Echoes of Betrayal by Elizabeth Moon

you’ll kill them,” Sier Halveric said. “They invaded—they killed—”
    “They were spelled,” Kieri said. “Until I know their true intent, I am not eager to kill men who had no will of their own.”
    “Send them back to Pargun?” asked Sier Davonin. “If their leaders are dead, maybe they won’t make trouble.”
    “We can’t possibly know they won’t,” Halveric said.
    “Siers,” Kieri said a little more loudly. They fell silent. “We willmeet in Council when I have had a chance to bathe, change, and eat something. I will tell you my thoughts then. At the moment—” He let out a big sigh. The Siers moved aside, and Arian fell in behind him as he entered the palace.
    “Food, sir king?” the steward said from just inside the doors.
    “Yes. Anything hot, please. I rode straight through. I’ll bathe first and eat in my chambers.” He glanced at Arian and Harin. “You two, come with me. Garris, dismiss those who rode with me; they need at least a full day off duty.”
    Upstairs, he found his bath already waiting.
    “We saw your party coming,” Harin said. “We knew you’d want to bathe.”
    “I chose the right Squires,” Kieri said with a grin.
    By the time he had finished his bath and dried himself, he could smell food in the other chamber. His chamber robe, soft and warm, felt so comfortable he decided to eat before dressing for the Council meeting. He padded barefoot across the bedroom carpets to the table laid for him near the window. Arian stood there, ready to serve him; Harin had gone to the door, and Devanyan had joined him there.
    “Sit down, Arian,” Kieri said. “We have things to talk about.”
    “Yes, sir king.” She sat on the edge of a chair, tense as a drawn bowstring.
    “The first is this—do you still want to marry me and be my queen?”
    “Yes! Of course!”
    “There’s no ‘of course’ about it,” Kieri said. “We’ve both been in mortal danger—you with the dragon fighting scathefire and me with the Pargunese and those servants of Achrya. And then finding that the Lady was not coming to our aid because she was trapped underground—that’s enough shock that a change of mind could be understandable.”
    “She put a glamour on me,” Arian said. “That’s why I left; I didn’t realize it then. She made me blind to the taig until I got far enough away—and I thought it was my fault, that the taig rejected me for my love of you. That was not right; I was angry with her then, and again for getting herself in a situation where she did not come to your aid at once. It wasn’t fair.”
    “No, it was not.”
    “And I
am
of the same mind, and I do love you and want to be with you. I hope I can be a good queen for you.” She frowned a little as she said that.
    “I am sure you will.” Kieri took a spoonful of soup.
    “I do worry,” Arian said. “Your sister, even as a young woman, knew so much more than I do. She would not have let the Lady control her as the Lady did me. She had known she would be queen; she had trained for it. I have learned much being a King’s Squire, but I am not sure it’s enough. I hadn’t been to court before except at her coronation, and now I’ve seen Siers and their families, and some of what being a king requires. It’s so complicated.” She looked away. “I’m sorry … you’re tired and hungry, and you saved the land.”
    “Alyanya’s true daughter,” Kieri said; she looked back at him and smiled. Before he could say more, he heard Harin, from the door, say, “Arian? The rest of the food—”
    Arian went to the door and came back with a tray of dishes.
    “I don’t really need more—” Kieri began.
    “You do,” Arian said. “Especially since this hot-pot was made especially for you.” She set out the dishes—the steaming pot topped with a flaky crust, the basket of rolls, the smaller pot that smelled of apples and spices, a jug of cream.
    “If I eat all this, I will start snoring in the Council