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“Are you here for the season?” Baron Eckard said at last.
She shook her head. “For as long as possible, my lord. What about you?”
/> He smiled. “I’m here for a different kind of season. My daughter and her family have their estates outside the city, and so I’ve come for a protracted visit. I am to be a grandfather, they tell me.”
She congratulated him. “And then you return to Melnek?”
“It depends on the weather.”
He spoke in a dry tone that recalled Lord Kosenmark at his most oblique. Lord Kosenmark. Baron Eckard. My dear Rudolfus, he had called him. Yes. Of all the information that Lord Kosenmark had dumped upon her in the past week, he had not disclosed who would participate in the night’s meeting, but now she knew at least one.
You’ve come for more than your grandchild, she thought.
“Hmmmm.” Baron Eckard was observing her with curiosity. “You look strangely satisfied, Mistress Ilse. May I ask why?”
She colored, thinking she would have to guard her expression more closely. “Nothing more than the pleasure of a good partner, my lord.”
Eckard lifted an eyebrow, but said nothing. They finished out the dance in silence, and when the music drew to its close, he swept into a deep bow.
“I wish you good fortune, Mistress Ilse.”
“And to you,” she replied.
He bowed again, once more the bland courtier, and withdrew into the crowds.
She danced twice after that with two different young men who introduced themselves as friends of friends of Lord Vieth’s grandsons. When the second dance ended, she retreated to one of the alcoves where she had a cushioned bench to herself.
The music paused for an interlude. While the musicians set out new instruments, a chorus of singers sang in rising counterpoint one of the old ballads from the empire days. The song—about war and war’s heroes—sounded strange to Ilse in this rich setting, so far from any battlefield.
The song ended. The musicians eased into the next piece—another partnered dance. Just then, she saw Lord Kosenmark, threading his way between the couples, like a splash of midnight among so many brilliant colors. The meeting, she thought, her heart beating faster.
Kosenmark stopped in front of Ilse and held out his hand. “Will you dance with me?”
Startled, she took a moment to answer. “Of course, my lord.”
He smiled, but his manner seemed distracted. He led her onto the floor just as an alto horn sounded three resonant notes. The water flutes responded with a second theme, and the pattern was established. This was a very formal dance, one generally reserved for court, for weddings, for other grand affairs. Ilse had just learned it the year before she left home. She hoped she remembered the steps.
Kosenmark touched his palms against Ilse’s. “We begin with an introduction,” he said softly. “As strangers must.”
So he had noticed her hesitation. “Thank you.”
He nodded but said nothing more as they moved through the figures for introduction, which were slow and measured, then on to those of a new acquaintanceship, with a faster and lighter pace. Ilse expected him to tell her when the meeting would take place. After a third set passed without him speaking, she began to wonder if something had changed his plans. Though his expression remained pleasant, he was scanning the crowds with quick intense looks.
Be careful of the dishes you choose, the woman had said.
Ilse stepped closer as the next figure required. “My lord, I had a warning.”
Kosenmark immediately looked down at her, attentive. “What kind of warning? From whom?”
“A woman. We sat together at the banquet.” She repeated what she heard, trying to use the same intonation.
“What did she look like?”
“Dark complexioned—darker than mine. A deep blue gown with the sides cut away to show the undergown. She wore diamonds in her hair.” She wanted to add her impression that this woman looked dangerous, but that was too quick, too simplistic a conclusion. “She said nothing wrong, my lord, but her manner was quite strange.”
“I see.” Kosenmark glanced around the room. “That was Lord Dedrick’s sister, Lady Alia. She has her own concerns, which sometimes intersect those of Lord Dedrick’s. She wishes to join the Queen’s Court and fears that Lord Dedrick’s association with me would harm her chances.”
“So her warning meant nothing?”
