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with this prattle?” Whitestar interrupted. “Go now and for the First’s sake, leave each other be,” he said as he shooed them both out of his chambers.
    As Kalon was walking down the broad hall, his back to the two of them, the King said quietly to his daughter, “Alemar, I will listen to you when you return, but I make no promises.”
    With that, he sighed a tired sigh and shut the heavy door behind them.

Chapter Three

    “Relax, my darling. There is no need for you to rise this early. I will take care of the emissary. Take another sip of the tea, it will ease the pain.”
    “You are too good to me, Margot. I really am very tired,” he sighed as he half-closed his eyes and reclined upon the enormous bed, resting his head atop the soft, down pillows. “Another hour or so and I will be fine though. I just need a little more time,” Kettin Dumas, the new Duke of Talamar, said while the woman dutifully prepared his tea and brought the steaming liquid to his lips.
    “Drink now, my love,” she urged, tipping the mug so that he could sip the brew.
    When she was satisfied that he had enough, she pulled up the heavy feather quilts, smoothed them under his chin and tucked him in as she would have done for a small child. The raven-haired woman then gently kissed him on the forehead and departed the room.
    From the half open doorway, she leaned her broad face in. “Now don’t you move an inch,” she admonished the young Lord. “I will be very angry with you if you disobey me,” the woman chided him, causing Kettin to smile sheepishly from beneath the heavy blankets.
    “Whatever you say, my love. Just promise me you will return before the hour is up,” he replied, and he drifted once more into the dreamless sleep he so enjoyed.
    “I will be back as soon as I can, dearest Kettin. You would not want me to insult your friend from Marathar now, would you? He came all this way to negotiate a trade agreement with us and we should really not keep him waiting any longer. I must hasten to his side and be your representative as best as I am able, with your royal permission of course.”
    “He wants the oil? Will he pay the price for it?” Kettin inquired.
    “He will pay whatever we ask, beloved. After all, there is no other source of Polong oil but ours. What choice does he have if he wishes the lights in Marathar to burn throughout their dark winters?” she replied blithely.
    “Yes, he will, I am sure. Definitely negotiate for me pet. I am far too weary. But have we enough for him and our allies as well?” he inquired.
    “Allies? Who are our allies? Do you really know, Kettin? We must forge new friendships now that your parents are gone. Trust in me, darling. I would never do anything to hurt you. Have I not proven that to you already?” she asked him, her voice literally dripping with sincerity.
    “I do trust you, my love. You have been here for me since that terrible moment. You are the only one that I trust,” he replied, and he laid his head down once more upon the soft pillows.
    Immediately after Duke Leonardo and his wife Dorothea died in that terrible fire, Margot arrived. Kettin never bothered to question wherefrom she came. He was satisfied just to have someone to comfort him and guide him. He, in truth, did not want to make all the decisions himself, and Margot was happy to make them for him. But unlike the others, Fobush and his father, she did not judge him. She was more like his mother in that respect and she loved him too. That was certain. She behaved as if she had been there for him his entire life. No one else treated him with such respect. Margot protected him. She made him feel safe.
    His father’s friends and aides all, to the one, looked down their noses at him. They never gave him the esteem he deserved. And they were so jealous of Margot. He could not understand why they sneered and scoffed whenever he mentioned the rift with Pardatha and Lord Baladar. He had done everything he could have