A couple of days later Yeliif came to the door. To Abivard's surprise, the beautiful eunuch wanted to speak not to him but to Roshnani. As always, Yeliif's manners were flawless, and that made the message he delivered all the more stinging. «Lady,» he said, bowing to Roshnani, «for you to be honored by an audience with Denak, principal wife to Sharbaraz King of Kings, is not, cannot be, and shall not be possible, for which reason such requests, being totally useless, should in future be dispensed with.»

«And why is that?» Roshnani asked, her voice dangerously calm. «Is it that my sister-in-law does not wish to see me? If she will tell me how I offended her, I will apologize or make any other compensation she requires. I will say, though, that she was not ashamed to stay with me in the women's quarters of Vek Rud domain after Sharbaraz King of Kings made her his principal wife.»

That shot went home; Yeliif's jaw tightened. The slight shift of muscle and bone was easily visible beneath his fine, beardless skin. The eunuch answered, «So far as I know, lady, you have not given offense. But we of the court do not deem it fitting for a lady of your quality to expose herself to the stares of the vulgar multitude in her traversal of the peopled corridors of the palace.»

Abivard started to explode—he thought Denak and Roshnani had put paid to that attitude, or at least its public expression, years before. But Roshnani's raised hand stopped him before he began. She said, «Am I to understand, then, that my requests to see Denak do not reach her?»

«You may understand whatever you like,» Yeliif replied.

«And so may you. Stand aside now, if you please.» Roshnani advanced on the beautiful eunuch. Yeliif did stand aside; had he not done so, she would have stamped on his feet and walked over or through him—that was quite plain. She opened the door and started out through it.

«Where are you going?» Yeliif demanded. «What are you doing?» For the first time his voice was less than perfectly controlled.

Roshnani took a step out into the hall, as if she'd decided not to answer. Then, at the last minute, she seemed to change her mind—or maybe, Abivard thought admiringly, she'd planned that hesitation beforehand. She said, «I am going to find Sharbaraz King of Kings, may his years be many and his realm increase, wherever he is, and I am going to put in his ear the tale of how his courtiers seek to play havoc with the new customs for noblewomen he himself, in his wisdom, chose to institute.»

«You can't do that!» Now Yeliif sounded not just imperfectly controlled but appalled.

«No? Why can't I? I abide by the customs the King of Kings began; don't you think he'd be interested to learn that you don't?»

«You cannot interrupt him! It is not permitted.»

«You cannot keep my messages from reaching Denak, but you do,» Roshnani said sweetly. «Why, then, can't I do what cannot be done?»

Yeliif gaped. Abivard felt like snickering. Roshnani's years of living among the Videssians had made her a dab hand at chopping logic into fine bits, as if it were mutton or beef to be made into sausage. The beautiful eunuch wasn't used to argument of that style and plainly had no idea how to respond.

Roshnani gave him little chance, in any case. When she said she would do something, she would do it She started into the hallway. Yeliif dashed out after her. «Stop her!» he shouted to the guards who were always posted outside the suite of rooms.

Abivard went out into the hall, too. The guards were armored and had spears to his knife. Even so, the only way he would let them lay hands on Roshnani was over his dead body.

But he needn't have worried. One of the soldiers said to Yeliif, «Sir, our orders say she is allowed to go out» He did his best to sound regretful—the eunuch was a powerful figure at court—but couldn't keep amusement from his voice.

Yeliif made as if to grab Roshnani himself but seemed to think better of it at the last minute. That was probably wise on his part; Roshnani made a habit of carrying a small, thin dagger somewhere about her person and might well have taken it into her head to use the knife on him.

He said, «Can we not reach agreement on this, thereby preventing an unseemly display bound to upset the King of Kings?»

Abivard had no trouble reading between the lines there: an unseemly display would leave Yeliif in trouble with Sharbaraz because the eunuch had permitted it to happen. Roshnani saw that, too. She said, «If I am allowed to see Denak today, then very well. If not, I go out searching for the King of Kings tomorrow.»

«I accept,» Yeliif said at once.

«Don't think to cheat by delaying and getting the guards' orders changed,» Roshnani told him, rubbing in her victory. «Do you know what will happen if you try? One way or another I'll manage to get out and go anyway, and when I do, you'll pay double.»

The threat was probably idle. The palace was Yeliif's domain, not Roshnani's. Nevertheless, the beautiful eunuch said, «I have made a bargain, and I shall abide by it,» and beat a hasty retreat.

Roshnani went back into the chamber. So did Abivard, shutting the door behind him. He did his best to imitate the fanfare horn players blew to salute a general who had won a battle. Roshnani laughed out loud. From the other side of the closed door, so did one of the guardsmen.

«You ground him for flour in the millstones,» Abivard said.

«Yes, I did—for today.» Roshnani was still laughing, but she also sounded worn. «Will he stay ground, though? What will he do tomorrow? Will I have to go out looking for the King of Kings and humiliate myself if I find him?»

Taking her in his arms, Abivard said, «I don't think so. If you show you're willing to do whatever you have to, very often you end up not needing to do it.»

«I hope this is one of those times,» Roshnani said. «If the God is kind, she'll grant it be so.»

«May he do that,» Abivard agreed. «And if not, Sharbaraz King of Kings, may his years be many and his realm increase, will at least have learned that one of his principal servants is a liar and a cheat.»

By what Yeliif had said, he'd learned that he and Roshnani did indeed have listeners. With any luck at all, some of them would report straight to the King of Kings.

Abivard had guessed that Yeliif would break his promise, but he didn't. Not long after breakfast the next day he came to the suite of rooms where Abivard and his family were staying and, as warmly as if he and Roshnani had not quarreled the day before, bade her accompany him to see her sister-in-law, «who,» he said, «is in her turn anxious to see you.»

«Nice to know that,» Roshnani said. «If you'd delivered my requests sooner, we might have found out before.»

Yeliif stiffened and straightened up, as if a wasp had stung him at the base of the spine. «I thought we might agree to forget yesterday's unpleasantness,» he said.

«I may not choose to do anything about it,» Roshnani told him, «but I never, ever forget.» She smiled sweetly.

The beautiful eunuch grimaced, then shook himself as if using a counterspell against a dangerous sorcery. Maybe that was what he thought he was doing. His manner, which had been warm, froze solid. «If you will come with me, then?» he said.

Roshnani came with condescension that, if it wasn't queenly, would have made a good imitation.

Abivard stayed in the suite and kept his children from injuring themselves and one another. For no visible reason Varaz seemed to have decided Shahin was good for nothing but being punched. Shahin fought back as well as he could, but that often wasn't well enough. Abivard did his best to keep them apart, which wasn't easy. At last he asked Varaz, «How would you like it if I walloped you for no reason at all whenever I felt like it?»

«I don't know what you're talking about,» Varaz said. Abivard had heard that tone of voice before. His son meant every word of the indignant proclamation, no matter how unlikely it sounded to Abivard. Varaz wasn't old enough—and was too irked—to be able to put himself in his brother's shoes. But he also knew Abivard would wallop him if he disobeyed, and so desisted.