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explained. “But
once I am invited inside, I can go anywhere within. I’ve been trying to give
you privacy, Dame Vivien. You made it clear that you care little for my
company.”
    Something passed through her eyes,
dark and sad, and Aedan had no idea what it meant. Had he offended her without
meaning to? Upset her in some way he didn’t understand? Discreetly, he sniffed
the air, but all he caught on her scent was the floral perfume of her soap.
    “I don’t mind company,” she said,
stepping over to an armchair and sitting down. “I mind people trying to
manipulate me and telling me what to do. Not just you, people in general. Now
get in here and sit so we can talk.”
    Getting in was easy enough, and
they had indeed a lot to talk about, but as for sitting… Aedan was about to say
he preferred to remain standing when he noticed how closely she was observing
him. Now might not be the time to insist on proprieties even more than he
already had.
    He turned one of the armchairs by
the fireplace toward her and sat down, uncomfortable and stiff, yet glad when
she gave a nod of approval. In truth, sitting down was something of a relief.
Bradan wasn’t the only one who’d had a long night.
    “All right,” she said. “First
things first. When Doril brought me breakfast, I used the Quickening to make
sure she’s loyal to me. I’m going to do the same thing with Elver, and from now
on anyone coming to work in the castle will have to prove to me they’re not
lying about their intentions. How does that sound?”
    Aedan observed her, confused.
    “Well, assuring yourself of your
people’s loyalty is a good thing, certainly, Dame Vivien. Especially since we
need to find you more guards. But I’m not sure what you mean when you say you
used the Quickening for that.”
    In his mind, he could see Doril
walking out of the chambers again. She had seemed no different than when she
had first walked in, nor had she seemed hurt or upset in any way.
    “It’s like… a lie detector,” Dame
Vivien, gesturing with one hand as though it would clarify her words. At
Aedan’s blank look, she grinned. “And that doesn’t help you one bit, seeing how
that’s an Earth thing. Okay, it works like this.”
    She took a deep breath, and her
gaze changed, became more focused. Aedan had seen her look that way before when
she was channeling. As a vampire, he couldn’t see the Quickening flow out of
her, but he could imagine the color sparks surrounding her and magnifying her
beauty. He only had time to tell himself he envied Bradan for being able to see
that before he remembered: Bradan would never see her channel again.
    What Aedan did see was what he
supposed to be the result of her channeling: a ball of white light hovering by
his shoulder.
    “Tell me a lie,” Dame Vivien
demanded.
    Aedan blinked, his gaze drifting
from the ball of light back to her.
    “Dame Vivien?” he said, unsure
what she meant.
    “Tell me a lie, and I’ll show you
how my trick works. Here. Why don’t you tell me you enjoy going to Earth?”
    Still not certain what this was
all about, Aedan did as she asked.
    “I enjoy going to the Otherworld.”
    It was, as she had guessed, a lie.
Next to him, the ball of light turned bright red. She beamed.
    “All right. Now say something
true.”
    “Dame Vivien… I don’t understand.”
    The color of the light shifted
from a bright red to deep green, and Aedan thought he might be starting to
understand. He observed the ball of light more closely, even raising a hand to
it. There was nothing there for him to touch, and his hand slipped right
through it.
    “Red for a lie, green for the
truth, is that it?”
    When he looked back at Dame
Vivien, concern flashed through him, and he sprung out of his chair. Sweat was
beading on her forehead, she was gripping the armrests of her chair, and her
heartbeat suddenly sounded strained.
    “Release it,” he said, dropping
down to one knee in front of her. “Dame Vivien, it’s too