Renfrow said, "Pick up a tool and help. Or go away. If you insist on being part of the problem you'll be corrected with the rest of the problem."

Dowager Grafina fon Wistrcz got hold of the Dame's arm and dragged her away. Still within earshot, Ilse-Janna snarled, "Don't cross Ferris Renfrow! Ever! No good comes to anyone who does that! No telling why he's here. But he will go away."

Renfrow said, "He'll go away. But he won't forget what he's seen."

The villagers got a blazing fire going. Greta Schmitt brought a blanket. She placed it around Helspeth's shoulders, settled the girl close to the fire.

Renfrow stalked around, tossing off orders. Villagers went to work improving and weatherproofing. A single hour's work provided a dramatic improvement.

"Schmitt. Show me the account books." He knew exactly where the harridans would be vulnerable.

Warmth penetrated Helspeth deeply enough for her shakes to subside into an intermittent problem. She surfaced in the present reality for moments at a time. She recognized Ferris Renfrow. And experienced a flood of joy and hope so profound that she plunged into unstoppable crying.

"Schmitt's woman. Stay close to the Princess."

Elsewhere, Dame fon Tyre tried to bully her own small household into evicting Ferris Renfrow from the tower. She refused to hear warnings from the Dowager Grafina. Her people did not. They knew the Renfrow reputation. That had been dark and deadly since long before the accession of Emperor Johannes.

The Grand Admiral's wife had lived fifty-eight sheltered years. She had known little but her own indulgences until Empress Katrin, in a moment of high pique, rid herself of an annoyance by ordering the woman to Runjan to babysit her sister. Making Runjan a cauldron of rustic exile.

In one day's time Renfrow's will made the ground floor of the tower over into what it should have become with Helspeth's arrival. Helspeth stopped shaking before the villagers went away. She regained her composure. Softly voiced, she told Renfrow, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Princess. You are the heir of empire. What they were doing is unconscionable." He said no more. Helspeth began to understand how deep her danger had been. And might be once Renfrow went away again.

Renfrow told her, "You won't be comfortable, here. You can't be the Helspeth Ege you were before your brother died. But no one will try to make you die by natural causes anymore, either."

Helspeth lost control of her bladder.

Renfrow told her, "I promised your father."

She pulled the blanket around her again and stared into the flames, wanting to go away again. Hansel Schmitt brought more wood. He seemed obsequious. The way people do who want not to be noticed by someone held in high terror.

"Helspeth. Listen. You must pay attention. Your life could depend on you actually hearing me."

Greta Schmitt brought hot broth. Helspeth responded to the aroma with more enthusiasm than she did Ferris Renfrow's voice. Renfrow said, "I'll take some of that myself."

The Schmitt woman's lips tightened and lost color but she held Ferris Renfrow in no less high terror than did her son. When she brought the broth for Renfrow he slipped her a small purse. "Tell no one. Use it on the Princess's behalf. And keep a close account. You may keep a fourth for yourself." He looked her straight in the eye. "Tell no one. Not either of those hags. Not your husband. Not the Princess herself. Understand?" Greta nodded.

In a voice barely audible, Helspeth told Renfrow, "I'm listening. Thank you. For coming."

"I repay my debts. And I do what serves the Empire. Letting the heir to the ermine be murdered by neglect is not in that interest."

Helspeth eased her grip on her blanket. The ache went out of her fingers almost immediately. The fire had begun to have an effect. At last.

"Listen closely. Your life will improve going forward. But you must not attract attention. Be pliant. Do as you're told. Offer no offense, however unreasonable the dons at Alten Weinberg become. Be your sister's strongest supporter, regardless of your private opinion. Her reign won't be one of the memorable ones. Unless she surrenders to the Council Advisory or she goes completely mad. Which could happen."

She murmured, "Greta put something in the broth."

"Are you listening?"

"I'm listening."

"Good. I'm hoping you've learned something. The lesson being that a princess's actions directly impact many other people."

Tears slid from the corners of Helspeth's eyes as Renfrow reviewed the current situation of her Braunsknecht lifeguards and Lady Hilda Daedal, whose husband had required her to go into a convent. "This doesn't make sense. I didn't do anything wrong."

"Why are you here, then?"

"But…"

"You knew you'd irritate people in Alten Weinberg. Admit it. You could've saved everyone misery by staying in Plemenza while your hired men dealt with the monster. They would've censured you for employing foreigners but you'd still be there. However, you wanted to tweak their noses. In fact, you scared hell out of powerful people who saw way too much Johannes Blackboots in Hansel's youngest daughter."

"I know, Ferris. I know. I've thought about that so much."

"On the good news side, you won't be marrying anytime soon. If that's a positive."

"I'm not going to get married, ever."

Renfrow smiled. "As may be. But one more reason you're in bad odor is, your adventure cheapened you as marriage bait. Every court in the Chaldarean world was interested. Your portrait was making a progression from capital to capital. You were quickening hearts. Then word went out that you'd gone off into the wilderness for a month with a band of common soldiers."

Helspeth sighed and drew her blanket around her tighter. Renfrow was getting excited. She had not recovered enough to handle the pressure.

He eased up. "There is a humorous side. One court remained interested. Jaime of Castauriga himself came all the way to Alten Weinberg to meet you personally. Castauriga being under heavy pressure from Navaya, he's in desperate need of allies. When he presented himself to Katrin it was, for her, love at first sight. Despite the age difference."

Helspeth's brain began to move again. "And he wouldn't mind being the consort of the Empress of the Grail Empire."

"Especially after she has a few children."

"When will they marry?"

"Springtime. Ironically, after the Remayne Pass opens."

Helspeth sighed. "Have the crones heard?"

"They'll be told. The news will ease your situation. And the wedding should mark the end of your exile. Unless you do something else to frighten the councilors."

"I still don't understand all that."

"Certain people have elevated themselves dramatically by orbiting your sister closely, Princess. Most of them Brothen Episcopals. They know the majority inside the Empire are strongly indisposed toward the Brothen Patriarchy. When you show the initiative you did, even bringing in specialist operators, you remind them that you're Johannes's daughter. The Princess Apparent who could step in and change their world."

Helspeth began to get a glimmer. "But I'm not interested, in any of that." She made a soft, squeaky noise as the Captain-General popped into mind.

"Yes?"

"Just a random thought. It startled me."

"I see. Tell me. Have you heard anything I've been saying?"

"Yes." Sigh.

"Katrin's marriage isn't set in stone. Negotiations are still going on. Jaime is making demands that no one on our end will meet."

"So I'm not off the hook?"

"Not till Katrin gives birth to a male heir who survives long enough to have sons of his own."

"God help me."

"As I said, it should get easier once I speak to your keepers. Then easier still after Katrin weds. That should end your rustication. Behave and you could be back in Plemenza before winter comes round again. In Alten Weinberg at the least."