly."'Association' makes it sound like we were.trysting."Owden winced at her objection, but the anteroom door banged open before he could apologize.Jerking her bed gown down over her breasts, Tanalasta looked over with an angry rebuke on her tongue and found her mother striding into the room.Queen Filfaeril was, as always, strikingly beautiful.Tresses of honey blonde hair streamed behind her, and blue eyes glared at Owden's hand, which continued to rest over Tanalasta's womb.If the harvestmaster felt any embarrassment, his face did not betray it."Mother," Tanalasta mumbled, so surprised that she strained her aching jaw."You might have had someone announce you."Filfaeril continued toward the bed, her stride growing more assertive and forceful."I came as soon as I heard you had awakened." She stopped at the base of the bed and continued to glare at Owden's hand."I'm glad to see you feeling so well."Tanalasta felt the heat rising to her cheeks, but took her cue from Owden and refused to take the bait."To be truthful, I'm not quite sure how I feel." She waved at Owden and said, "You remember Harvestmaster Foley?""How could I forget?"The expression in Filfaeril's eyes would have wilted a lesser man, but Owden merely stood and bowed without removing his hand from Tanalasta's abdomen."As radiant as ever, your majesty."Having failed to intimidate Owden, Filfaeril turned to Tanalasta and said, "A bit old for you, don't you think?""That is hardly to the point, Mother," said Tanalasta."Harvestmaster Foley is tending to my health-as I am sure you know."Filfaeril's expression remained icy."The royal healers are not to your satisfaction?""I prefer Owden." Though her feelings were fast growing as icy as her mother's glare, Tanalasta forced herself to smile."Surely, even a princess may choose who lays hands on her own body without the matter becoming the latest political crisis?"A hint of shame flashed through Filfaeril's eyes, but she quickly regained control of her expression.In a slightly warmer voice, she said, "I suppose that is hardly too much to ask, and I really did not come here to discuss the matter of your royal temple anyway." She turned to Owden and graced him with a queenly smile."So, how does our patient fare? I wasn't aware that she had suffered any injuries so far.south.""She is a hale woman, majesty." Owden raised a querying eyebrow at Tanalasta-ever so slightly-and received the merest shake of a head in response, then continued without missing a beat."She had some pain in her intestines, but I'm sure it is merely a matter of lying in bed too long.nothing a long walk won't cure
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