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    As they made their way to the throne room where the King and Queen of Oceania were awaiting Conar, Grice cast a sidelong glance at his brother-in-law and begrudgingly spoke what was uppermost in his mind. "Your men do you proud."
    Conar didn't look at him. "They love me."
    "And my sister? Do they love her?"
    "Aye, that they do. And they know injustice when they see it, and are willing to fight for what they believe in." He walked through the doorway Grice indicated. "They also recognize spite."
    Grice shrugged. "One man's injustice can be another man's retribution; one man's spite, another's vindication. You have atoned for only a small portion of the crimes you have committed against my sister."
    Unaware they had entered the throne room, Conar stopped dead and turned to stare hard at the man. "There is no punishment either you or your parents could conceive that would torture me more than does my conscience, Wynth. Rest assured my punishment will last far longer than these scabs!" He held up his wrists and was startled to see Grice look away with what could only be described as shame. "You manacled my body; Liza's pain manacled my heart. Think your punishment the greater of the two?"
    Grice turned a scowling face to his brother-in-law. "It would suit my purposes better if you were kept in the dungeon. Then you couldn't hurt my sister ever again! You haven't been punished nearly as much as I would have liked!" He took a step closer to Conar. "But I can promise you, there will come a day when I'll see you pay for all your sins against this family!"
    "That's enough!" Grice's mother shouted, her body fairly trembling with anger. "Find your sister, Griceland!"
    "He—" Grice began.
    "Find your sister! Now! This minute!"
    "You didn't tell him, did you, Grice?" his father inquired from the throne.
    Grice shook his head and strode angrily away, his shoulders hunched. "He didn't deserve to be told."
    "Tell me what?" Conar demanded.
    The queen glanced first at Conar's tired face, then his filthy clothing, and she was not pleased with what she saw. Nor what she smelled.
    She crinkled her nose. "I shall have a bath prepared on ship for you immediately."
    "I think you have a leak in one of your privies, Madame."
    Medea's gaze went to his wrists and then to the calm face looking back at her. "You are hurt," she whispered, knowing full well her daughter would be furious.
    "I could use some salve. The cuts could become infected."
    The queen raised her head, her pride pricked by the condemnation she saw in her son-in-law's azure depths. "I'll use a healing charm—"
    "Just some salve will do." His own head raised a fraction. "I will do the rest."
    King Shaz frowned. He did not like his son-in-law's tone. "Your stay in jail did nothing to temper your mood, did it?"
    Conar switched his steady stare to the king. "Put me there again, if it pleases you. Either imprison me or kill me, for I will never leave this land without my wife."
    "You gave your word—" Shaz began.
    "That my men would cause no more harm, and they won't. I didn't say anything about me. I won't leave these shores without Liza at my side. You can try to keep her away from me, but I will find a way to get her back. She belongs with me! I will fight for her!"
    "And die in the trying?"
    "If you think to kill the very heart inside this body by trying to give her to another man, then you had best have me hung, for I can promise you, I will fight to the death to keep her. I have suffered more than you will ever know for the love I fight to keep. What is a little more pain?"
    "Medea, will you listen to him? I don't think—"
    "Anya will be leaving with you, Conar," Medea announced. "That is her wish, not ours."
    "We still have our doubts," Shaz fumed.
    Conar smiled, but there was no warmth in that smile. "She wasn't happy with what you did to me, was she?"
    "That's neither here nor there," Medea began, but Conar's derisive laugh was brittle.
    "Oh, I'd say your words said it all!" He